Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has rejected accusations she knew that Tony Abbott when prime minister had backed former New Zealand leader Helen Clark for the job of UN Secretary-General.
Ms Bishop has signalled the government may consider supporting former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd if he nominated for the UN job.
Speaking in Rome on Tuesday, where she's attending a foreign ministers' meeting on combating the Islamic State group, she told reporters that nominations for the UN job had only just opened.
The government had yet to consider the full field of candidates, she said.
A spokesman for Mr Abbott has told The Australian newspaper that Ms Bishop had been "well aware" of Mr Abbott's support for Ms Clark, a backing conveyed to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.
But Ms Bishop said Mr Key recently made clear that New Zealand did not expect Australia to be bound by any commitment that Mr Abbott made to him.
"The position as far as I'm concerned has always been, and remains, that the Australian government would consider the full field of candidates for this job once that was known," she said.
She said a final decision about whether to support a candidate for the UN job or not would be made by cabinet.
"The field, as far as I'm concerned, is wide open."
