{"id":898967,"date":"2026-09-20T14:08:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T14:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/898967\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T14:08:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T14:08:17","slug":"australia-launches-campaign-for-two-year-seat-on-un-security-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/898967\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia launches campaign for two-year seat on UN Security Council"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Albanese plans to trade on Australia’s good name and international reputation when he officially launches the campaign for a two-year term on the powerful United Nations Security Council.<\/p>\n

Declaring Australia is “in a pretty strong position” to nab one of the two spots available, the prime minister will release the campaign video, brochure and logo \u2014 featuring the kangaroo \u2014 in New York on Monday, where dozens of world leaders are gathering for this year’s UN General Assembly.<\/p>\n

“Australia played a pivotal role in the founding of the United Nations \u2014 because we have always understood how important it is for small and mid-sized nations to have their voices heard on the challenges facing our world,” he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“Our vision is simple: We listen with respect, we partner as equals, and we protect what matters most.”<\/p>\n

Campaigning under the banner, “We listen. We partner. We protect”, Australia plans to leverage its position as a first mover when it comes to online safety and tech regulation, as well as its leadership on climate change, as this year’s COP31 president of negotiations.<\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

Anthony Albanese plans to highlight Australia’s leadership on climate change in the bid for the Security Council seat. (Reuters: Eduardo Munoz)<\/p>\n

So far, only Australia and Finland have nominated for the two non-permanent positions on the 15-member council from 2029.<\/p>\n

A secret ballot will take place in mid-2028 and, to succeed, a country must secure a two-thirds majority of UN General Assembly members, or at least 128 votes if all 193 members vote.<\/p>\n

“We’re in a pretty strong position. We’re well regarded around the world,” Mr Albanese told Insiders on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Australia last held a non-permanent spot in 2014 and used the position to push for an international inquiry into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine<\/a>, in which 298 passengers and crew were killed, including 38 Australians.<\/p>\n

The UN is needed now more than ever<\/a><\/p>\n

When Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong attended the UN General Assembly 12 months ago, it felt like something significant might be happening.\u00a0This year, things feel like they will be a bit more… prosaic.<\/p>\n

The UNSC is responsible for maintaining international peace and security and seeks to mediate disputes using peaceful methods.<\/p>\n

But it persistently faces criticism of its ability to handle global crises, particularly because Russia and China both have veto rights along with the other permanent members.<\/p>\n

Mr Albanese acknowledged it was an institution in need of reform and needs to be made more effective.<\/p>\n

But with ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and rising strategic competition, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said having a seat at the table would give Australia the chance to advocate for a world governed by rules, not by force.<\/p>\n

\"Penny<\/p>\n

Penny Wong has criticised Vladimir Putin at the UN over the war in Ukraine. (Supplied: DFAT)<\/p>\n

“A safer world is one governed by rules, not power and force alone. Australia’s vision is a world where all countries have the freedom to decide their own future,” Senator Wong said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“As an active and ambitious middle power, we have a practical contribution to make to international peace and security.”<\/p>\n

“There’s a need for middle powers such as Australia to exercise the influence that we have.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Albanese plans to trade on Australia’s good name and international reputation when he officially launches the campaign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2324,64,63,44,49399,163726,6902],"class_list":["post-898967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-penny-wong","tag-security-council","tag-united-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}