World
Albanese wants Australia on UN Security Council
In his address to the General Assembly, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese launched Australia’s election bid for a seat on the UNSC for the 2029-2030 term.
At last week’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese officially launched Australia’s bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2029–2030 term.
The UNSC is composed of five permanent member states (France, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States), each of which retains a veto, and ten non-permanent member states who each serve two-year terms. The Council is responsible for ensuring international peace, maintaining global security, and taking action against nations which are found to have breached the UN Charter.
Although subject to criticism over inefficiency, the UNSC offers small nations and middle powers an opportunity to enhance their international soft power. This was acknowledged by Albanese in his UNGA address.
“The United Nations is much more than an arena for the great powers to veto each other’s ambitions…This is a platform for middle powers and small nations to voice—and achieve—our aspirations”. -Albanese
More specifically, Australia’s most recent term on the Council, in 2013–2014, enabled Australia to spearhead the global response to the fatal downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) by Russian-backed separatists in occupied Ukraine. Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, described Australia’s initiative as “an absolutely enormous diplomatic achievement” where the country “was able to directly advance the positions within the Security Council.”
Winning a seat on the UNSC is a years-long diplomatic process, but it would give Australia the chance to assert itself on the world stage. The case has been made that this is sorely needed in light of the United States’ slide into isolationism, necessitating deeper ties with states that are more closely aligned with Australian interests.
Albanese’s address may mark the official start of Australia’s campaign, but it began informally in 2015 under then Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. In a joint statement, Opposition Leader Susan Ley and Shadow Foreign Minister Michaelia Cash voiced their support for the bid, describing it as a “worthy objective” and promised that the bid has the backing of the Coalition.
Elections for the 2029–2030 UNSC term are planned to be held in June 2028.
Sources:
Julie Bishop then and now on bidding for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. (2015, September 30). The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/julie-bishop-then-and-now-on-bidding-for-a-seat-on-the-united-nations-security-council-20150930-gjxqax.html
Manfield, E. (2025, September 25). What are Australia’s chances of returning to the UN Security Council? ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-25/australia-renews-un-security-council-bid/105816596
Responding to the downing of Flight MH17. (2015, March 18). Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. https://www.dfat.gov.au/international-relations/international-organisations/un/unsc-2013-2014/Pages/responding-to-the-downing-of-flight-mh17
SBS Australia. (2025, September 25). Albanese pushes for Security Council seat and calls out Iran in first major UN speech. SBS News. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/albanese-makes-first-un-address-with-call-for-australia-to-have-security-council-seat/tmkdjguai
SBS News. (2025, September 25). Anthony Albanese full speech at UN General Assembly YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-wjFvF3UPU
United Nations. (2025). Security Council. https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en
Discover more from Signal News Sydney
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
