Anthony Albanese on collision course with Trump as he delivers radically different UN address
Anthony Albanese has set himself on a collison course with Donald Trump as he brands climate change an ‘an existential threat’ and spruiks Australia’s new climate targets in a pitch to be given a seat on United Nation’s powerful security council.
The Prime Minister delivered his inaugural address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, just a day after the US President branded climate change a ‘hoax’ and accused countries that had recognised Palestine of emboldening Hamas.
Albanese argued that the UN was ‘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.
‘That is why Australia is seeking a place on the UN Security Council in 2029-30.’
Australia last sat on the security council in 2013-14. Albanese also said this was also a driving factor in Australia’s ongoing attempts alongside Pacific nations to host next year’s UN COP climate summit.
‘(We are) nations for whom climate change is more than an environmental challenge, it is an existential threat,’ he said.
‘This is a place for the global spotlight to shine on suffering and struggles that might otherwise be forgotten.’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese delivered his inaugural address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, just a day after the US President branded climate change a ‘hoax’ and accused countries that had recognised Palestine of emboldening Hamas
In a rambling, hour-long address the day before, Trump had told the gathered world leaders that their ‘countries are going to hell’
In a rambling, hour-long address the day before, Trump had told the gathered world leaders that their ‘countries are going to hell’.
He also berated the UN, claiming he had ‘ended seven wars’ without any help from the international body.
‘What is the purpose of the United Nations?’, Trump asked.
‘The UN is such tremendous potential. I’ve always said it. It has such tremendous, tremendous potential, but it’s not even coming close to living up to that potential.’
There was implicit criticism of Trump’s approach in Albanese’s speech, as he defended the UN and called on member states to work together.
‘If the United Nations steps back, we all lose ground. If we give people reason to doubt the value of co-operation, then the risk of conflict becoming the default option grows,’ Albanese said.
‘If we resign ourselves to the idea that war is inevitable, or relegate ourselves to the status of disinterested bystanders … if our only response to every crisis is to insist that there is nothing we can do … then we risk being trusted with nothing.’
More to come.
