United Nations
This weekend’s massacre in Houla, Syria, is one of those stories that invites but doesn’t require hyperbole. 108 people killed, 32 of them children. 300 more injured, in an attack that included shelling, guns, and knives.
This took place during a ceasefire, while Syria is subject to the scrutiny of United Nations observers.
Kofi Annan is trying to hold together with duct tape a “six point peace plan”, and is headed for Damascus in the wake of the latest atrocity under the Bashar al-Assad regime. This plan was signed off by Assad on March 27.
Today there are reports gunmen in the town have been positioned with orders to shoot civilians who try to talk with the UN Observers.
Annan and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon today released this:
Continue reading "Fighting Assad one strongly worded statement at a time" »
Recently I visited Andorra, Albania and San Marino. The trip elicited sideways glances from odd spot type gossip columnists who, with an almost salacious air, suggested that it may have had something to do with Australia’s UN Security Council campaign.
I confess: guilty as charged.
Australia is running for the UN Security Council. It is a tight race. We are trying to win. We are campaigning hard. Each of these countries has a vote. We are seeking their support.
Continue reading "We’re serious about our tilt at a UN Security Council seat" »
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stephen says:
We are not a member of NATO and our soldiers die in conflicts which are sanctioned by NATO. If this government thinks that because of this, we deserve to be a member of the Security Council, well, they have rocks in their head. The United Nations is made up of… Read more »
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thomas vesely says:
no seats on security council, no USA bases on our soil. thank you….... Read more »
At a recent protest outside the electoral office of Immigration Minister Chris Bowen, Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon said Australia was mishandling the refugee issue, and it was the “lack of a humanitarian approach and failure to abide by international obligations” that was causing problems.
Another refugee advocate at the protest said, “You don’t have to be an Australian to have human rights.”
Human rights should be the lens through which we consider the economic, cultural and geographic implications of increasing our intake of refugees and asylum seekers. It is about enacting people’s basic rights to freedom, choice and safety.
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ghnaga darin says:
That disturbing Islamobhobia directive has been overriden thankfully. Second, capitalism is to blame as much as Marxism. It is the incessant desire for more demand to keep prices high (houses etc) and to supply cheap labor that drives such as Gina Rhineheat to be a multiculturalist. It takes both right… Read more »
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ghnaga darin says:
I thing the High Courts Malaysian solution decisions proves her case. That said that the obligations under the Convention override the agreement the Government made with Malaysia incorporating what it thought were reasonable protections. Read more »
Any relief we may have had when Libya was finally suspended from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March has certainly been short-lived. It appears Syria, another terror state, is set to take its place.
Syria is one of four candidates vying for four seats on the 47-member body that will go to Asian nations when the General Assembly votes on new members on 20 May.
Unless another Asian country nominates, which seems unlikely at this stage, Syria will win a three-year term on the UN body charged with strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the world.
Continue reading "Human rights? Surely you can’t be Syria" »
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Nalliah Thayabharan says:
The human rights issue is being used by a handful of countries as a pretext and tool to pursue selfish interests, demonize the image of other countries and intervene in their internal affairs. The US State Department published on April 8 an annual report on other countries’ human rights, lashing… Read more »
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Dan says:
Moral relativism? Because I don’t follow your ‘morality’? Well, thank god for that. The fact that you use the term ‘Mohammedans’ is simply more evidence that you are a horrible bigot! The fact that you use the term ‘apologists’ indicates that you are a child who does not deserve to… Read more »
Most of us at some stage or another have received an invitation to a school reunion. Although I would hate to admit how long it has been since I left high school.
Even more sobering was an email I received inviting me to a reunion for the class of 1981 diplomatic cadets joining the Department of Foreign Affairs.
It is worth thinking about how much the world has turned on its head over the last 30 years.
Continue reading "The world has changed a lot, except the threat of violence" »
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Squeeze the Middle says:
Kevin . Thank you for helping me answer an important question. Why does Australia experience Cultural Cringe? Answer is: the wealth, prosperity and emptiness of this land means everybody is so content that debate doesn’t get beyond Uni level. So when most of us, confident from our bulging pockets, open… Read more »
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Squeeze the Middle says:
All depositors love Switzerland don’t they? Whether they’re Nazi, Jewish, Muslim, American, Oriental and African. If so then where’s your causal link? As for Switzerland being evil then aren’t you saying that democracy is fundamentally evil because it can be used by the masses to advance their own less than… Read more »
So now the bastard bombs his own people to cling to power. But who didn’t already know that Libya’s Moamar Gaddafi was a terrorist and a despot?
The United States sure did.
US sanctions - and its toppling of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein - so terrified Gaddafi in 2003 that he surrendered his secret nuclear weapons program to avoid being America’s next target.
But what did the United Nations do about this man whose regime has sponsored terrorists, blown up a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, bombed a Berlin disco, armed the IRA, looted Libya’s national wealth, rewarded Holocaust-deniers, jailed dissenters and ruled by fear since Gaddafi, a colonel, seized power in a coup more than 41 years go?
Continue reading "The West has let itself be bluffed by Gaddafi" »
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Myriam says:
@Sam What you are saying is extremely right ... I am a catholic living in an Arab country I’ve seen most of what you could imagine from the Arab world. I just don’t think it’s fair to keep a leader like gaddafi ... He just proved me right too… Meaningless… Read more »
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LauraBoBaura says:
Yeah Richard - let’s just skip right over the phosphorus bombs,human shields, murder of medical personel, indiscriminate shelling & all other types of war crimes Poor little defenseless Israel. Arafat was a douche. So is Sharon. All I was saying is that Israel aren’t friendless (outside of the Middle East)… Read more »
Andrew McLeod, addressing the United Nations last week, argued that the AFL must address racism in football, citing their laws that prevent insults and threats on the basis of a person’s race.
His address, on Australia Day, coincided with hundreds of speeches around the country assuring those taking up Australian citizenship that the nation’s racial vilification laws prevented discrimination against them on the basis of their race.
Race is also emerging as a hot topic in the controversy about a referendum on indigenous recognition in the constitution. Options for change are already citing “people of any race,” “racial groups” and “all racial backgrounds” and the race power contained in section 51 (xxvi) (1).
Continue reading "Science shows we should get rid of ‘race’" »
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Queenie says:
I guess finding useful, reliable information on the internet isn’t hoepelss after all. Read more »
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Greg says:
Race is determined from DNA testing in Australia: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/dna-offers-a-clue-to-the-criminal-look/2006/10/28/1161749357987.html In the USA: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2003-06-05-dna-ancestry_x.htm and in the UK: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2393936,00.html Proof, proof and more proof. Time for the race deniers to say “uncle”. Read more »
So Kevin Rudd’s been musing about the Chinese and how we might need to be ready to “deploy force” if efforts to integrate the PRC into the rest of the world go horribly wrong.
We established long ago the former PM has a tendency to get a bit carried away in discussions with other world leaders. Remember how he allegedly got off the phone from George W Bush and regaled his dinner guests with the cracking yarn that the then-US president didn’t know what the G20 was.
Or how in Copenhagen he went off about how the Chinese were trying to “rat-f**k us”. And who can forget his nickname for the UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon - “Spanky Banky”.
Continue reading "Kevin Rudd’s bravado is actually a bit of a worry" »
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Yosemite Sam says:
“We are a liability to the US by providing such pillow-soothing comfort. “ US entities have a lot of business assets and contracts in Australia. assets/liability = were worth it To think Australia nearly went to war with the US over guano deposits. Kevin should have been sent to public… Read more »
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Dave Moore says:
“...and what exactly he means by everything going wrong…” He means that China is a nuclear armed dictatorship that cares nothing for it’s own people nor the people of any other country. That we have to be prepared for armed conflict (again) is an OF COURSE. If you were as… Read more »
The flooding in Pakistan was an unavoidable natural disaster. The measures we take now will decide if we can avoid an ongoing humanitarian disaster.
Last Thursday I visited Pakistan to inspect the flood damage and the Australian response in Kot Addu, near Multan in the Southern Punjab.
The UN High-Level Meeting on Pakistan today met to discuss the adequacy, or inadequacy, of the international response. This meeting has one challenge – to prevent a natural disaster becoming a humanitarian calamity that could have been avoided.
Continue reading "What I saw in Pakistan, and why the world must help" »
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K King says:
Fran Fran Fran, Pakistani cabbies aren’t as wealthy and fortunate as some of us snobs. They, like any other cabbies from other ethnicities are deservedly earning their hard earned dollar, exposing themselves to dangers and working the odd hours while you and me sleep in our warm and cozy beds.… Read more »
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Austin 3:16 says:
Hey Denny, yeah Australia’s debt is about 6% of our income. Unlike Tony Abbott who’s personal debt is several times his income. Maybe we should also start a fund to help him out, what do you reckon? Read more »
It’s hard to imagine a politician more comfortable with the convoluted parlance of international diplomacy than Kevin Rudd.
The freshly-minted Foreign Minister just held his first press conference to announce he’s zipping off to Pakistan enroute to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly Leaders’ Week (that’s “the UNGA” to the cool kids).
It was a very different Kevin Rudd to the surly-looking outcast at yesterday’s ministerial swearing-in ceremony (you can read Sam Maiden’s account of yesterday here.)
Continue reading "Rudd like a pig in mud in the Foreign Ministry" »
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Michelle says:
Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t the G20 group decide on a lock-step stimulus across all countries involved? So why didn’t the US and UK stimulus work so well as Rudd’s magical mystery (shh, don’t mention China, and don’t mention our stable banks) stimulus? The fact that the US… Read more »
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James says:
Oh gawd, can you imagine the agony of being stuck in a room with this pair of bloated narcissistic windbags .... Read more »
People are discovering that food costs are soaring, electricity and government charges including water charges are on the increase and many families are needing to find savings in the family budget.
If recent reports by the United Nations are any indication then the savings can come from this unexpected phenomenon.
The worlwide non-profit initiative to promote Meatless Mondays and Fishless Fridays is encouraging the voluntary rationing of certain foods. This is not new as rationing was common practice during both World Wars.
Continue reading "Enough with all the meat eating all ready" »
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Earth says:
I like the raw foods diet. Well, I do after finding a video recipe on YouTube - ‘Raw Foods Diet 1 - Wombat Kitchen’. Now that’s enough to make you want a cow. Read more »
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Ronk says:
Not me, it’s always brown when I eat it every day (sometimes twice a day). Read more »
This week’s announcement by Tony Abbott that he intends to terminate Australia’s bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council illustrates the profoundly myopic foreign policy of the federal opposition.
The abandonment of the bid formed part of a $1.2 billion string of budget cuts proposed by the coalition on Tuesday. In explaining the move, Abbott declared “there are vastly higher priorities for Australia right now than pursuing a seat on the Security Council”.
Abbott’s words, however, could not be more short-sighted.
Continue reading "Abbott’s UN cut is expensive and unnecessary" »
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Beth says:
Many who have commented on this article are recalling the various negatives of the UN. This is fair enough - an organisation as large and unwieldy as the UN is bound to have its difficulties. At the same time, however, there are countless positive aspects that are too easily overlooked. … Read more »
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Django Merope-Synge says:
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are incredibly destructive to the ozone layer. Their widespread use as a propellant and refrigerator was opening up a giant hole in the ozone layer, above Australia and Antarctica. The Montreal Protocol, sponsored and enabled by the United Nations regulated and effectively ended the use of CFCs. The… Read more »
As speculation mounts that ousted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will become the new Foreign Minister, is there a better role out there for him in the world?
Kevin Rudd was known for appointing politicians of both sides to important positions overseas.
He shipped former Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson off to Brussels as an Ambassador when he was discarded as Opposition Leader. At the same time Kim Beazley who he knocked off as leader was predictably sent packing for the plum job in Washington.
Continue reading "What in the world can Kevin Rudd do now?" »
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Thom Woodroofe says:
Thanks Oscar, good clarifications. I wrote the article from Turkey so time zones threw me off with Smith’s interview day. Read more »
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Timmo says:
Anisette, I agree, and well put. Australian politics is a disgrace. One of the reasons I think they worked against him is because he is a Queenslander. Those Southern B’s don’t want a Queenslander running the show. I have no other comments, as like you, I think it stinks. Read more »
It’s Tuesday at The Punch
Israel joined the United Nations today in 1949.
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shabangabang says:
Have just noticed that Harry Jenkins is speaking but the punch live blog has yet to appear. Are you guys covering question time anymore? Read more »
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Matt says:
I’m not sure why Israel should have to return to the pre 1967 borders given what it achieved at that time. While the rest of the world wrung its hands (or sat on them or assisted their enemies as the case may be) the entire Arab world united to wipe… Read more »
The decision to suspend asylum seeker applications for six months represents a superficial attempt to appear both hard-line and compassionate on people smuggling, and just in time for the Federal election.
It has been less than a month since with dry-cleaned suits, a full stomach and make-up for the cameras, three senior federal ministers announced a suspension of asylum seeker claims from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan for three and six months respectively.
Ever since then though, the policy has continued its descent into a shambles with over a thousand asylum seekers in a detention centre designed for just four-hundred on Christmas Island – in tents and demountables – and the reopening of Curtin Detention Centre.
Continue reading "Treating the symptoms of a political headache" »
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david i says:
I’d actually consider voting liberal if you were in charge of policy Read more »
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Andrew says:
Wow Liberal club? your a student? impressive Read more »
Welcome to Wednesday @ The Punch
The World Health Organisation was established by the United Nations today in 1948.
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Kevin Rennie says:
The UN meets in September to review its 2015 Millennium Development Goals for the developing world. Join the discussion at Th!nk3: http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/ Read more »
Britain’s expulsion of an Israeli diplomat is a lesson for Australia to stop handling Israel with kid gloves.
Israel has made clear that it does not respond to gentle persuasion or constructive criticism from its friends, nor does it listen to the quiet language of international law.
Israel is willing to abuse the trust of its friends by defrauding their passports, assassinating people on foreign territory, and approving new settlements on Palestinian land on the eve of peace talks.
Continue reading "Time to stop handling Israel with kid gloves" »
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James1 says:
I guess you will be rushing out to recognise the State of Australian Aborigines, should they wish to establish one, based on the connection of the Australian Aborigines to this land for centuries. Read more »
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James1 says:
So true, Ian F. Tomorrow, I am going to ask the Australian government to allow me to build an apartment complex in Auckland. Why should I even bother asking the Kiwis for permission… Read more »
It’s Thursday @ The Punch
Today in 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations at a meeting in Paris, France.
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steve says:
It is almost laughable that many spruik human rights, compassion & tolerance and yet one mention of refugees and the mongrel surfaces. Read more »
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John A Neve says:
Eric, Unlike you I won’t be insulting, but the oil companies want to built a pipeline across Aghanistan. As to Sudan, I did not even mention it, so what your problem Eric? It seems I do a Little more reseach than you. Read more »
It went for 90 minutes, six times longer than the time allocated, so if you’re after a full transcript you’ll have to wait until Sunday.
Not since Kruschev banged his shoe on the table has the United Nations played host to a comparable level of madness, as Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi launched a sleep-deprived rant this morning which made Fidel Castro sound succint, Boris Yeltsin look dignified and Kim Jong-Il seem sane.
I’m not suggesting that you subject yourself to the above video in its entirety - it’s only 10 minutes long, no-one has yet bothered to upload the full 80 minutes - but the first couple of minutes are worth a look, as it seems Gadaffi has been mugged by the stationery aisle at Officeworks as he takes to the podium with a mountain of yellow legal paper and pieces of foolscap, and then waves like a sports star at the crowd before delivering his opus magnum.
Continue reading "Was this the craziest speech of all time?" »
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Cos Seven says:
Whenever I see people dismissing a speaker for his attitude, appearance and other non-speech-content matters I know he has spoken that truth which they cant bear to hear. What truth is that? The truth that implicates them. Read more »
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Sam says:
He spoke of how Lybia agrees with the UN Charter but doesn’t support the UN’s action (or lack thereof) in the wars that have taken place since the ratification of that charter. He also asked how Saddam Hussien, the president of a country, could be hanged in a dark room… Read more »
In news just in: Kevin Rudd’s been in an incident in New York involving a shower and a delegation from New Zealand. Apparently it also had something to do with a horse.
Things are definitely hotting up for the PM in the United States. As I write this Mr Rudd is addressing the United Nations General Assembly about his plan for world domination. There’s a lot of talk of a “grand bargain.”
In a brief moment of lucidity during his address Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi appeared to endorse KRudd’s ambitions for the UN Security Council to be expanded.
Continue reading "Who needs Scores when you’ve got the UN" »
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David says:
Now we have our pretty New World Order to govern us and the rest of the world, we dont need Krudd anymore. We now have a world government that overrides local governments and the ebst part is, we have no say whatsoever on who leads it. We just lost our… Read more »
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Trudy says:
The media are making out Kevin has made the G20 THE most important rather than the G8. What a load of bulls@#$% There are 12 other countries involved in this. My brother lives in the States and said there has not been a mention of Australia or Kevin Rudd at… Read more »
For an oppressed group, the opportunity to obtain the attention of the international community lasts for a very short time. So it has proved for the Tamil community of Sri Lanka.
Indeed, the threats and oppression in Sri Lanka extend to anyone who might dare to criticise the government.
In mid May, as the Tamil Tiger (“the LTTE”) resistance came to an end and government forces shelled areas full of civilians, the world was outraged and demanded that the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa seek conciliation with the Tamil community of the South Asian island nation.
Continue reading "Just a reminder: Sri Lanka is still there" »
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Sujeevan says:
The problem for SL is that Tamil people & their organisations never speak out negatively about the LTTE, only the SL Govt. According to us Tamils it is only the SL Govt. that has hurt us when, in fact, the LTTE have done much damage to us as well, killing… Read more »
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Jay says:
Thanks for keeping the plight of the tamil people on the radar. It is people like you that see the issue for what it really is. If only more people like you existed in the world. Read more »
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Change Up! says:
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They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more
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