Carr pushes for UN Security Council seat 
By Brad Norington 
April 12, 2012
The Australian 
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/carr-pushes-for-un-security-council-seat/story-e6frg6so-1226324643773

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Bob Carr has pressed Australia's case to win a seat on the UN Security Council directly with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon during their first meeting in New York. 
After discussing the issue at the UN's headquarters, Senator Carr told The Australian that a tough contest lay ahead with European rivals Finland and Luxembourg for two vacant seats.
It's likely to be close but we believe Australia has got a very strong case, and we're encouraged by the support we're getting, he told The Australian in an interview.
Winning a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council has been a government priority since it was pushed by Kevin Rudd - first as prime minister and later as Senator Carr's predecessor.
Following concerted lobbying over the past five years, Australia hopes to win one of the two non-permanent seats to be allocated to the Western Europe and Others Group on the 15-member security council.
The UN general assembly will hold elections in October for the two available seats, which carry two-year terms starting in 2013.
Senator Carr said he raised the Australian government's campaign with Mr Ban as a courtesy, given the UN secretary general was not able to favour one out of the three candidates.
But he told The Australian that Mr Ban acknowledged at the start of their discussions that Australia was an exemplary United Nations member. He believed the UN chief's remarks backed his argument that Australia was a good global citizen eminently qualified to take a position on the security council for the first time in 25 years.
Senator Carr declined to say which countries endorsed the Gillard government's security council push.
But he confirmed - after highlighting their importance in an opinion article for The Australian this week - that support had come from numerous African and Pacific island nations.
Senator Carr argues that Australia is a middle-ranking nation that punches above its weight as a UN contributor, and can be an important voice for small to medium nations on the security council.
After discussions with Mr Ban which also included sanctions against Syria, Senator Carr said he was sceptical about President Bashar al-Assad's government meeting deadlines to end violence against its own people following a peace plan advocated by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.
Australia was willing to back further UN sanctions against Syria if necessary, he said, and he did not rule out the possible expulsion of Syria's ambassador in Canberra.
In the meantime, he confirmed that the Gillard government would provide an additional $5 million to meet humanitarian needs in Syria. About $3 million of this aid would be allocated through the World Food Program, and the rest through the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Senator Carr also expressed the Australian government's concern at Israel's latest decision on tenders for housing construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
While urging restraint by both Israelis and Palestinians, he said the go-ahead for new construction tenders in East Jerusalem and retrospective legalising of Israeli settlements in the West Bank was contrary to previous commitments.
He said the decisions were an unhelpful development when both sides needed to build trust and confidence.
These announcements will not help efforts to bring both parties back to direct negotiations, which is the only path forward to achieving a two-state solution, Senator Carr said.
During his UN visit, Senator Carr raised Iran's nuclear program with Mr Ban and had a phone conversation on the subject with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
He told The Australian that the government was closely following the push for a negotiated settlement to stop Iran developing a nuclear weapon, but he remained sceptical after negative responses from Tehran.
The New York visit is Senator Carr's second big international trip since taking over as foreign minister from Mr Rudd - the first was to Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore.
The UN is special and is claiming a fair bit of time and attention because of our candidacy, he said.
Senator Carr said he told Mr Ban that any Australian entering the UN headquarters would be aware of the legacy of former Labor leader H. V. Evatt in promoting the organisation from its inception with a role for smaller nations.