Former News Corp broadcasting head McKenna named consul general to New York

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese formally launched the country’s bid for a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council in 2029 and 2030, announcing the campaign on Monday Australian time from New York, where he is attending the UN General Assembly.

The vote for the rotating seat will not be held until mid-2028, but Albanese’s lobbying will intensify during his current visit. Australia and Finland are the only two countries so far to declare candidacies for one of the two seats held by the Western Europe and Others group, though other countries from the bloc could still enter the race.

Even if the two declared candidates run unopposed, Australia would still need support from two-thirds of the UN’s 193 member states to win the seat. Of the council’s 15 members, China, France, the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia hold permanent seats with veto power; the remaining ten members serve two-year terms.

Australia has served on the Security Council five times since the UN was established after the second world war. Its most recent stint, in 2013 and 2014, saw Australia lead the international response to the Russian downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Albanese cited that record as evidence of what a council seat could achieve.

“We do need to stand up to the Middle East conflict. I think there is a role for middle powers to engage, and Australia has done that as we’ve engaged with the war in Ukraine in the coalition of the willing,” Albanese told reporters in New York.

The new campaign, titled “we listen, we partner, we protect,” will emphasize Australia’s role in the Pacific, action on climate change in the region, Australia’s status as the first country in the world to ban people under 16 from social media, and recent efforts to place guardrails on the expanding use of artificial intelligence.

Albanese framed the bid in domestic economic terms. “Engagement with the world matters. It matters because it makes a difference to the cost of living, to inflation, to Australians’ way of life,” he said. “That is why we can’t afford to not be engaged with the world, because it has a direct impact on the quality of life of Australians on a day-to-day basis.”

He added: “We have an opportunity through this potential seat on the UN security council to play a key role in shaping the global issues that really matter to Australians.”

Alongside the bid, Albanese named Siobhan McKenna — a former News Corp head of broadcasting, current chair of Australia Post, and former chair of the NBN — as Australia’s next consul general to New York. She will take up the role later this year.

“Siobhan is someone who will bring a great deal of financial and economic capacity to the role,” Albanese said of the appointment.

The prime minister said he was optimistic of securing support from Pacific nations, as well as from countries in the Asean pact in south-east Asia.