Since Kevin Rudd's resignation as Foreign Minister there has been plenty of speculation about the future of Australia's bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. While many people view the bid as worthwhile, it remains controversial among a vocal minority, with the Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, Julie Bishop describing it as 'extravagant' and distracting 'form core foreign policy interests'.
Nevertheless, the Gillard Government has reiterated its support for the bid, and although the new Foreign Minister Bob Carr had previously expressed scepticism, since the announcement of his appointment to the ministry he has publicly endorsed it.
This will disappoint those who oppose the bid. These critics have produced a range of arguments, which have then been wheeled out by the Opposition in Parliament. One is that pursuit of a seat on the Council distracts from Australia's primary interests in its immediate region and vis-à-vis China.
However, the bid rests on a broader conception of Australia's interests and the accompanying conviction that it is important that Australia's 'interests' are not reduced to the affairs of our immediate region.
People often talk about Australian national interests as if each interest exists in isolation and as if they are confined within the Asia-Pacific. But, just as nation-states are increasingly integrated into multilateral forums of governance, so national interests are increasingly interrelated — defence, human rights and trade all intersect.
Australia has a tapestry of interrelated interests, many of which are centred outside its immediate region. Transnational issues such as people movement and refugee settlement cannot be managed effectively without global coordination and discussion. So the 'Australia within its region' mindset is both limiting and outdated.
The Asia-Pacific region is not quarantined — it hosts vital international trade routes and is now the scene of heightened strategic competition between the United States and its allies and North Korea and China.
In Australia's immediate region, the presence of 'foreign' powers is growing, with Russia entering into significant arms contracts with Indonesia, France ramping up its military commitment to New Caledonia, India expanding its naval capabilities and China investing large sums in countries like Fiji.
Australia will have to engage with all of these powers and one way of doing so is to be privy to their deliberations in the Security Council.
A