Squiz Shortcuts: Australia and the UN Security Council
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What is the purpose of the United Nations and why does it matter?
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In just over a week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, where he's expected to continue the push for Australia to be part of the UN Security Council in 2029 and 2030. Now, if we do get the nod for this, it'll be the first time we've had that job since twenty fourteen. So we thought we'd have a look at what the Security Council actually is, what it does, and what it would mean for Australia if we become part of it. Square shortcuts. Is the backstory to the big news stories. I'm Andrew Williams.
And I'm on a pie kit.
And uh, before we get to the Security Council bit, let's just mark off the United Nations itself. By way of reminder, it began after World War two. The idea was it would be a central body where world nations would work together to solve global problems and perhaps most importantly, given we'd just gone through World War Two, uh prevent World War Three.
Right, but as you might imagine, it's a pretty big undertaking and it doesn't have an army or lawmaking power and any country can ignore what the UN suggests, but there's one room where that isn't quite true.
That is the UN Security Council, an internal UN group of fifteen different countries.
How does the UN Security Council differ from the rest of the UN?
Now, the UN Security Council is a very different beast. The decisions it makes binds all members of the United Nations, and it's the only part of that organization that can authorize the use of force and set up peacekeeping missions. It also basically makes the decision on who gets appointed as the UN's head honcho as well, the UN Secretary General.
So a seat on it is quite a big deal. And while there are fifteen members of the UN Security Council, there are only ten open seats. That's because five seats are permanently occupied by the US, France, China, Russia, and the United Kingdom, together the victors of World War Two.
And if you've been following World Affairs over the last, you know Forever. Uh five countries that seem to have increasingly less in common as time goes by. So they've got five of the fifteen seats. They also have something called veto power, which we'll come back to in just a little bit.
And as for the other ten seats, they're shared between the other 188 members of the United Nations. So a seat on the Security Council lasts for two years and five members are elected every year. So basically the Security Council gets five new members every year.
And it's not the same countries every year that go for it. That would get boring.
What is the veto power and how can it block Security Council decisions?
The allocation of the seats is divided up by regions. So Australia doesn't compete against like Mauritius and Argentina for its seat. We're in a group called, and stay with me here, Western European and others. Now, if you're a geography expert, you might have noticed we are very much not in Western Europe. We would be in the others part of that, along with uh New Zealand and Canada.
Which is also not in Western Europe.
No, it's not in Western Europe. You've hit that on the button now, well done. So to cut so to come out of the WEOG group, as it's regrettably known, and uh claim your seat on the Security Council, you need two thirds of the UN to vote for you. Now that's around a hundred and twenty odd countries. So some wheeling and dealing is required, especially when the other countries in our group are places like Spain, Germany, Israel and Turkey, all countries with major international sway.
So let's take a look at what the UN Security Council actually does and how it works. The council votes on resolutions and it needs nine of fifteen votes to pass one. If you're on the Security Council, you get an opportunity to draft those resolutions, which begs the question, well, what kind of things are we talking about here?
They would be things like maintaining peacekeeping missions, for example, or deciding to issue sanctions on a country that the Security Council or the UN more broadly thinks is misbehaving, or possibly endorsing a peace plan in a war torn region.
How are the ten non‑permanent seats on the Security Council allocated and elected?
That that sort of thing.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the purpose of the United Nations and why does it matter?
0:00–1:18
2
How does the UN Security Council differ from the rest of the UN?
1:18–2:24
3
What is the veto power and how can it block Security Council decisions?
2:24–3:41
4
How are the ten non‑permanent seats on the Security Council allocated and elected?
3:41–4:51
5
Why is Australia campaigning for a seat on the Security Council now?
4:51–6:05
6
What role did Australia play in the MH‑17 resolution during its last Council term?
6:05–7:33
7
What are the main criticisms and costs of pursuing a Security Council seat?
7:33–8:38
8
Who are Australia’s competitors for the 2029‑2030 seat and what is the timeline?
8:38–9:58