Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (14:12): On 18 October Australia was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2013 and 2014. Honourable members: Hear, hear! Ms GILLARD: This is good news for our country and has been warmly welcomed, as it has just been welcomed in this House. It is the first time in 27 years that Australia will sit on the Security Council. That is too long for a country of Australia's size and influence on the world stage. I am proud that a strong commitment to the United Nations has been an enduring theme of foreign policy under successive Labor governments. We have just had a motion of condolence on the loss of Corporal Smith and our mission in Afghanistan. For those Australians who ask themselves, 'Does the United Nations matter to us?' I say: of course the United Nations does matter to us. We are in Afghanistan in a mission with the UN involved. Our mission in East Timor has been one oversighted by the UN. Some of the most intractable and difficult problems facing our world—including the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, the endeavours to stop the fighting in Syria and the continuing fight against terrorism and extremism—are being worked on by the UN. And the values of the UN are ones that we share: peace, security, human rights, equality and a fair go. So, the United Nations does matter to Australia, and now a voice with an Australian accent will be heard at the table of the Security Council. This is a result that all Australians can be proud of. Our election to the Security Council shows that our standing at the UN is high and our bilateral relationships around the world are in good shape. As I did on the day that the news came through that we had been elected to the Security Council, I would like to offer my thanks to those involved in the campaign: former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, for having the vision for launching Australia's bid and for his enthusiasm in following that vision as foreign minister; for the work undertaken by Stephen Smith as foreign minister; for the enthusiasm of Senator Bob Carr in pursuing this campaign in its final stages; for the relentless work of parliamentary secretary Richard Marles, who has been dispatched around the world on the Security Council campaign; and to the Minister for Trade, who has played a role in his international engagements in putting forward Australia's credentials for the campaign. I would like, too, to thank our diplomats around the world for everything that they have done, particularly Gary Quinlan, our Ambassador to the United Nations. But I would particularly like to thank, in addition to our diplomats, the AusAID workers, Defence personnel and police of Australia, who go around the world. The reason our reputation is so high in so many nations around the world is that they have gone there and, with courage and with endeavour, they have helped—and I think this one's for them. Thank you very much.