UN General Assembly
2008

our membership in the United Nations, we are committed to using creative middle-Power diplomacy to help overcome the great challenges of our age — challenges that are beyond the power of individual nation-States to resolve, that can be overcome only through unprecedented cooperation between States. That is because the problems that we seek to solve in this Hall and through the organs of the United Nations touch every one of our peoples. To advance prosperity and stability at home, we must advance prosperity and stability around the globe. Australia was one of the founding Members of the United Nations. Our Foreign Minister at the time, Herbert Evatt, made a significant contribution at the San Francisco Conference, particularly on the part of small and medium-sized countries. He ensured that the role of the General Assembly was protected in the structure of the Organization as a whole. Sixty years ago this week, he was elected President of the General Assembly at its third session. Evatt was a patriotic Australian. Evatt was equally a passionate internationalist. Sixty years later, this