Following his address at the Lowy Institute last Friday (podcast & video), Human Rights Executive Director Ken Roth sat down with the Lowy Institute's Michael Fullilove for a quick discussion on what Australia could achieve in its two-year term on the UNSC.
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Roth offers practical and sage advice for Australia to avoid the risk of 'shuffling papers and keeping the seat warm for two years'. Australia should 'choose a priority and run with it intensely' (0:26).
On Australia's efforts to further human rights, Roth gives a relatively positive report (citing Australia's work in North Korea and Burma), but he singles out China and Sri Lanka as places 'where Australia has been most disappointing' (1:55).
On China, Roth suggests Australia must 'multilaterise' with like-minded governments to progress a human rights agenda. Roth advocates for Australian diplomacy to be targeted directly at the Chinese people through expanding social media networks like Weibo, rather than with the foreign ministry (2:02).
Stay tuned for a second video with Ken Roth on human rights and military drones.
