FED:Queries on Rudd sharing UN, minister job

AAP General News (Australia)
08-10-2010
FED:Queries on Rudd sharing UN, minister job

By Cathy Alexander

CANBERRA, Aug 10 AAP - Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has been appointed to a high-level
United Nations panel on climate change - but it's not clear if it will help or hinder
his bid to be foreign minister.

The 21-member panel is made up of current and former world leaders, and foreign and
environment ministers.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the panelists would look at how the world could
lift people out of poverty while tackling climate change. It's expected to meet three
times before wrapping up at the end of 2011.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has promised Mr Rudd a senior role in cabinet if Labor
wins the election; there is speculation he will be foreign minister.

The UN job may boost Mr Rudd's chances because the panel boasts serving leaders and
ministers, and it's a recognition of his high-profile international standing on climate
change.

Mr Rudd said he could do the unpaid UN job while serving as an MP.

"Climate change is important and this is a way in which I can make a modest contribution
to the future of acting globally and nationally on climate change," he told reporters
in Brisbane.

But the opposition says Mr Rudd would only be a "part-time foreign minister", which
was not good enough.

"It's now official, former prime minister Rudd does have a part-time job with the United
Nations," Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.

The man Mr Rudd would displace as foreign minister, Labor's Stephen Smith, was asked
if Mr Rudd could do both jobs. Mr Smith only commented on his ability to be an MP.

"My own judgment is that this is something which, just as President Zuma from South
Africa can handle over the next 18 months, so can Kevin Rudd as a member of parliament,"

Mr Smith told Sky News. South African President Jacob Zuma will co-chair the UN panel.

Mr Ban told reporters in New York that he had asked the panel to "think big".

"We need a new blueprint for a more livable, prosperous and sustainable future for all," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Abbott has criticised Labor's handling of foreign affairs, accusing the
government of bungling relations with key Asian nations.

"Certainly some important relationships have been mishandled," he told reporters.

Relations with Indonesia hit a low point last year with the standoff over asylum seekers
on the Oceanic Viking vessel, he said.

The government had neglected Japan, and the coalition would boost relations with India
by allowing exports of uranium, which Labor forbids.

Mr Abbott promised to improve Australia's international standing if he won the election.

The election campaign will turn to foreign affairs on Thursday when Mr Smith and opposition
foreign spokeswoman Julie Bishop go head-to-head in a debate in Canberra.

AAP ca/mm/apm

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