What instructions, if any, has the Australian Government given to our Ambassador to the United Nations in respect of any proposal from that body to oppose the death penalty.

The Australian Government instructs its Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in New York and Geneva on a range of multilateral issues, including the death penalty.

By way of recent example, in 2006, the Australian Government instructed our Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York for Australia to:

(a)

Join other UN Member States in supporting a statement on the death penalty in the United Nations General Assembly. This statement was delivered on 19 December 2006 by the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Finland on behalf of 85 Member States, including Australia.

(b)

Deliver a statement to the Third Committee of the General Assembly in which we strongly encouraged other Member States to work towards abolition of the death penalty and to join Australia as a State Party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This statement was delivered on 27 October 2006 by Senator Brett Mason, MP, Parliamentary delegate to the Australian delegation to the United Nations.