Julia Gillard attends UN opening in New York as Security Council vote looms

THE Prime Minister has intensified the push for a seat on the UN security council claiming that Australian lives lost to terrorist acts warranted a stronger voice.

But the big push to secure the remaining votes needed will come tonight when the PM will host a private function for world leaders meeting at the UN General Assembly.

The Prime Minister revealed that the source of sudden and violent illness, which forced her to pull out of key events in New York including a speech and a reception with the US President, was a possible case of food poisoning.

“It was a stomach bug of indeterminate origins… all I can tell you is that one other person on the traveling party got struck down by the same thing … we don’t quite know whether that means we ate something the same or whether it was a virus, but I am alright now.

“I am feeling better. Thank you.”

The PM is believed to have slipped out of the five star Waldorf Astoria for dinner on the night of her arrival in New York for the UN general assembly meeting. The hotel was not the source of the bug.

Speaking from New York, Ms Gillard  would not reveal how the UN bid was going after bi lateral meetings with leaders of Japan, Malawi, Egypt and Liberia.

However, she appeared quietly optimistic that Australia was still in with a chance for one of two seats also being contested by Finland and Luxembourg, which have the backing of the European bloc of nations.

“I will host a reception for UN representatives tonight..we are anticipating a rather large crowd and that will give me opportunity to speak to many of the people who are attending here,” the PM said.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr said he was feeling more confident about Australia’s chances after meeting with counterparts from 10 nations today in New York.

He said he was surprised to receive support from some “unlikely” countries.

Australia’s case was strengthened when Finland made its public pitch for a seat based on little more than the fact it was a stable country that was “ready” to take responsibility.

Ms Gillard, however, is strongly arguing behind closed doors, and her public statements to the UN that Australia was at the centre of a rapidly growing region and had been a force for stability. She also said Australia was at the forefront of the global war on terror.

“We are a nation that has an interest in peace and stability  in our region and around the world,” the PM told reporters.

“We have had Australian lives taken by terrorists…so proscribing terrorist organizations  maters to us, and that happens at the UN security council.”

Describing the process as like a local election, the PM said: “There are some who make up their minds early, a range who make up their minds closer to the event and in some who don’t make up their mind until they put pen to paper.”

Pushed on whether the $24 million spent so far on the bid had blown out to $40 million, the PM admitted that extra resources have been put into the bid but said it would have come from resources already allocated in the normal foreign affairs budget.