Explanation of the Australia's vote on the United Nations General Assembly resolution A/64/L.63/Rev.1 on the human right to water and sanitation, as delivered by Ambassador Andrew Goledzinowski on 28 July 2010.
Access to water and sanitation is fundamental to the realisation of a range of human rights. Globally, two-thirds of those without reliable access to clean water live in the Asia-Pacific region; and of our region’s 3.8 billion people, over half do not have access to sanitation.
Australia also acknowledges that access to water and sanitation is of critical importance to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Therefore, Australia has increased development assistance for water and sanitation by $300 million dollars in the last two years.
We appreciate the sincerity of the Plurinational State of Bolivia as the lead sponsor of this resolution, and, respect Bolivia’s commitment on this issue.
Nonetheless, Australia has reservations about the process of declaring new human rights through a General Assembly resolution. In particular, we are concerned that the precise status and nature of such rights will be uncertain. – Uncertainty makes consensus difficult. When we recognise new human rights, consensus is very important.
Australia supports the work of the Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation. We have followed with interest the progress of the Independent Expert’s work in clarifying the content of rights related to access to water and sanitation. This resolution has now been adopted. But we would have preferred that the Independent Expert had been allowed to finalise her work before the tabling of a resolution, so that her work on this subject could be fully taken into account by the General Assembly.