United Nations

Well I have arrived. 22hours of flying, talk about security... people in Australia really have it so good. Shoes and belts all have to be checked, still better to be safe than sorry. Met with the Consulate General and the Ambassador of the United Nations based in New York on the first day. My collegue Senator Kerry O,Brien was already there accommpanied by his wife. Today Sunday I became familiar with the only way to travel here that being foot and by bus. The apartment is about 30 mins by foot and about the same by bus.. depending on the traffic.
Friday was spent in orienting myself at the UN building and the General Assembly. It was interesting to find out that all of the 147 nations represented are drawn from a hat to see where they will be seated and this year Australia is right at the back.


Security has almost brought the city to a standstill with all of the heads of State in attendance. George Bush will be the guest speaker.


Tomorrow Monday will see me being in attendance at a number of committee meetings, hopefully I won,t get too lost. Must say I feel very honoured to be here both as the member for Gilmore and a representative of the Australian Parliament.

One of my first stops today was to pay tribute at Ground Zero, something I have been wanting to do for a long time. There is still a lot of work to be done on building the "freedom" tower. Will send more details later.