Outsiders flag intention to apply for club membership

The Australian, Dennis Shanahan, in New York | September 28, 2009

WHEN US President Barack Obama stood at the end of the leaders' summit in Pittsburgh and declared the G20 was the new premier economic forum in the world, there was a confusing background of 25 flags flying on the stage.

That there were so many flags when there are only 19 national members of the G20 is testimony to the tensions and infighting going on beneath the surface about who should be part of the new global economic order.

During months of diplomatic campaigning over the issue, there has been strong opposition, particularly from Europe, to any eclipsing of the G8 as the premier multilateral economic decision-maker, and even more dispute over how big any new body should be and which nations should be members of the group.

From an Australian, Chinese, Brazilian and US standpoint there was little doubt that the G20 - originally including finance ministers and central bankers from 19 countries and the European Union who were brought together to deal with the Asian financial crisis - should be the supreme new body.

Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan have been trying to ensure Australia would be at the table of whatever body was formed arising from the global financial crisis.

Officially the membership of the G20 is Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US, as well as the European Union, represented by the rotating council presidency and the European Central Bank.

So when Mr Obama strode across the stage at Pittsburgh, all 19 of those national flags, plus those of the EU and the UN were behind him, making 21. As the current European council president, Sweden was represented and had its flag flying.

Although temporarily at the G20 through Sweden, the Scandinavian countries want a permanent representative, which would make the G20 the G21.

But there was also the flag of Ethiopia - as a regional representative of the Organisation of African Unity, despite South Africa's permanent membership; and the flag of Thailand, a member of ASEAN, which was present as an Asian regional member, although there are four Asian members.

And then there were the leaders of Spain and The Netherlands. Both were invited guests and are keen to join the G20, although there are four separate European members plus the EU.

After the announcement of the new economic order, Mr Rudd said: "It's important for Australia that our voice be heard in the councils of the world. It's important for Australia that our voice is heard directly - not indirectly through the agency of others - on the major economic decisions of our time."

The Prime Minister went on to thank "the President of the United States and others, including the Prime Minister of India, President Hu Jintao of China, Prime Minister Hatoyama of Japan, President Lee of Korea, President Yodhoyono of Indonesia, President Zuma of South Africa and others for their strong support for the establishment of this new institution as a permanent part of the global governance system of the future".

Apart from naming those who had been helpful - it's also known the Latin American members were supportive - Mr Rudd would not be drawn on the tussle over membership.

Asked about the background to Australia becoming part of the G20, he said: "This was a consensus decision."

However, there are going to be continuing hidden ructions about just who gets to sit at the G20 table, and fly their flag on the group's stage.