Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has used his debut speech to the United Nations to renew Australia’s bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.

Pushing the case for Australia, Albanese said the Security Council was a platform for middle powers and small nations to “voice – and achieve – our aspirations”.

“That is why Australia is seeking a place on the UN Security Council in 2029-30,” said Albanese on Thursday (AEST).

The security council bid, which was first launched by the Turnbull government in 2015, is supported by the Coalition.

But Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and foreign spokeswoman Michaelia Cash warned it could not detract from addressing pressures Australians faced at home.

“The Coalition will always back Australia’s national interest and we stand ready to work with the government in any way we can to help support Australia’s bid for a seat at the table,” they said in a statement.

US President Donald Trump has been leaning on America’s allies to pull more of their weight on the world stage amid a perception they are too reliant on US support.

Amid increasing US isolationism, Albanese warned that America could not be relied upon to uphold the international rules-based order on its own.

“The creation of the international rules-based order owes much to the post-war leadership of the United States of America,” Albanese told the UN General Assembly in New York.

“For the region Australia calls home, that stability has underpinned a generational economic transformation.

“But we cannot ask — and should not expect — any one nation to uphold the rules or guarantee the security on which all of us depend.”

Australia last had a non-permanent seat on the council in the 2013-2014 term — its fifth since the first UN session in 1946.

In a wide-ranging speech, Albanese also exhorted the world’s nations to co-operate with more action on climate change and peacekeeping.

Albanese called for an end to conflict in Gaza and Ukraine, and alleviating poverty and inequality.

His appeal for greater international co-operation comes with the US under Trump increasingly vacating its space as global leader and the rules-based order threatened by the rise of authoritarianism and regional conflict.

Albanese’s speech came a day after Trump delivered a fiery tirade in the same room, lambasting nations like Australia that have recognised Palestinian statehood and telling European leaders: “Your countries are going to hell.”

Trump has leaned on America’s allies to pull more of their weight on the world stage amid a perception they are too reliant on US support. Australia has so far resisted calls to lift defence spending from about 2 per cent to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product.

The issue could be on the agenda when Albanese sits down with Trump in Washington on October 20, after months of back-and-forth to secure a face-to-face meeting.

The White House talks were announced before Albanese briefly met Trump and posed for a selfie with him at a reception for world leaders on Wednesday.

Albanese described their interaction as a “very warm and engaging chat”.

He said Australia was investing in defence, development and diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific region, where the US has entrusted it to stave off growing Chinese influence.

He said Papua New Guinea would soon become Australia’s newest ally, despite a recent bid to sign a mutual defence treaty unravelling during independence anniversary celebrations.

All nations, including middle and smaller powers like Australia, had to maintain faith in the institution of the UN by ensuring its principles were backed up with deeds, Albanese said.

“If the United Nations steps back, we all lose ground,” he said.

“If we give people reason to doubt the value of co-operation, then the risk of conflict becoming the default option grows.

“If we allow any nation to imagine itself outside the rules, or above them, then the sovereignty of every nation is eroded.”

Albanese urged the world to embrace clean energy, called for a ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza, and supported the Coalition of the Willing’s efforts to secure peace for Ukraine on their terms.

But there was no mention of the pivotal AUKUS deal with the US and Britain, under which Australia is supposed to get US-made nuclear submarines.

The US is reviewing the three-country agreement to ensure it aligns with Trump’s “America first” agenda.

Albanese is due to meet his Sri Lankan counterpart and potentially sit down with Turkey’s strongman leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on his last full day in the US. He then flies to London to meet British counterpart Keir Starmer and the King.

-with AAP