Thanks to all members who attended the fascinating joint event with Friends of Palestine with special speaker Peter Greste, highly regarded foreign correspondent and former Government House speaker.  Peter’s topic  Dying to tell the story—why frontier journalism has never been more important and never more dangerous, and how correspondents cope was highly topical and insightful, as was Prof Tim McCormack’s brief summary at the end of Peter’s talk on war crimes as they impact on journalists.  Peter asked me to pass on to you how much he enjoyed being in Tasmania and with the AIIA/FoP audience, as well as working with Tim.

If you missed this event it is available to watch on AIIA’s Youtube channel via the link Greste Event

In addition, the February event on Antarctica Treaty : Past, Present and Future is also available by the following link Antarctic Event.

Now, looking forward –

• April 17 at 5.30 the Head of ABC International Services, Claire Gorman, will discuss her role and the importance of soft power in Australia’s relationship in the Indo Pacific. This will be a joint event with the Friends of the ABC; this event will be in the Harvard Rooms at UTas. If you haven’t registered the link is April 17 Event.
• On May 9 Prof Don Rothwell, Professor of International Law at ANU, will speak with us on AUKUS and international law. This is a joint event with the Law School at UTas and will be held at the Law School, starting at 5.30. The registration link is here May 9 Event.  More details on this event will follow.
• On June 26 our topic will be the current state of relations and co-operation between Timor Leste and Australia. Speakers will be the Timor Leste Consul in Tasmania Dr Nitin Verma and Richard Warner, who is the Chair of the Tasmanian Committee of the Crawford Fund and is active in development projects in Timor Leste.  The event will start at 6pm; venue to be confirmed by late April.  Watch out for registrations in early May.

We are also hoping to have a mid year event on the recent elections in Indonesia, and in September an analysis of the upcoming US Presidential elections.  Planning is ongoing for our flagship Government House and Plimsoll Lectures.

There are a couple of interesting study options in relation to Japan which you may like to pass on to colleagues and students.  The first is a joint exercise between the US Studies Centre and the Japan Foundation; A Dialogue and Exchange for Next Generation encompassing two research fellowship programs.  Closing date is June 10 and more information is available from the email below.  Please quote JADE for NextGen in any email queries – shizuka.takada@sydney.edu.au

The second opportunity is an exchange program outlined on the following website – https:/www.jpf.go.jp/project/intel/exchange/jfipp/research/index.html

With discussions now at the highest level on the potential for Japan to become part of AUKUS these opportunities are timely.

On both an AIIA and very personal note, I advise of the death late in March of long-term AIIA member Fred Westwood. Fred has played a role in AIIA events over the past ten years and frequently assisted with transport and other support for our visiting speakers. He was also my husband and dear life partner, so my world has shrunk somewhat without him.

Kim Boyer

April 10, 2024