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Diplomats and Disasters: Embassies on the Front Line
Sat
25
Sat 25 Oct 10:30 AM
Representatives Chambers | Museum of Australian Democracy Old Parliament House
Wheelchair
General Admission
60 Mins
October
A place of both high policy, support and refuge, the Australian Embassy looms large in the mind of a nation of travellers. Career diplomats Lachlan Strahan (The Curious Diplomat) and Grant Dooley (Bomb Season in Jakarta) show us what it truly means to be on the international front line during a disaster, or as the tectonic plates of global order shift around you. In the space of three years, Dooley was witness - often as a first responder - to a fatal embassy bombing, the Garuda plane crash, the Boxing Day tsunami and aftermath, and the conviction and sentencing of the Bali Nine. As High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands, Strahan was in the thick of negotiations around China’s diplomatic and military reach in the South Pacific. He was also front and centre in Delhi during the Indian student crisis and is one of the few people around who understands what is happening in North Korea. Join them in conversation with respected journalist and editor Karen Middleton to hear why our Australian diplomatic corps is more essential than ever.
Grant Dooley is a former diplomat who served in the Australian Embassy in Jakarta from 2004-07. This period corresponded with a turbulent time in Indonesia’s history, including the 2004 bombing of the Australian Embassy, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Islamic riots, multiple terror attacks and the crash of Garuda Flight 200 in Yogyakarta in 2007, in which five of Grant’s close friends and colleagues died. Not only did Grant bear witness to these events, but he was also a first responder to the Embassy bombing and the Garuda plane crash. Since leaving DFAT in 2012, Grant has carved out a successful career in finance, as a fund manager and private investor, working largely in Asia.
Lachlan Strahan is a historian and former diplomat. Across a 30-year diplomatic career, he was involved in grappling with some of Australia’s biggest international challenges, from managing China’s rise, growing a relationship with India at a tense time, and handling the repercussions of Beijing’s security agreement with Solomon Islands, to tackling climate change, countering weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, defending human rights and coordinating the search for MH370. Lachlan is the author of Australia’s China (1996), Day of Reckoning (2006), and Justice in Kelly Country, which was shortlisted for the 2023 Prime Minister’s Award for History.
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Concession Tickets apply for children under the age of 16, full-time students, Commonwealth Health Care Card holders, Commonwealth Seniors Card Holders and Commonwealth Pensioner Concession Card holders. Please have your eligible card with you at the venue.
Grant Dooley is a former diplomat who served in the Australian Embassy in Jakarta from 2004-07. This period corresponded with a turbulent time in Indonesia’s history, including the 2004 bombing of the Australian Embassy, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Islamic riots, multiple terror attacks and the crash of Garuda Flight 200 in Yogyakarta in 2007, in which five of Grant’s close friends and colleagues died. Not only did Grant bear witness to these events, but he was also a first responder to the Embassy bombing and the Garuda plane crash. Since leaving DFAT in 2012, Grant has carved out a successful career in finance, as a fund manager and private investor, working largely in Asia.
Lachlan Strahan is a historian and former diplomat. Across a 30-year diplomatic career, he was involved in grappling with some of Australia’s biggest international challenges, from managing China’s rise, growing a relationship with India at a tense time, and handling the repercussions of Beijing’s security agreement with Solomon Islands, to tackling climate change, countering weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, defending human rights and coordinating the search for MH370. Lachlan is the author of Australia’s China (1996), Day of Reckoning (2006), and Justice in Kelly Country, which was shortlisted for the 2023 Prime Minister’s Award for History.
_______________________________________________________________
Concession Tickets apply for children under the age of 16, full-time students, Commonwealth Health Care Card holders, Commonwealth Seniors Card Holders and Commonwealth Pensioner Concession Card holders. Please have your eligible card with you at the venue.