Book Launch: "Helpem Fren" by Professor Michael Wesley
Date: Tuesday March 21, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Venue: Queens College, The University of Melbourne.
Speakers
- Professor Michael Wesley, Deputy Vice Chancellor International at the University of Melbourne
- Mr Dean Wickham, Honorary Consul General to Solomon Islands in Victora
- Debra McDougall, Associate Professor in Anthropology at the University of Melbourne
- Mr Nicholas Coppel, former Special Coordinator of RAMSI
Asialink is pleased to invite you to attend the launch of Helpem Fren (Melbourne University Press, March 2023) by Professor Michael Wesley, Professor of International Relations and Deputy Vice Chancellor International at the University of Melbourne.
Helpem Fren is the first comprehensive history of the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). Drawing on still-classified official documents and over thirty interviews, it records the preconditions, motivations and dynamics of RAMSI between 2003 and 2017. Providing an intimate look at the challenges of interventions and development assistance generally, Helpem Fren is also a portrait of the personalities involved and the complex interactions between two systems that couldn't be more different in culture, wealth, size and capacity.
As Australia confronts the most challenging environment in the Pacific for seventy years, Helpem Fren offers readers a deeper understanding of the recent history of Australia's involvement with Solomon Islands and the Pacific.
For event queries, please contact Grace Corcoran at grace.corcoran@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
Please note: Places are limited.
This is an in-person event and will not be live-streamed.