Diplomat in Bougainville & Afghanistan
Posted on: Mon 12 Mar 2018
Diplomat, singer/songwriter and author Fred Smith has been described as Australia’s secret weapon in international diplomacy. He served two years as a career diplomat in Afghanistan, working with Australian soldiers in Uruzgan Province where truth and clarity were often buried, and where young Australians perished, and he served in Bougainville, an island province of Papua New Guinea that recently emerged from ten years of bitter civil war.
Fred became something of a celebrity on Bougainville. His award-winning CD Bagarap Empires about his time in Bougainville won rave reviews. Fred has a profound sense of humour and a willingness to understand people of different regions, religions and customs.
Interviewer Nicky Page
Image: Fred Smith playing to troops at Poppy’s, Afghanistan July 2010.
Photo provided by Fred Smith and approved for use by Radio Adelaide
