Adjunct Associate Professor Ian Kemish AM
Fellow
- Bio/Profile
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Mr. Kemish’s 25-year Government career included service as High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, Ambassador to Germany, Head of the Prime Minister’s International division and DFAT’s Southeast Asia Division. He was awarded membership of the Order of Australia for his role, as Chair of the Government’s International Emergency Task Force, in leading the response to the 2002 Bali bombings. Mr. Kemish moved to the private sector in 2013, supporting companies to improve their sustainability and community development outcomes in the Indo-Pacific.
Mr. Kemish is an independent strategic adviser to a number of private and public sector clients. He is the regional representative for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific for the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Education. He is a Director of the Australia-Indonesia Centre at Monash University, a Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute of International Affairs, and an Honorary Fellow at Deakin University. He is Chairman of the not-for-profit Kokoda Track Foundation, a director of 3rd Space, which provides services to the homeless in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, and a Business Champion of the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan.Research Interests
- History of Papua New Guinea, including the building of an oral history collection on the PNG Independence era.
- Modern history of South East Asia and the Pacific
- History of the Australian consular service
- German history and politics
Research Impacts
Adjunct Professor Kemish has a focus on the modern history of Southeast Asia and the Pacific and Australia’s engagement with these regions. This includes a focus on Papua New Guinea, including the building of an oral history collection on the PNG Independence era. This primary record is available via an accessible website to stimulate public interest, including in PNG, in the country's recent history.
Ian writes regularly on current development and international security issues in the Indo-Pacific region for a variety of publications, supporting public discussion on themes of direct interest to Australia. He supports UQ International Development as it works to engage with major development and humanitarian issues in the Indo-Pacific.
Ian's book The Consul will be published on 19 July 2022. It focuses on the recent history of Australia's consular service and its adaptation to the imperatives of the early 21st century - growing traveller numbers, increased expectations, terrorism, arbitrary detention and health threats. These are matters of considerable current interest inluding in the context of abritrary detentions, the war in Ukraine and the resumption of international travel.Publications
- Other Outputs: China's plans for the Pacific do not stop with Solomons
- Other Outputs: The half hour that fundamentally split Germany from Russia
