Speaker biographies
Rod Barton
Rod Barton is a former director of intelligence responsible for monitoring overseas developments of Weapons of Mass Destruction. In 1991 he became a UN weapons inspector, a job that he was to work at for the next 13 years, including as a special advisor to Hans Blix. Following the 2003 Iraq war he was employed as the senior advisor to the CIA in the futile hunt for Iraq's missing weapons. He is the author of The Weapons Detective: The Inside Story of Australia’s Top Weapons Inspector (Black Inc).
James Batley
Mr Batley was born in Sydney and joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1984.
Early in his career Mr Batley served in the Australian High Commission in Port Vila (1985-88), the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby (1990-93) and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta (1995-97). From 1997-1999 he was Australia’s High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, concurrently serving in senior positions on the Bougainville Truce and Peace Monitoring Groups. From 1999-2002 Mr Batley served as Australia’s senior diplomatic representative in Dili, East Timor, and he was appointed Australia’s first Ambassador to East Timor at independence in May 2002.
From August 2004 to November 2006 Mr Batley worked as Special Coordinator of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands. He took up his current position as Australian High Commissioner to Fiji (with concurrent accreditation to Tuvalu and Nauru) in January 2007.
Mr Batley has also served in a range of positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra.
Alex Bellamy
Alex Bellamy is Professor of International Relations at the University of Queensland, Australia. Before this he taught Defence Studies for King's College London at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, UK. He is author, co-author or editor of ten books on themes such as peace operations and the ethics and laws of war. They include (with Paul Williams and Stuart Griffin), Understanding Peacekeeping (Polity, 2004) and Just Wars: From Cicero to Iraq (Polity, 2006). He is currently writing The Responsibility to Protect: The Global Effort to End Mass Atrocities.
John Braithwaite
John Braithwaite is an Australian Research Council Federation Fellow and Founder of RegNet (the Regulatory Institutions Network) in the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University. He is embarked upon a 20-year comparative project on Peacebuilding and Responsive Governance with Hilary Charlesworth, Valerie Braithwaite and Leah Dunn.
Dr Bob Breen
Bob Breen’s experience in first-hand research on international and regional peace support missions began in Somalia in 1993 and continued in Rwanda, the Middle East, Mozambique, Bougainville and East Timor periodically until 2002 when he began a PhD program at ANU, graduating in 2006. He has published two books and a monograph on Australia’s military participation in peace missions in Somalia, Bougainville and East Timor. Currently, he is writing the official history of Australian peacekeeping in the South Pacific during the period 1980-2005.
Major General (Retd) Tim Ford, AO
Tim Ford is based in Sydney as an international peace and security consultant. He retired from the Australian Army in 2003, following an extensive career in the Australian Defence Force and the United Nations.
During his military career, General Ford served in a wide variety of command, staff, and training appointments in Australia and overseas, including operational service in South Vietnam. He was promoted to Major General in l996 to assume command of the 1st Division and the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters.
From 1998 until 2002, Major General Ford served in a number of high ranking United Nations peacekeeping appointments including as the Head of Mission of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) in the Middle East, and as the Chief Military Adviser in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at UN Headquarters, New York.
Over the last five years, Tim Ford has undertaken a wide range of projects for the Australian Government, the United Nations, the African Union, and other International Organisations as a mentor, adviser and consultant on international peace and security issues. He has travelled widely to conflict areas, and contributed to a broad range of international investigations, seminars, peace operations training courses and conferences as a “keynote” speaker, subject matter expert and presenter. Tim is a thesis adviser for the UNITAR Programme of Correspondence Instruction course and author of their “Commanding UN Operations” course. He has also assisted the UN to develop the strategic leadership module of the UN Senior Mission Leadership (SML) Course and has been a senior mentor for this course since its inception in 2004.
Tim was educated at North Sydney Boy’s High School, the Royal Military College Duntroon, and Sydney University. He is a graduate of the Indian Defence Services Staff College, the Australian Joint Services Staff College, the US Army War College, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
At present Tim is also holding honorary appointments as the Representative Colonel Commandant of the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, and as the Chairman of the Australian Peacekeeping Memorial Project. (www.peacekeepingmemorial.org.au)
Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie, AO, DSC, CSM
Vice Chief of the Defence Force
Lieutenant General Kenneth (Ken) James Gillespie was born in Brisbane on 28 June 1952. He enlisted in the Australian Army as an apprentice in 1968. He graduated from the Officer Cadet School, Portsea in 1972 and was commissioned into the corps of the Royal Australian Engineers.
Lieutenant General Gillespie has held a range of regimental and staff appointments. These include: instructor appointments at the School of Military Engineering and 1st Recruit Training Battalion; regimental appointments in the rank of Captain and Major in the 2nd, 5th, and 2nd/3rd Field Engineer Regiments and the 1st Construction Regiment; Company Commander at the Army Apprentices School; and Senior Instructor at the School of Military Engineering.
During 1986 and 1987 he was the Australian Exchange Instructor at the Royal School of Military Engineering in the United Kingdom. In 1989 he raised, and then deployed as the second in command and operations officer, the 2nd Australian Contingent to the United Nations Transition Assistance Group in Namibia. In 1990/91 he was the Standing Chairman of the Quadripartite Working Group - Engineers in the ABCA Armies Agreement. In 1999 and 2000 he was the Senior National Officer for Australia in the ABCA Program.
In 1985 he attended the Australian Command and Staff College, Queenscliff. In 1991 he attended the Australian Joint Services Staff College where he earned a Graduate Diploma in Strategic Studies. In 1998 he was a member of the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom.
Senior appointments have included: the inaugural commanding officer of the 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment, Staff Officer Operations to the Chief of the Defence Force, inaugural commander of the Australian Theatre Joint Intelligence Centre (ASTJIC), and the inaugural Principal Staff Officer - Intelligence, Headquarters Australian Theatre. Lieutenant General Gillespie was promoted to Brigadier in January 1999. In this rank he was the Chief of Staff Training Command - Army, he commanded the United Nations Sector West multinational brigade in East Timor, and he was the National Commander of Australia's contribution to Operation Enduring Freedom.
For his service as the Commander Australian Contingent, Operation Slipper, Lieutenant General Gillespie was advanced to Officer of the Order of Australia in the Military Division, having previously been a Member of the Order for his service as Commander ASTJIC. He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his command and leadership in East Timor in 2000/2001 and the Conspicuous Service Medal for his work in Namibia in 1989/90.
Lieutenant General Gillespie was appointed as Land Commander Australia in January 2004. He was promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed as Vice Chief of the Defence Force in July 2005.
He is married to Carmel and they have a student daughter. He has two grown children from a previous marriage. He is well travelled, enjoys most sports, particularly golf, and is a keen reader.
Major General Ian Gordon, AO
Major General Ian Gordon, AO graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1973 and was allocated to the Royal Australian Corps of Signals. He undertook a range of regimental and technical staff appointments and attended the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham, UK. He completed the Army Command and Staff College course at Queenscliff in 1985.
In 1990 Major General Gordon was posted to command the 1st Signals Regiment in Brisbane. In 1991 he commanded the first Australian Contingent with the UN Mission for a referendum in Western Sahara, MINURSO. For his service as CO 1 SIG REGT and command of the first contingent for MINURSO he was awarded the AM.
Major General Gordon was Director of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals from 1993 until 1995 and in 1996 he attended the Australian College of Defence and Strategic Studies. In 1998 he was appointed as Commandant of the Army Command and Staff College. In January 2000, Major General Gordon assumed the appointment of Director General Personnel - Army.
In September 2001, Major General Gordon was promoted to his current rank and posted to East Timor as the Deputy Commander, United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET), Peace Keeping Force. He
served in this appointment until September 2002, after which he returned to Australia to take up the appointment as Commander, Training Command - Army. He assumed the appointment of Deputy Chief of the Army in May 2004. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia on the 26th January 2006 for his distinguished service to the Australian Defence Force in senior command and staff appointments.
In December 2006, Major General Gordon was seconded to the United Nations to serve as the Chief of Staff and Head of Mission of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation in Jerusalem.
Major General Gordon is married to Ula and they have three children. His hobbies include scuba diving, touch rugby, restoring cars, reading and bushwalking.
Federal Agent Erica Hanisch
Federal Agent Erica Hanisch has over 18 years experience with the Australian Federal Police, almost half of which has been in some kind of peacekeeping or overseas mission role. Her first mission was to Cyprus in 1999 and she has just returned from a second tour in Timor Leste. She has also served twice in the Middle East, and the Solomon Islands.
Comdr (Retd) Geoffrey Alan Hazel, APM
On his 17th birthday, after a childhood being in and around army camps, Geoff made that momentous trip to the Army Recruiting Centre in Sydney. On 24 May 1965 he took his first steps as a soldier. This was the time of national service so a young regular soldier had to perform very well if he was join the infantry.
Infantry training was followed by a posting to 3 RAR and training as an infantry signaller. Apart from training and exercises there was a short trip to Hobart to help out with the fires of 1967. Then all the training came to fruition as part of the 3 RAR deployment to South Vietnam in 1967/68.
At the conclusion of that tour Geoff was posted to 1 RTB as an instructor. In the following 18 months he also qualified himself as a training coordinator. About this time came the first offer for promotion to sergeant, but at the same time there was an offer for a position on AATTV. This was an offer that he could not refuse. After a second tour of duty in South Vietnam he was promoted and posted to Drill Wing RMC.
Here is where the career took a significant turn. Because of staffing numbers he was again transferred to 1 RTB. The direct result of that was that on 11 September 1972 he was sworn in as a Constable in the ACT Police Force.
Between 1972 and 1990 he performed a variety of policing roles in uniform and plain clothes. This included operational work, training, personnel, media liaison, operational planning and a deployment to Darwin in response to Cyclone Tracey. In October 1979 the ACT Police became a central part of the creation of the Australian Federal Police.
In December 1990 he was first promoted to commissioned rank and from 1990 to 2004 he commanded various operational, specialist, and administrative units.
It was about this time that his son completed his schooling and Geoff now sought overseas deployments. He subsequently served on the following peacekeeping operations.
1992 – 1993 United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). UN Police Operational Commander for Sectors 1 & 2. UN Police Humanitarian Officer. Contingent Administrative Officer.
1994 United Nations Operation, Mozambique (ONUMOZ). Contingent Commander 2nd Australian Contingent. UN appointment - Chief Regional Investigations Officer.
1999 United Nations Assistance Mission, East Timor (UNAMET). Regional Commander of UN Police in Ermera Regency.
2001 International Peace Monitoring Team, Solomon Islands. Coordinator of all IPMT activities (Political, Police, Military and Administrative) on the Island of Maliata.
2003 –2004 United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). Commander UN Police, Commander Australian Contingent.
In 2004 he retired from the AFP and undertook contract consultancy work. This included television work with Bslm Productions on "Answered by Fire"; the ACT Emergency Service Authority in the upgrading of counter disaster plans and exercise management; and with DynCorps Australia on a number of tenders in which they were involved.
His service in East Timor in 1999 resulted in Geoff, and all other members of the AFP contingent, being awarded the Australian Group Bravery Citation. Previously he had been awarded the UN Commissioner’s Commendation in Mozambique and in 2001 received the Australian Police Medal in the New Years honours list.
Andrew Hewett
Executive Director, Oxfam Australia
Andrew Hewett became Executive Director of Oxfam Australia in October, 2001, having worked with Oxfam Australia (formally Oxfam Community Aid Abroad) since 1991.
Andrew initially established the agency’s advocacy program, the organisation’s increasing focus on lobbying governments, public education and campaigning on social justice and development issues. Over the years his responsibilities expanded to include Oxfam Australia’s domestic program and the coordination of Oxfam International’s response to the crisis in Timor from 1999 - 2001.
Andrew has also observed the Cancun and Hong Kong Ministerial conferences of the World Trade Organisation.
Andrew is the vice-president of the Executive Committee of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), the peak council of non-government overseas development agencies.
He has visited Oxfam Australia programs in East Asia, South Asia, the Pacific, Central America, Southern Africa and the Horn of Africa as well as its programs working with Indigenous Australians.
He also visited India and Sri Lanka in mid-January 2005 to visit tsunami affected areas.
David Horner
David Horner is the professor of Australian defence history in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University. A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, the Australian Army’s Command and Staff College, the University of New South Wales and the Australian National University, he served as an infantry platoon commander in Vietnam and had various regimental and staff appointments until he retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1990. He is the author or editor of 25 books on Australian military history, strategy and defence, including Crisis of Command (1978), High Command (1982), SAS: Phantoms of the Jungle (1989), Inside the War Cabinet (1996), Blamey: The Commander-in-Chief (1998), Defence Supremo (2000), Making the Australian Defence Force (2001) and Strategic Command, General Sir John Wilton and Australia’s Asian Wars (2005). He is the editor of the Australian Army’s military history series and has been the historical consultant for various television programs. As an Army Reserve colonel, from 1998 to 2002 he was the first Head of the Australian Army’s Land Warfare Studies Centre. In 2004 he was appointed the Official Historian of Australian Peacekeeping and Post-Cold War Operations.
Colonel Keith D Howard, RFD ED (Retd)
Keith Howard was born in November 1920. In December 1938. He joined the 16th Battalion (Militia) in Perth and was commissioned in September 1940. He was accepted in the AIF in May 1941 and served until 1946. Post-war service in CMF commenced with 16th Battalion in 1948. He was appointed Lieutenant Colonel commanding 10th Light Horse Regiment 1955-1959 and finally Colonel commanding 1st Royal Western Australia Regiment Battle Group 1964-1966.
This last was the senior CMF appointment in Western Australia at this time, and he now faced an inactive service future. He requested a UN Military Observer appointment, offering to accept a reduction of rank to Major. It was agreed and Howard reported to UNTSO HQ in Jerusalem on Monday 6 June 1967, becoming embroiled immediately in the upheaval in UNTSO operations caused by the '6 Day War' now commencing. His work was assisting with the relocation of a series of UN Observation Posts along the new Israeli occupation line on the Golan Heights.
In 1968 Howard was appointed OIC of the UNTSO Golan operations based in Tiberias, followed in 1969 by a similar appointment on the Suez Canal based in Kantara/Rabah. At UN request he was promoted back to Lieutenant Colonel in 1970 and commended for his work by the Australian CGS, Sir Thomas Daly.
Following the so called 'Yom Kippur' War of October in 1973, Howard was appointed Chief of Personnel and Logistics of the new UN Emergency Force being raised to interpose between Israeli and Egyptian armies. When the situation had stabilised in 1974, he was recalled to UNTSO and appointed Senior Staff Officer (Deputy Commander), directly responsible for the activities of UNTSO's 300 military officers from 17 different nations. Delay during 1974 in the appointment of a new Head of Mission (Major General) left Howard as acting head for six months, reporting directly to the UN Secretary General in New York.
Again at the UN's request, Australia restored his original rank of Colonel and he remained at UNTSO HQ in Jerusalem until his mandatory retirement from the Australian Regular Army in 1977.
Dr Peter Londey
Dr Peter Londey, a refugee from the world of ancient Greek history, has worked as a senior historian at the Australian War Memorial since 1991. In 2004 he published the first (and so far only) book-length narrative history of Australian peacekeeping, Other people’s wars (available from the Memorial Shop; discount to conference delegates!). He is now writing the first volume of Australia’s Official History of Peacekeeping and Post–Cold War Operations.
Ian Mansfield
Operations Director of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD)
Ian Mansfield is the Operations Director of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) based in Geneva, Switzerland – a post he has held since July 2002. Prior to that he worked for the United Nations in New York, and on field assignments in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Laos. Before joining the UN, Ian served as an engineer officer in the Australian Army for 22 years.
The GICHD (www.gichd.org) assists countries who must deal with the problem of landmines and explosive remnants of war, and also supports the various international treaties dealing with the issue. As Operations Director, Ian oversees all the operational, technical and research activities carried out by the Centre. Ian travels widely to war torn countries, and has published numerous articles on many aspects of mine action.
During his lengthy involvement in mine action, Ian has been a part of the increased strength and professionalization of mine action as it evolved rapidly as a specific sector of expertise within broader relief and development efforts.
From 1998 to 2002, Ian was the Mine Action Team Leader with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York. He provided policy advice, resource mobilization and programme support to UN headquarters, and to the 20 UNDP country offices which supported national mine action programmes. He also established a management training course with a British university, and initiated a comprehensive study into the socio-economic aspects of mine action.
Between 1991 and 1998, Ian gained extensive field experience managing large scale UN mine action programmes, including Afghanistan, Laos and Bosnia. In Afghanistan, he managed a large humanitarian programme, which spanned three countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran) and employed over 3,500 people. In Laos he advised the government on establishing the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme, better known as UXO LAO. In Bosnia, he oversaw the delicate transfer of a UN programme to government control.
During his military career, Ian held a variety of command, field, training and headquarters jobs. His final posting was as Commanding Officer of the Australian Army Team in Pakistan where he had national command responsibilities, and doubled in a United Nations appointment. He was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross in the 1993 Australia Day Honours list. Ian served in most states of Australia, as well as Papua New Guinea, the USA, Canada and Pakistan.
Ian’s formal training reflects both his military and subsequent career. He holds both a Masters in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Civil Engineering. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College Duntroon, and the Army Command and Staff College. Ian is also pleased to serve as an honorary Ambassador for the non-governmental organization, AUSTCARE, which provides support to refugees.
Roger Powell
Roger enjoyed a very successful 34 year career in the Australian Army, commanding at all levels from Lieutenant to Major General, following which he began executive consulting in July 2002. He has received a first class exposure to leadership at all levels, serving throughout the world in operational, training and staff environments.
Roger describes his career highlights in the profession of arms as being given the opportunity to lead a variety of complex, multicultural teams with diverse interests, where true consensus was ever challenging and exciting. He has served in the USA, where he obtained a Masters Degree in Educational Psychology, in Europe on exchange with the British Army, commanding troops in Germany and England. His focus towards the end of his military career was in the Asia Pacific Region where he travelled extensively, assisting in regional engagement and diplomacy. His most challenging and rewarding professional experiences were in command appointments on peacekeeping assignments in Bougainville, PNG in 1998; and then in East Timor in 2001. In both these roles he led multi-national forces involved in rebuilding devastated communities.
Roger has personally directed and guided substantial organisational reform, involving major shifts in cultural institutional behaviour, the success of which was publicly recognised through the award of an AM. Roger’s achievements have also been recognised by Florida State University in the award of Outstanding Alumnus for contributions to the field of Education and Training Systems.
Roger is maintaining an ongoing strong professional interest in education and training initiatives, particularly focused on the importance they have in the leadership of successful organisations. He is now consulting, coaching and mentoring senior executives in the private and public sectors.
Federal Agent Delia Quigley
Federal Agent Delia Quigley has nearly 25 years experience with the Australian Federal Police. Her first overseas mission was in 1994 to Haiti as one of only three policewomen on a one-off contingent of 30 police officers from AFP, Queensland and Victoria on Operation Uphold Democracy. Dee has since worked on missions in Timor Leste, Cyprus, Jordan International Police Training Centre, and the Solomon Islands. She has written a number of articles for Australian Policing Journals and also conducted presentations on Women in Peacekeeping. She is a life member of the Australasian Council of Women and Policing (ACWAP) and a founding member of Women in International Security Australia (WIISA). Dee will share some of her experiences and relate the value of women within the peacekeeping environment.
Michael G. Smith, AO
Chief Executive Officer, Austcare
Major General (Retd)
Michael (Mike) Smith was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Austcare in December 2002. Austcare is an independent and non-sectarian non-profit humanitarian aid and development organisation based in Sydney, Australia, which has worked in more than 30 countries for 40 years. Austcare’s particular focus is on human security and poverty reduction in emergency, conflict and post-conflict situations – principally, protection, peacebuilding and sustainable development of displaced people and their host communities, and those affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war.
Mike was on the Executive Committee of the Australian Council for International Development in 2003-05. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance at Griffith University; a Member of the National Consultative Committee on International Security Issues to the Foreign Minister; a Member of the International Advisory Board of the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy at the Australian National University; and a Rotarian.
Previously, Mike served with the Australian Defence Force, retiring in February 2002 with the rank of Major General. His last assignment was as Deputy Force Commander for the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). His book Peacekeeping in East Timor: the Path to Independence (Lynne Rienner, 2003) and his chapter on “East Timor” in Twenty-First-Century Peace Operations (William J. Durch (Ed), USIP, 2007) identifies the lessons for intervention and peacebuilding.
During his service, General Smith held command appointments from platoon to brigade level, and he saw service in Cambodia, East Timor, Kashmir and Papua New Guinea, where he experienced the tragedies caused by poverty and landmines. In 1998, he was team leader and principal author for the Australian Army's keystone strategic doctrine The Fundamentals of Land Warfare. He has published articles on issues of national and human security, strategy and defence, and peacekeeping and peacebuilding.
Mike was educated at Sydney Boys’ High School. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College Duntroon, the Australian Army Command and Staff College, and the Australian Defence College. He holds a BA in History from the University of New South Wales, and an MA in International Relations from the Australian National University. He has a Diploma of Management and is a Member of the Corporate Directors’ Association, having completed the Company Directors Course at the University of New England.
Mike is married to Margaret Bain-Smith, and they have three adult sons. Mike is a struggling golfer, discerning rugby spectator, and enjoys reading, music and the theatre
Lieutenant General (Retd) John Sanderson, AC
Lieutenant General (Retd) John Sanderson, AC retired from the position of Governor of his home state, Western Australia, in October 2005 after more than five years in that role. For most of the preceding 40 years he was engaged at the operational and strategic levels of defence and security planning. During his military career he commanded at all levels including on operational service in Borneo, Vietnam and Cambodia. He was Chief of the Australian Army 1995-1998 and commanded the United Nations Peacekeeping Force during the period of UN transition authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) from the beginning of the mission in March 1992 until its successful completion in October 1993.
Lieutenant General Sanderson has had a long term interest in the philosophy and the practical dimensions of international intervention and is widely published on these subjects. He has lectured on the subject of peace building at many institutions and has been a strong advocate of human rights as the basis of national and international reconciliation. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College Duntroon, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, the Australian Staff College, the Joint Services Staff College and the United States Army War College.
His services have been recognized by the award of Member of the Order of Australia (1985), Officer of the Order (1991), Companion of the Order (1994), The United States of America Legion of Merit (Commander Class) and the Grand Cross of the Royal Cambodian Order (2006). A civil engineer by background, he is an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia and holds honorary doctorates from a number of institutions. He is an Adjunct Professor of both Murdoch University and Griffith University.