The first Indonesia Council Open Conference was held in Melbourne in July 2001 and hosted by the University of Melbourne. The conference was promoted as a less formal, multi-disciplinary conference, with a particular focus on the presentation of new and innovative work. Participation by postgraduate students and younger staff members was especially encouraged.
Over 90 people registered for the two-day conference. It featured 26 papers across a broad spectrum of topics by postgraduate students and academics from universities in Australia, Indonesia and the US as well as Indonesian NGO activists. The keynote address, given by the late Herb Feith, was entitled "Reaffirming Faith in the Project of Indonesia". Tony Reid launched the book "Near Neighbours: Records on Australia’s Relations with Indonesia " by Karl Metcalf on behalf of the National Archives of Australia.
The great success of the 2001 conference was due to the efforts of Kate McGregor (Conference Co-Convenor) and Jemma Purdey (Postgraduate Member), together with Charles Coppel (Secretary), Greg Barton (Vice President), and Harry Aveling (Co-Convenor and President) as well as the support of both volunteers and participants.
© The Indonesia Council
The Council acknowledges the assistance of the Research School of Pacific & Asian Studies,
at the Australian National University.
This page created in March, 2003
URL: http://indonesiacouncil.anu.edu.au