Ian Kemish

And finally, we had a government of the time, a minister called Gareth Evans, who really believed that middle powers could play a role in the big international issues of the day through the multilateral system.

So, you know, all of that required information and analysis there.

And also, you know, I'd speak for Australia from time to time, had a small aid program.

But I was all over the place, and I guess I was the person that ultimately the government was relying on for fresh understanding and knowledge of what was happening there.

Look, I...

I saw some really inspiring things, as I said earlier.

You know, Sarajevo during the siege.

I could tell you all about flak jackets and helmets and driving down Sniper Alley and all that stuff.

But actually, the thing that really stands out in memory is the memory of particularly women, people generally, but particularly women, emerging from, you know, the sometimes rubble of their homes, dressed...

for the day, made up beautifully.

The pride in them was extraordinary to behold.

The determination to keep on living amidst, you know, sporadic artillery and sniper fire from the hills around was truly inspiring.

I also was only a day or so behind the Croatian forces when they swept into and drove out Serbs from a pocket of Croatia called Krajina in the summer of 1995.

So I saw some pretty difficult things then.

You know, the left behind, the elderly, the human cost of this conflict.

So I saw all that.

But the things that have stayed with me have been more on the inspirational side than the dark side, I have to say.

No.

People often, and I understand why, sought to reduce it to that kind of thing.

There were victims on all sides.