Past conversations

Browse past conversations, a regular gathering bringing visiting scholars and University staff and students together for conversations on issues that matter in Oceania today.

2025 Conversations

Geopolitical change and everyday life in Oceania - Higher education

Prof. Transform Aqorau and Prof. Michael Wesley (June, 2025)

A large group of people standing and smiling, some kneeling
Professors Transform Aqorau and Michael Wesley (centre left) with attendees (June, 2025).

Across the Pacific Ocean, nations and territories are finding themselves at the centre of increasingly complex and contradictory geopolitical dynamics. As China continues to increase political and commercial engagement across the region, the United States under the new Trump administration is hastily withdrawing. As Australia is expanding its development assistance and migration agreements, New Zealand is wavering, while the US is seeking to deport hundreds of Pasifika peoples back to islands where many have never lived. There is no shortage of analysis and commentary on these changes, but most focuses on implications for global and regional power relations rather than on the lives of people living in the region. This themed series of conversations brings leading thinkers from the region to reflect on the impact of geopolitical change on the everyday lives of people across Oceania.

Professor Transform Aqorau is the Vice-Chancellor of Solomon Islands National University. An accomplished academic and administrator with over 30 years of experience, he served as a Legal Counsel and Deputy Director-General of Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency and Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement Office.

Professor Michael Wesley is The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global, Culture and Engagement) at University of Melbourne, providing leadership across the University on the University’s service to and engagement with stakeholders, partners, government and community, both locally and globally.

A group of staff and students seated and standing, posing for photo
Ali'ilemanu Dr. Bernadette Samau-Sila (front-centre) with UoM staff and students at the conclusion of her presentation (May, 2025).

Afa (Sinnet): Transferring Cultural Meanings Beyond Oceania

Ali'ilemanu Dr. Bernadette Samau-Sila (May, 2025)

The Samoan afa (sinnet) is a significant cultural product traditionally used in building, architecture, and traditional ornamentation in Samoan society. The cultural meanings attached to afa are deeply embedded in the values and beliefs of the Samoan people. Such meanings are created in the Samoan constituted world and transit from one place to another through the exchange, possession, grooming, and divestment rituals. This talanoa highlighted the exchange ritual of Sinnet garments, transferring cultural meaning of the afa to promote and preserve Samoan material culture.

Dr. Samau-Sila is a senior marketing and managment lecturer at the National University of Samoa and holds the chiefly title 'Ali'ilemanu' from Neiafu village in Samoa.

A group people, some sitting and some standing, smiling for the camera
Speakers A/Prof Nick Thieberger and Leonora Rotomane (front centre) with event attendees (June, 2025).

Building a centre for Solomon Islands Languages

Leonora Rotomane and A/Prof. Nick Thieberger (June, 2025)

Solomon Islanders speak more than 70 Indigenous languages along with the lingua franca, Solomon Islands Pijin. This linguistic diversity is an invaluable part of the nation's cultural heritage. It is the way that people have interacted and passed on knowledge for centuries, and each language encapsulates traditional ecological knowledge, terms for relations, and terms that often have no easy translation into other languages.  In this tok stori session, Leonora Rotomane and Nick Thieberger discuss the importance of indigenous languages in Solomon Islands and the motivations for establishing  the language centre.

Leonora Rotomane is Head of Department of Lanugage and Communications at Solomon Islands National University and a lecturer in Lanugage and English literacy.  Nick Thieberger an Associate Professor in the School of Languages and Linguistics, Faculty of Arts and runs the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC).

Associate Professor Nick Thieberger is a linguist in the School of Languages and Linguistics whose research has been in Vanuatu and runs the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC).

Speakers Richard Poulter, Tony Siamomua, Te'o Lau Dr. Vili Iese being welcomed by PISA Vice-President Asiata Gerard Anapu (October, 2025).

Too kae lago: Addressing loss and damage in Pacific Island communities

Te'o Lau Dr. Vili Iese, Tony Siamomua and Richard Poulter (October, 2025)

This talanoa was moderated by Te'o Lau Dr. Vili Iese  and featured two key members of the  Pacific Catastrophic Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC) discussing the parametric insurance products and disaster risk financing experiences in the Pacific Islands helping communities and governments respond and recover after natural disasters.  Too kae lago is a Tuvaluan proverb from Niutao Island recognising that when extreme events strike, their environment and livelihood will be impacted. It is also a call to action recognising the resilience of the island, ensuring to always 'catch' and lift the island in times of hardships.

Tony Siamomua joined PCRIC as Education Coordinator in April 2025, bringing a decade of program and project management experience across the Pacific region. At PCRIC, he coordinates the Disaster Risk Finance Program Development and educational initiatives through the Global Shield Solutions Platform.

Richard Poulter is a disaster risk finance and insurance specialist with expertise in the design and implementation of financial strategies to build resilience against the effects of natural disasters in low and middle income countries.

Te’o Lau Dr. Viliamu Iese (Vili) is the Academic Lead for the Drought and Innovation Hub and a Senior Research Fellow for droughts and climate studies at the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne.

Conversations events in 2024

  • With Cyril Rachman (Solomon Islands National University) and Dr. Alexei Trundle ( University of Melbourne).

  • With speakers Dr. Ilisapece Tuibeqa (Colonial War Memorial Hospital, Fiji) and  Prof. Dr. Fiona Russell (University of Melbourne).

  • With Dr. Jeffrey Noro (Office of the Governor for Bougainville, Papua New Guinea) and Dr. Tyrone Lavery (University of Melbourne).

  • With Loudeen Fualautoalasi-Lam (GoMoana, Melbourne) and Prof. Bina Fernandez (University of Melbourne).

  • With Te'o Lau Dr. Vili Iese (University of Melbourne), Christian-Yves Amato-Ali and Louise M. Malaki-Fa'aofo.

Conversations series in 2023

  • With Rev. Dr. Cliff Bird and Steneth Kaniki.

  • With Yoshiko Yamaguchi-Capelle and Aishath Azfa.

  • With Suzie Beaurune (University of New Caledonia) and A/Prof. Nick Thieberger (University of Melbourne).