Gordon Peake
![Gordon Peake](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/pictures/156886-photogordon-2.jpg)
Biography
Publications
Gordon Peake’s first book was an award-winning memoir of life in Timor-Leste, Beloved Land: Stories, Struggles & Secrets from Timor-Leste. He worked as an adviser to the Autonomous Bougainville Government from 2016 until 2020. He is a Visitor at the Australian National University’s School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) where he is writing a book about New Guinea. He hosts the podcast series Memorandum of Understanding which peers behind the bureaucratic curtain to look at the people, policies and politics of international aid.
![Solomon Islands: cops bearing gifts](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/20211215army8615249_0024.jpg?itok=44SfEgPw)
Solomon Islands: cops bearing gifts
Australia and China offer the archipelago nation a grab bag of policing options that often miss the mark.
![Power politics lies behind how new countries are born – or not](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/GettyImages-1183827376.jpg?itok=62Jth6S2)
Power politics lies behind how new countries are born – or not
History shows a resounding referendum – like recently in Bougainville – is not alone in deciding future independence.
![A false start for PNG-Bougainville consultations](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/7266738470_001b058842_k%20copy.jpg?itok=Iqxz69eJ)
A false start for PNG-Bougainville consultations
The post-referendum process stalled after a delegation arrived in Port Moresby, only to have the meeting cancelled.
![Consulting on Bougainville’s future: The what, who, how and when](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/GettyImages-1189685036.jpg?itok=Gi86dB4s)
Consulting on Bougainville’s future: The what, who, how and when
Making progress after the overwhelming independence ballot is as much a question of bureaucratic mechanics as politics.
![The future ain’t what it used to be](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/message-in-a-bottle-3437294_1920.jpg?itok=Anx2tFI7)
The future ain’t what it used to be
If Covid-19 teaches us anything, obviously we need to plan, but let’s not pretend the future is actually predictable.
![An upbeat mood in Buka as Bougainville waits for a result](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/GettyImages-1189685035%20copy.jpg?itok=e3q5cyXt)
An upbeat mood in Buka as Bougainville waits for a result
With civic joy fuelled by nothing stronger than coconuts and Coca-Cola, the independence ballot is only the first step.
![Quiet and unquiet graves: letter from Port Moresby](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/33c412b1-bf7e-4e8e-979d-06ce8009ac73.jpg?itok=8Ve-WKdy)
Quiet and unquiet graves: letter from Port Moresby
What ghostly memorials of a distant past tell us about the present.
![Letter from Dili: languid days, broken barracks, and a surprise](https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/styles/expert_publications/public/15585764059_a8e5779a35_h.jpg?itok=4FQobB4w)
Letter from Dili: languid days, broken barracks, and a surprise
Dili is marked by imprints of a once prominent international city with a presence now slipping from perceptible view.
Pagination