Episode 14 - The Incredible Life of the World's Most Unlikely Diplomat - Bougainvillian Mike Forster

On 23 November 2019 the 200,000 people of the island of Bougainville will vote in a referendum on independence from Papua New Guinea. The independence vote is the culmination of decades of struggle, hardship, brutal oppression and the continuing resilience of the people of the Bougainville to finally achieve a political resolution to longstanding instability and crisis. In Episode 14 we speak at length to one of the world's truly incredible humans, Bougainvillian Mike Forster. Mike, a cocoa farmer, surfer, guitarist and all around bon vivant, was thrust into the world of diplomacy as he tried to end a brutal war that cost the lives of more than 20,000 people - a full ten percent of the population. Although Mike is the most unlikely of diplomats, he surely must be one of the world's most successful diplomats raising an entirely unknown issue from obscurity to the highest levels of political attention within the UN, all of which formed the basis for the independence referendum. He tells an amazing tale that we hope all listeners will enjoy!