Iain Campbell Smith

Iain Campbell Smith
Smith performing at a house concert
Born	Canberra, ACT, Australia
Occupation	Diplomat Singer/songwriter
Years active	1997–present
Spouse(s)	Maryanne Voyazis
Parent(s)	Janet and Ric Smith
Website	fredsmith.com.au
Musical career
Also known as	Fred Smith
Genres	Folk music
Instruments	Guitar, Harmonica
Associated acts	Liz Frencham

Iain Campbell Smith is an Australian diplomat, singer/songwriter and comedian. He performs under the stage name Fred Smith in Australia and his full name in the United States.

Smith was one of two sons to Janet and Ric Smith. His family moved to India when he was six weeks of age. Before the age of 12, when he began boarding school in Canberra, Smith had also lived in Israel and the Philippines.

Smith joined the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in 1996 and worked in the Indonesia, South Asia, and Human Rights sections. Postings included the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby and international peace monitoring missions in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. He served as a civilian peace monitor in Bougainville Province between 1999 and 2001. He hosted a weekly program "Saredi Nait Pati" ("Saturday Night Party") on Radio Bougainville.

Smith speaks fluent Melanesian pidgin, and regularly conducts lectures on the Bougainville peace process.

In July 2009 he was the first DFAT civilian to be posted to Uruzgan as part of the second Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force. He served most of his 18-month tour of the province living and working on the Multinational Base in Tarin Kowt, and at a Forward Operating Base in the Chora Valley.

As a sideline, Smith began performing his own songs at pubs and clubs around Canberra under the stage name Fred Smith. His first show was at age 16, covering a selection of Simon and Garfunkel songs. Smith released his first album Soapbox in 1997. He has appeared at numerous Australian and international folk festivals.

While in Bougainville Province, Smith talked extensively in pidgin with the locals about the peace process and set some of their ideas to music. The songs, performed by Smith with local musicians, were compiled on a cassette titled Songs of Peace and 20,000 copies were distributed around the province. The albums Bagarap Empires and Independence Park, and the documentary film Bougainville Sky are responses to his work with the peace monitoring mission.