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Scholarship winner to
study water reforms
James Newman (centre) with ANU’s
Professor
Andrew MacIntyre (left) and the Crawford
School’s Professor Tom Kompas.
Photo: Jimmy Walsh.
Mr Newman plans to use his Garrurru Scholarship to study efforts to drive Australia’s water reform agenda when he takes up a Masters of Environmental Management and Development at the Crawford School of Public Policy.
The Garrurru Scholarship has been introduced to provide ongoing financial and pastoral support to Indigenous students studying at the postgraduate level.
Mr Newman said he was honoured to be named the first recipient of the scholarship and to have the opportunity to work on issues close to his heart.
“Being awarded this scholarship means not having to worry about financial issues,” Mr Newman said.
“But there is another upside, in that I can concentrate more on my studies on an increasingly important issue – water management.
“I am a Wiradjuri koori and grew up in Wellington and spent many years in Warren. Both townships are on the banks of the Wambool River, now known as the Macquarie.”
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He said he believed healthy river systems were vital for so many reasons, but the hydrological cycle as a whole, including groundwater, should share equal importance.
“Water is the basis of a healthy environment, which lays the foundation for a healthy economy, and of course, our social well-being is greatly improved in the process,” he said.
“So many industries rely on our rivers and aquifers to produce goods for human health, and they need to be managed adequately including robust policy and regulations for our own prosperity.”
Mr Newman said the ANU Crawford School was the best place to study how Australia’s fragile water systems could be best managed and maintained.
“After many years of practical work on environmental management field, I gradually became more interested in how environmental policy was developed,” he said.
“When I looked at the different institutions offering policy development courses, ANU stood out with the courses available at Crawford School.
“My earlier studies at ANU played a significant part in me being offered a position with the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
“This degree fits in with my current employment in water reform.”
Edition 353, 19 March 2013
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