Call for a fresh focus on water

An event at the UNSW Sydney Michael Crouch Innovation Centre has called for a sharper public focus on Australia’s water resources.

The event marked the publication by UNSW Press of a new book, Water is Life, authored by the late Colleen McCullough.

In it she explores a subject close to her heart – the role of water in human history, and Australia’s urgent need to harness vastly more of its power.

“Australia’s political and bureaucratic arms of government do not take Australia’s water situation seriously enough”, she wrote.

Internationally renown for her sweeping romantic saga The Thorn Birds and Masters of Rome series, McCullough turned her attention to water before her death in 2015.

The book also traces the career of innovative Australian industrialist, Michael Crouch AO, who introduced 70 countries to instant boiling water and demonstrated how Australians can lead the world in the creation of new products and technology.

The UNSW Chancellor, David Gonski AC, and UNSW President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Jacobs hosted the event.

Professor Jacobs outlined the UNSW commitment to researching water as a precious commodity via its Global Water Institute and the Water Research Centre, a multi-disciplinary research unit with a 65-year history.

The Michael Crouch Innovation Centre, located next to UNSW Business School, is designed to nurture students and help them to develop innovative ideas, to chase start-up dreams and to carve out their own opportunities before they graduate.

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