THE importance of the University of New England (UNE) to Armidale and the region was the subject of Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall’s private members statement to parliament recently.
Mr Marshall said the university was an integral part of the region’s social and economic fabric and that the Armidale community should be “very pleased and proud to have UNE in our backyard”.
“It may not be one of the ‘sandstone’ universities, but under the strong and strategic leadership of Chancellor John Watkins and Vice Chancellor Jim Barber, UNE continues to grow and go from strength to strength,” he said.
“In addition to taking its student numbers past 20,000 and strengthening its presence in Western Sydney via the campus at Parramatta, UNE is one of the only universities in this State that continues to grow its revenues, which has allowed the undertaking of a large-scale infrastructure renewal program.”
In his speech, the MP also highlighted the achievements of the university’s research areas.
“Coupled with its exceptional research expertise and facilities, the scale of UNE’s research and development capacity – particularly in animal science and livestock production – is absolutely world class,” Mr Marshall said.
“UNE also works very closely with industries, such as poultry, sheep and cattle, to maximise the benefits of its research.
“The sharing of genetic information with industry partners provides for the rapid adoption of new research information as soon as it becomes available.
“The contribution of this aspect alone of UNE to our regional and the national economy in enormous and cannot be underestimated.”
Mr Marshall drew the Parliament’s attention to the work of the Poultry Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), hosted at UNE and led by Professor Mingan Choct.
“UNE has established the world’s largest closed-circuit calorimetric centre, which is attracting global research interest. It has also commercialised a vaccine against fowl cholera, called Vaxsafe PM, and is on the verge of commercialising two further vaccines,” he said.
“This ground-breaking research is contributing to efficiencies and greater productivity in our agricultural sector for Australia and the world.”
Mr Marshall also advised his parliamentary colleagues of UNE’s recent five-star rating from the Good Universities Guide.
“Graduates also awarded the University of New England academic staff five stars for their teaching skills,” he said.
“These results are to be commended; they are a credit to the staff’s tireless work to uphold the university’s strong standing in the community, throughout Australia and internationally.”
