Australia Awards Hadi Soesastro Prize

Today I announce that MsDewi Syahidah and Mr Riznaldi Akbar have been awarded the 2016 Australia AwardsHadi Soesastro Prize.

The annual Hadi SoesastroAwards support Indonesian academics who are completing their doctorates inAustralia with the aim of developing young leaders and promotingpeople-to-people and educational links between our two countries.

Ms Syahidah and Mr Akbarwill each receive up to $25,000 to assist with post-doctoral work in theirareas of expertise, which are aquaculture and debt management respectively.

The prize honours one ofIndonesia's most eminent thinkers, the late Professor Hadi Soesastro. ProfessorSoesastro was an economist, academic and public intellectual. He was also anAdjunct Professor at the Australian National University and made an enormouscontribution to Australia-Indonesia relations.

Scholarship schemes such asthe Australia Awards and the New Colombo Plan support cooperation betweenAustralia and Indonesia, and facilitate educational exchanges between studentsfrom both countries.

The New Colombo Plan, asignature initiative of the Coalition Government, is building on our alreadystrong people-to-people, education and business ties by supporting Australianundergraduate students to undertake study, internships and mentorships inIndonesia.

In its first four years,the New Colombo Plan will have supported 3000 Australian undergraduates toundertake study programs and internships in Indonesia.

The Australia Awards complementthe work of the New Colombo Plan, providing 3,500 new Scholarships andFellowships to emerging leaders worldwide for study in Australia and thePacific in 2017.