So long Peter
“So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish” was the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspatial express route in the fourth book of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series written by Douglas Adams. Yesterday Peter Cullen departed Planet Earth, having spent his life better understanding how our rivers and aquatic organisms function and tirelessly informing, cajoling, pleading and influencing us all to sensibly manage our precious rivers and water resources. Peter was a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, a Commissioner on the National Water Commission, a Professor at the University of Canberra and a Thinker In Residence here in my home state of South Australia. He was awarded the 2001 Prime Minister’s Prize for Environmentalist of the Year and in 2004 was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2004 for services to freshwater ecology. He did all of this despite ill-health over many years.
Many scientists I know are passionate about helping to change the world and to make it a better place. Peter was one of the few who was able to successfully make it happen at a national scale. He did this by using devastating logic, but without any sarcasm or arrogance. He carefully constructed his arguments in simple language so that everyone could understand them. He did not try to sound clever, nor did he attack individuals. He was always polite and respectful, giving him the key to the doors of power where he was listened to. He had a wry sense of humour which helped soften the often troubling messages he gave out on the difficulties we face in over-coming past inadequacies and present challenges in managing water in Australia.
Peter has helped set a framework for us to manage our water in a way that will sustain us now and in the future. His ideas are imbued in the National Water Initiative, a blue-print for managing water in this country, as well as in the numerous talks and papers he presented as a member of the Wentworth Group. It is now up to us to implement these principles with speed and purpose.
Late last year, Peter came to Adelaide to give the Shultz Oration, where he spoke about water scarcity and futures for South Australia (see blog). I helped organise the podcasting for this event with Michelle Freeman. While I was running back and forwards organising equipment, I saw Peter stuck at a lift, which was not moving because a fire alarm had gone off in the building. It was a hot day, he was not in the best of health and he had been waiting outside in a wheelchair. I called a security guard from the University and we found an alternative route for him to get to the lecture theatre. It was quite a drama and Peter was pretty flustered by the time we made it to the auditorium. He then gave a flawless, inspiring lecture to raptuous acclaim. At the end of the event when I was packing up, he came over to me to thank me for helping him out and knighted me a Knight of the Order of the Wentworth Group on the spot. The whole experience summed up his professionalism, kindness, generosity and humour.
You will be missed Peter. So long. And thanks.
Paul Dalby
Nicely put Paul. I sat on a board with Peter for three years, and observed all of the qualities that you describe. As a board that handed out money for NRM works, we would occasionally make trips around the countryside meeting groups that we had funded. The chair had a liking for putting board members on the spot by asking us to make impromptu speeches to these groups. I’m quite a confident public speaker, but I didn’t enjoy this being dropped in it. Most of the board members would struggle through and say something vaguely sensible, but Peter would invariable deliver a brilliant oration, perfect for the occasion, and better than I could have done with a week of preparation. He was a remarkable man.
Sad news indeed – Peter’s talks at last year’s festival of ideas were truly inspiring. Recordings of his talks have influenced my thinking significantly. Below are links to some of them:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/adelaidefestivalofideas/~3/136427051/drought_proofing_australia.mp3
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/adelaidefestivalofideas/~3/136427061/after_the_binge.mp3
Mike
Some Cullenisms {Extracted from http://www.myoung.net.au/water/droplets/Cullenisms.doc}
On managing water scarcity
“Disconnecting the fuel gauge might be one way to stop worrying about how much fuel might be left, but it’s a pretty stupid strategy.”
“We have surely learned from our mismanagement of surface water in the 20th century that flying blind is not a very smart strategy.”
“Believing we could meet the water needs of these communities by fixing a few leaking taps and having shorter showers was always a fantasy.”
“It is inappropriate to see water pricing as a defacto social welfare policy. We don’t do that for electricity, telephones or petrol.”
On policy and science
“When scientists do enter the political arena, they must understand they are playing to different rules from those used in science and need to learn the rules of politics and the media. Unless they understand the rules and tactics of policy debate it is like them walking on to a tennis court equipped only with golf sticks.”
“Committed and knowledgeable scientists can make a contribution to public policy if they are prepared to speak out.”
“Scientists commonly hold strong values about desirable outcomes, and should be welcome in the political debates as society grapples with the various issues. However, they should not expect their scientific standing gives them any special right to decide value questions for society. Their science needs to inform the debate, not replace the debate.”
On the role of government
“While politicians like to blame other levels of Government, the reality is that our politicians reflect what we as a community are telling them. We are all responsible for the mess we find ourselves in.”
“Communities must demand that political leaders take control and responsibility for putting in place management regimes that benefit all of the community not just a favoured few.”
“Governments must govern rather than retreat to referenda.”
“Allied with a culture that the public service is there to implement the Government’s policy, alternative policy ideas to present policies are often not encouraged.”
On the importance of water accounting
“Flying blind hasn’t worked and we must know how much water we have, where it is and how it is being used. We need to know the health of our waterways.”
“We need to measure and manage the whole water cycle rather than selected bits of it, and we need to engage our communities to take them along on this journey as we confront ongoing water scarcity for rural Australia.”
On adverse climate change
“It is no longer prudent to believe this is a drought that is about to break.”
“We are entering a tough new world, and we have little in our past experience to help us make smart decisions.”
“We’re doing a wonderful experiment in global warming at the moment but by the time it gets through peer review there may not be many humans left on the planet.”
On the Murray Darling Basin
“We seek a healthy river and we seek to share the available water in a fair way between the cities and rural communities dependent on the river. Let us not lose sight of this shared outcome, although there will be much to argue over in terms of the necessary actions to bring this about.”
“We don’t have all the answers – nobody does – but before we start laying bricks and mortar, we have got to get the foundations right, otherwise the cathedral will tumble with the smallest of tremors.”
“The previous governance of the MDB failed because powerful interest groups were able to stall actions they felt might hurt them. These interest groups are still pushing their rights to whatever water remains in the Basin.”
“It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to develop a sustainable and healthy Murray Darling Basin. There is much to be done.”
“Unfortunately our understanding of our water resources has developed in what seems to be an unusually wet period and we now face painful readjustment.”
“We are in danger of having a few ‘icon sites’ that are intermittently watered and managed as museum piece landscapes.”
On irrigation
“We have the opportunity to drive a revolution in irrigation, where we can double the wealth we obtain from this water, or we squander this money in trying to slow down the changes that will take place.”
“Perhaps the biggest risk to water security for urban Australians is the replacement of serious planning with poorly analysed political decisions.”
“Many rural communities are bewildered by these pressures and the changes they are experiencing. Some are still in denial about climate change; many still yearn for past days of high prices and hope these times will return, if only they can hang on.”
“With $10 billion to invest we have great opportunities to build irrigation communities that are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable. Is this possible in a western democracy, or will we squander this money pandering to special interests?”
On coping with change
“Drought relief is the cutting edge of this problem, and one political parties continue to refuse to address.”
“We must help communities understand the changes they are experiencing, help them envisage alternative futures, and assist them with the resources to aid the transition, not pretend it will all go away if we just keep giving them emergency relief. This seems to me the key to a sustainable future.”
Mike Young, The University of Adelaide, Email: Mike.Young@adelaide.edu.au
Jim McColl, CSIRO Land and Water, Email: Jim.McColl@csiro.au
Fiona McKenzie, Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, Email: fmckenzie@wentworthgroup.org
Acknowledgements
Peter Cullen was an inspirational member of our Steering Committee.
Some talks by Peter Cullen
http://www.wentworthgroup.org/category/articles/
http://blog.litfuse.com.au/2007/11/29/peter-cullen-at-the-schultz-oration/
http://www.thinkers.sa.gov.au/pcullen.html
http://www.federationpress.com.au/pdf/PeterCullenSpeechConnell.pdf
Copyright © 2008 The University of Adelaide.
This work is copyright. It may be reproduced subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of its source. Production of Droplets is supported by Land and Water Australia and CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country. Responsibility remains with the authors.
Last revised: 16 March 2008 URL for this page: http://www.myoung.net.au