WESTERN AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES A HIT IN ASIA WITH PRIME MINISTER’S AWARD WINNERS
Western Australian universities will host both of Thailand’s award winners in the 2012 Prime Minister’s Australia-Asia Awards.
Shadow Multicultural Interests Minister John Hyde said it was a significant achievement that both of the academic award winners from Thailand had chosen to further their post-graduate study in Perth.
“The Prime Minister’s Australia-Asia Awards, along with the Endeavour Awards, build on Australia’s great support for South-East Asians to extend their education excellence in Australia,” said Mr Hyde, who congratulated the two Prime Minister’s award winners and 60 other Thai post-graduates who have been awarded scholarships to study in Australia.
“Since the Colombo Plan, Western Australia has been seen as a favoured destination for post-graduate students, and academics and their families.”
Mr Hyde, who is Patron of the Thai-Australian Association of Western Australia, said Thailand was not only one of Western Australia’s leading trade partners, but Western Australia and Thailand enjoyed significant academic, research and education links.
“It is significant that as we celebrate 60 years of the Australia-Thailand relationship this year, that Western Australia will play a prominent role,” said Mr Hyde.
One of the Prime Minister’s Australia - Asia Endeavour Award winners, Ms Udsanee Pakdeetrakulwong, will undertake software engineering studies at Curtin University, while the other, Dr Supaphen Sripiboon, will further her veterinary research studies at Murdoch University.