Vale, the Big Man

I was going to write about the government's decision to have another look (the first for a long time) at Australia's university system. This is a good thing, a very good thing, but I'll come back to it another time because Peter Cullen is dead.

This is a bad thing, a very bad thing, because Peter Cullen was our pre-eminent voice on sustainable water policy in this dry country. There are other important academics with things to say about the environment, but Professor Cullen was a freshwater specialist - he knew about catchments, lakes, rivers and environmental flows.

He spoke more good sense about them than anyone else. His great ability was to be straightforward and understandable about vast and complex systems, which are out of sight of most Australians, and vital to our future. It's that last bit that he could get across. He could engage with anyone, even children, but more importantly, politicians.

He was a member of the Wentworth Group and its leading light. He was a National Water Commissioner. He was on the inside, which is just where we needed him.

Water is a fractious, difficult and very political issue in this country but the drought, the public's position on climate change and the Rudd Labor government's mandate meant that his influence was growing.

The people who loved him will miss him the most but all of us will miss his immense contribution. And all of us should hope that someone else can build on his work.