Paul hubbard
Fulbright Postgraduate Award
Media Profile
“Freedom of information isn't just about accessing your private records. Government transparency also affects economic and political development. The United States has had freedom of information for over 30 years. China is just starting to experiment with it in Shanghai. How China deals with information is important to its own stability. And what matters to the world's most populous nation, matters to the world.”
Paul Hubbard, a graduate recruit with the Commonwealth Government, Department of Treasury, has won a Fulbright Postgraduate Award to undertake a Masters of Arts in International Relations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, University of Syracuse. Paul is a first class honours graduate in Arts/Law from the University of Tasmania (UTAS), with a major in Chinese. Through his Fulbright Award Paul will pursue his interest in the economy, politics and international relations of China.
Paul has an extensive linguistic and cultural knowledge of China through his studies of Mandarin at the University of Tasmania and Nankai University in Tianjin, China. His undergraduate legal research analysed freedom of information laws using tools from information economics, developed by Nobel Prize winning economist and Fulbright scholar Joseph Stiglitz. Paul's work was assessed by Professor Alasdair Roberts, Director of the Alan K Campbell Public Affairs Institute in the Maxwell School at Syracuse.
“The degree offered at the Maxwell School is hands-on and practical”, explains Paul. “As well as academic study, I will gain practical experience through an internship in Washington D.C., and improve my Chinese with travel to Beijing. Not only will I understand the United States better, but also how the U.S. sees the world. When I return to Australia, I'll be able to contribute to a peaceful and prosperous trilateral relationship between Washington, Canberra and Beijing.”
Paul’s long term career ambition is to represent Australia at the highest levels internationally. “With my love of language, my knowledge of law and commitment to public service, I hope to continue serving through an Australian government agency or within an international organisation.”
Paul chose to study in Hobart after being awarded a National Undergraduate Scholarship in Law from the University of Tasmania. During his undergraduate studies Paul received a wide range of honours including being placed on the Dean’s Roll of Excellence for every year of his Arts degree. He also appeared before Justice Kirby at the High Court in the finals of the 2005 LexisNexis Constitutional Law mooting competition.
Paul has a wide range of other interests as demonstrated by his study for exams in violin, being President of the Tasmanian University Musical Society and receiving excellent reviews for the plays he directed for the Christ College Players. He tutored trade law to Chinese, Korean and Thai Masters degree students at the University of Tasmania and was a part of a team which received a prize for one of the best written submissions in the Australian Round of the 2005 Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition held in Canberra.