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JCU, Cowboys team up
( From left) Greg Tonner, Bluey the Cowboys mascot, JCU chancellor Bill Tweddell, Cowboys player Reuben Cotter, Robyn McGuiggan and Cowboys player Mitch Dunn. Photo: Cowboys
North Queensland’ s two biggest brands unite to encourage higher education.
James Cook University, which has campuses in Townsville, Cairns, Singapore and Brisbane, has entered into a three-year collaborative partnership with the North Queensland Cowboys, a rugby league team based in Townsville. Professor Robyn McGuiggan is the deputy vice-chancellor for global strategy and engagement at James Cook University. She described JCU and the Cowboys as the two biggest brands in Far North Queensland, meaning this joining of forces makes for a powerful fit.
“ Together we can achieve significantly more than each of us working alone,” McGuiggan said.“ This partnership allows us to build on the current activities that JCU undertakes with the Cowboys and offers new opportunities, some known and others yet to be explored, for both organisations to work together for the benefit of our communities.”
Encouraging and embracing education for its players and the wider the community was an appealing factor for the Cowboys, according to chief executive Greg Tonner.
“ This partnership is especially important to our club, as it gives each organisation an opportunity to achieve greater change together, inspiring North Queenslanders to embrace education as an innovative pathway to employment,” Tonner said.
“ We each want to afford our communities the greatest chance to succeed, and now – together – we have the combined resources to provide quality research and educational options, increasing business and job opportunities across the board.
“ The next three years will be an exciting journey as the partnership strategy is rolled out.”
Key gains for the area include the promotion of the benefits of education and healthy eating, the establishment of research projects around exercise and sport science, the possibility of work experience for JCU students at the Cowboys, and education and training for Cowboys players for a life after football. ■
Sweet solution to obesity
Academics and government spar over sugar tax as the best answer to the obesity epidemic.
In the wake of two recent reports advocating for the imposition of a sugar tax, Liberal frontbenchers have reaffirmed their opposition to the proposed levy. Education minister Simon Birmingham said there were many different factors involved in ensuring“ the best outcomes for people in terms of preventative health policies” but the government did not believe raising taxes was the“ right approach”.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten has also indicated that he too opposes a sugar tax.
However, a growing number of academics are calling for a sugar tax. Stephen Colagiuri of the University of Sydney’ s Boden Institute of Obesity recently published an article in the Medical Journal of
Australia.“ Obesity is a major and costly public health epidemic and an Australian national health priority that requires urgent action,” he wrote.
“ While obesity is a complex condition with many contributing factors, a relative excessive kilojoule intake is a major driver of weight gain. Sugar-sweetened beverages( SSBs) contribute to this excess energy intake in children and adults.”
SSBs, on average, shave 8.5 years off people’ s life expectancy worldwide.
Colagiuri noted that half the Australian population exceeded WHO sugar intake recommendations. WHO suggests people’ s sugar consumption should be less than 10 per cent of their total diet.
Joining the bitter chorus in favour of a sugar tax are University of Melbourne researchers.
By studying the effects of various taxes on health, including those on sugar, salt, saturated fat and SSBs, they found that a sugar tax would have the greatest impact.
They also considered the influence of a fruit and vegetable subsidy on health and concluded that, combined with a sugar tax, this would produce the best outcome. ■
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