*Can Australia reframe water as a national security issue, rather than only an environmental or social policy concern?*
*Can Australia realistically pursue both AI leadership and sustainable water management?*
*What happens when drought, climate change, food insecurity, ageing infrastructure and economic pressure combine?*
*Who should be at the table for a national water strategy?*
In this episode, Sharryn Parker speaks with Jason Alexandra and Matthew Coulton about Australia's water future, exploring why water security needs to be understood as a national security issue.
**Dr Jason Alexandra** is a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian National University’s (ANU) Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions and the Institute for Water Futures.
**Matthew Coulton** is Associate Director at WSP Australia, and previously served as General Manager Water and Agriculture at the Bureau of Meteorology and as a senior adviser to Australian and New South Wales governments on water policy and reform.
**Sharryn Parker** is a Senior Policy Advisor at the ANU National Security College (NSC), on secondment from the Department of Defence.
TRANSCRIPT
Show notes:
- NSC academic programs – find out more
- How much water and power will AI data centres use in Australia? Ironically, we don’t have the data to know by Michael Vardon, ANU
- Sustainable water services for rural and remote communities by WSP
- Reforming water policy for a changing Australia by WSP
- Next Steps on the National Water Agreement by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
- Australian Water Association (AWA) Homepage
- Australian Water Directory by AWA
- National Water Week
*We'd love to hear from you! Send in your questions, comments, and suggestions to* [*NatSecPod@anu.edu.au.*](mailto:NatSecPod@anu.edu.au) *You can tweet us* @NSC\_ANU *and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on future episodes.*
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