Police chief honoured
Ian Stewart gets USQ doctorate
WHEN Queensland’s former police commissioner Ian Stewart was fresh out of high school, he enrolled in the old Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education.
He lasted a year before calling it quits, but it set Mr Stewart on a career that would see him lead Queensland through rolling disasters.
“That was a bit of an undisciplined year for me, perhaps I should have taken a gap year, but ultimately it pointed me on the path to joining the police service, so some good did come out of it,” he said.
Later he would take up degree, studying externally while working full-time in the QPS.
Mr Stewart received a University of Southern Queensland honorary doctorate on Friday.
“It is a dream come true. Being a Toowoomba boy, born and bred, having studied at this university and now being given this doctorate, I am so honoured and grateful to the university,” he said.
“I came here as a matureaged student in the late 80s.
“It is a great distance education facility and USQ has always had an amazing reputation for distance learning that continues today. I think it is part of the brand of USQ.”
The honorary doctorate is added to Mr Stewart’s already long list of academic and professional achievements, including qualifications from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Leeda Program, where he is a master of public policy and administration.
Now retired, Mr Stewart reflected his time in QPS and its role in protecting Queenslanders from flood, fire and cyclones. He said the QPS would continue to lead the emergency response phase of a disaster, while focusing on more personalised service.
“We see the nature of disasters changing in Queensland with fires early in spring,” Mr Stewart said.
“I have lived through some of the great years in disaster management in this state. Very few people lost their lives and that was due to the wonderful work of emergency services.
“Our thoughts are with people who have lost property, but at the end of the day we can rebuild those, but you cannot replace a human life.”
Photo: Kevin Farmer