2017 Pat Weller Prize shared by a trio of outstanding students

Jake Koerts, Dahlia Bar, and Shannon Labuschagne being presented the award by Professor Patrick Weller

The 2017 Pat Weller Prize has been awarded to three Government and International Relations students.

Dahlia Bar, Shannon Labuschagne and Jake Koerts tied for the award, all receiving the highest final marks in the course.

Shannon Labuschagne said she is proud to have received the award and be recognised for her efforts.

“I believe that politics is a defining feature of humankind and there is nothing else I would rather be studying,” Ms Labuschagne said.

The Pat Weller Prize was established in 2013 in honour of the Centre for Governance and Public Policy’s founding Director Emeritus Professor Patrick Weller.

Since then, Griffith University’s Centre for Governance and Public Policy has given the award to six students for receiving the highest marks in Introduction to Politics.

Students were awarded $500 and a copy of ‘The Craft of Governing’; a renowned textbook on Professor Patrick Weller’s contribution to Australian political science.

Professor Weller has written thirty-nine books on Australian politics, including Can Ministers Cope? (1981), Malcolm Fraser PM (1989), and Kevin Rudd: Twice Prime Minister (2014).