Professor Richard Larkins AO

Melbourne is the academic heartland of Australia. If any Australian capital can claim to be a university city it is Melbourne.

The University of Melbourne has the highest research income of any university in Australia, and Monash University has the fourth highest – the latter a remarkable achievement considering it is only 46 years since Monash enrolled its first students.

Melbourne has two medical schools with biomedical science research ranked by “The Times” Higher Education Supplement in the top 20 in the world – only Boston and London can claim a similar distinction.

Melbourne’s other universities and research institutes combine with the University of Melbourne and Monash to create a vibrant intellectual atmosphere that will be further enhanced by the scientists coming to Melbourne to use the Australian synchrotron when it is commissioned at Monash University later this year.

The international students attracted to Melbourne’s universities enliven the city of Melbourne as well as bringing substantial economic benefits.

Outside my field of professional interest, Melbourne is indeed a wonderful city: just the right size to be manageable and yet to have access to all forms of cultural pursuits of the very highest quality.

We are as good an example of a peaceful, multicultural society as can be found anywhere in the world. And of course our restaurants of all ethnic types and local wine make dining in and around Melbourne a delight.

The gardens and parklands provide peaceful and beautiful places for quiet reflection and family walks. The sporting facilities are unparalleled. Where else is there a sporting complex like the MCG and the Melbourne Tennis Centre so readily accessed by foot from the CBD, with extensive parking and easy access by public transport of all forms?

And for my own passion, golf; the golf courses in and around Melbourne are recognised as the best in Australia and if one takes into account both private and public access courses, they probably provide the best golfing facilities for the lowest cost found anywhere in the world.

The much maligned Melbourne climate prevents me playing golf on perhaps one Saturday a year – in what other city is the rain so gentle and the winters so mild that the frustration from weather-induced golf deprivation is so rare?

So for the combination of academic achievement, cultural and sporting facilities and activities in the context of a dynamic and peaceful multicultural community, Melbourne is indeed a wonderful place to live, work and play.