Lieutenant Commander Matthew Newman 

Master of Science in International Relations & Master of Public Policy

Defence

London School of Economics & Political Science / University of Oxford

United Kingdom

Lieutenant Matthew Newman is a Maritime Warfare Officer in the Royal Australian Navy and holds a Bachelor of Arts (International and Political Studies) with First Class Honours from UNSW Canberra. He is a distinguished graduate of Australian Defence Force Academy and was received the AJ Hayter Scholarship to research the integration of climate change in Australian and United States military policy. In recent years, Lieutenant Newman has been deployed on a number of operations throughout the Indo-Pacific in Her Majesty’s Australian Ships Newcastle, Maitland and Ballarat. He is a recipient of the RSL Sword for Service and the Jubilee Sword for exemplary performance as a military professional. In 2021, he was recognised as one of Australia’s 30 Under Thirty LGBTI Leaders for his work supporting the inclusion of sexually and gender diverse personnel in the Australian Defence Force. Matthew is interested in understanding the extent to which climate change will reshape the nature of military operations over the coming century. With the John Monash Scholarship, he intends to complete postgraduate study at the London School of Economics and at the University of Oxford researching innovative policy responses to climate change and the risk of environmental conflict.