Michael Jones

Michael Jones is an Army officer, public servant and scholar with an interest in transnational environmental crime.

Michael has served as an infantry officer in the North West Mobile Force (NORFORCE) for 5 years: as a Patrol Commander, Troop Commander and currently as the 2IC of Arnhem Squadron. The focus of this work has been the security of Australia’s Northern border, particularly the security of territorial waters from illegal fishing. Like his Joint-Fellowship project partner, Norman Daymirringu, Michael has seen the rise of green crime and the impact on traditional owners in Northern Australia first-hand. In 2022 and 2023, Michael has been seconded to Army Headquarters in Canberra as the lead staff-officer for the Army’s First Nations strategy, with a focus upon increasing First Nations participation and building cultural intelligence (CQ) across the workforce.

Before commencing full-time service in the Army, Michael worked as a public servant for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in Arnhem Land. His work was primarily concerned with economic development, with a key focus in this region being the potential of First Nations ranger groups. Michael also has a longstanding academic interest in public policy and criminology. In 2021, Michael completed his doctorate in political science through the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. His doctoral research considered the public policy response to First Nations incarceration rates from 1991-2021; his current research adapts the collaborative governance framework developed in his doctorate to the context of trans-national environmental crime.

Outside of work, Michael has volunteered for 3 years as an Independent Director of Gong-Dal Corporation and the Mutjung Rangers, a small First Nations ranger group in Gapuwiyak (NT). This experience informs both his passion for the potential of First Nations rangers and his concern to prepare them for rising environmental crime.