Posted by Paul Murray on Jan 10, 2018
Pres. Paul, Guest Speaker James McTavish, guest Craig Couzens and Rick Priest
 
Rick Priest introduced our  Guest Speaker, James McTavish, a former Wollundry Rotarian and currently NSW Cross Border Commissioner.
 
James said it was good to be back at Wollundry and he acknowledged the work that Wollundry does for the community … the AED's, the rising of awareness of Domestic Violence in the community. James began to outline what his position as “Cross Border Commisioner” involved, using examples  of people in Wagga selling manufactured products in Victoria.  Another example is a P plate driver from NSW driving in Melbourne or the introduction of Euthanasia legislation in Victoria .
His predecessor in the job identified 1200 different cross border issues and James feels that there are a lot more. 
 
One of the major problems James is confronted with is that he is the only Cross border Commissioner in Australia as the other states have not recognised the need for such a position.  There is now an new awareness from government of the importance of the regional areas and James feels that the upcoming state election in 2019 will be won not in Eastern Sydney but in the regional NSW.
 
He felt it was very important that transparency be part of the position that he holds and he announced that the overall cost of the Cross border Commissioner’s position is $430,000 dollars.  That amount includes his wage, another staff member's wage, office and travel expenses. James says that he has to choose achievable issues.  James has frequent meetings with high government officials. 
 
One of the key issues that James is dealing with is the establishment of equity between regional areas and urban communities.  An example would be if you live in Deniliquin and need cardiac care, you should be able to get it in Victoria. 
There is starting to be better communication between NSW and Victoria re cross border issues.  A Domestic Violence Order is now enforceable across the states.
 
James recommended for further information, resource his website.  There were many questions from the members. 
 
Paul Milde thanked James for his informative talk and confirmed that “we all now know what a Cross Border Commisioner is.”