George Bryan Roper
My name is George Bryan Roper, generally
being called Bryan by my friend’s and associates. Born in Yorkshire in
April, 1938, I share my home county with the HMS Bounty, which was built in
Hull. A case of world’s apart, you may say but not without connection
perhaps? I started my working life, as a school teacher, teaching mathematics
and science. I then moved on to the world of computers for nearly 50
years. This was the period, in which I travelled extensively, leaving
England in 1967 and settling in Australia in 1988. During the latter 30
years also owning and managing a cattle breeding property, with my wife
Barbara, before relocating to Norfolk Island in early 2019. In the last
two and a half years, I have enjoyed working with NIRHACS in the role of a
community representative on their Quad-C committee and I have recently become a
Member of the Business Council of Norfolk Island. I have also been
contributing my free time to assisting in the operation of social organizations
and their services activities.
At my age, I am not presuming a role in the
actual government of Norfolk Island. However, having lived and worked in
a dozen countries, I have experienced a variety of governments, including
playing active roles, in both established and newly created governmental
operations. It is my hope, that I might be able to use this latent
knowledge, to help in the design of a truly appropriate form of governance that
will
* respect the characteristics of those earlier custodians of this
wonderful island;
* unite and empower the current community, without unduly diminishing any
of the aspirations of the individuals;
* ensure that future generations have the wherewithal to maintain, modify
and, where necessary expand, the rules of governance that the NIGC take to, and
agree with, the government of Australia;
And
* be capable of a level of sustainability that will be supported by the
Commonwealth of Australia, whether financially or otherwise.
I make no apology for the brevity of this article, as I do not intend to dwell
on previous ideas, as the way forward. Rather, I trust and hope that you,
the citizens of NI will contact me to help me learn and understand your
requirements, for an acceptable form of governance. You can telephone me,
on 22786, or preferably, email me at gbroper@icloud.com .
Your Committee will take it from there!