Edmond Roy
Former reporter, foreign correspondent, presenter and executive producer with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
What’s your connection to the MidCoast?
Five years ago, after a long and varied career with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, as a reporter, foreign correspondent, presenter and executive producer, my wife and I settled on the Midcoast for a tree change and retirement. In that time we've experienced the best and the worst of the Australian Bush. First the drought, then the fires of 2019, followed by the floods and then a pandemic. Through all of this, it was the resilience, camaraderie, kinship and kindness of the midcoast that shone through. This is our home now and this is where I find solace and comfort.
Why TUC? What does this project mean to you?
I grew up in a fishing village in the south of India, where going to school required crossing a lake in a canoe, walking two kilometers to catch a bus that took an hour to get to your destination and then walking another kilometre to get to class. Students from the midcoast face something similar when faced with the prospect of going to university. The idea of bringing the university to you, locally, appeals to me greatly. Australia's regional areas need this. The future of education is being played out at the TUC. This means a great deal. It means the tremendous potential that remains untapped for a variety of reasons in this vast country's regional areas can finally be unleashed. I want to be a part of that.
What does success look like for you and TUC?
Success is giving students the choice of not having to choose between their community and their education. Success is enabling the brightest minds of the region to stay in the region. Success is allowing for the blossoming of local talent, engaged in the local community and working towards the fulfilment of their potential. TUC is the stepping stone to that future.