FORMER ACT health minister Dr Michael Moore is the incoming Rotary district governor of a new area encompassing Canberra.

District 9705, which runs from Narromine to Hay, through to Eden and up the coast to Berry, is an amalgamation of district 9700 and 9710, and includes 83 Rotary Clubs and about 2300 members. 

Dr Moore, a “CityNews” political columnist, starts in the role on July 1 with the goal to unite the clubs and take advantage of the merger.

“The biggest benefit is the power of the number of clubs and the number of Rotarians, wherever the district, who can work together to do good in the world,” says Dr Moore.

Inspired by its work in eradicating polio around the world, he joined Rotary in 2002. He became the president of the Rotary Club of Canberra in 2007. 

The merger of districts aims to reduce administrative costs and to allow Rotarians to tap into a larger network of diverse talents and resources to further their local and international projects. 

But, that doesn’t mean the organisation won’t need more members and volunteers. 

“The more members we have, the more good we can do in the world,” Dr Moore says. 

“I want the community to see Rotary as an organisation that does good in the world. 

“There’s no secret society. There is a misconception about what Rotary does. This same misconception has people believing that Rotary is for crusty old white guys like me.”

In reality, Dr Moore says Rotary is doing amazing things such as supporting education in schools in Africa and Papua New Guinea, working on clean-water systems in Nepal, and Dr Moore’s top motivator – eliminating polio worldwide. 

“We’ve only ever eradicated one other disease before with smallpox,” he says.