New commissioner named following death of Ian Leavers
A high-profile Queenslander is taking on the state’s Cross-Border Commissioner role after the shock death of his predecessor last year.
Queensland’s most senior public servant Damien Walker has been appointed as the Acting Cross-Border Commissioner, acting Premier Jarrod Bleijie announced today.
He takes on the role after Ian Leavers – who was appointed Queensland’s first Cross-Border Commissioner in 2024 and was the former police union boss – died aged 57 years in November last year.
“As Queensland’s first Cross-Border Commissioner, Mr Leavers has been a strong voice for the challenges facing communities and businesses along the state’s borders during a critical stage of rebuilding following the impact of the COVID pandemic,” Premier David Crisafulli said in a statement at the time.
In an announcement on Thursday, acting Premier Jarrod Bleijie said Walker would continue Leavers’ work liaising with local communities and governments, regional agencies, industry and other stakeholders to address the challenges – including crime – facing communities and businesses along Queensland’s borders.
Walker would take on the role on an interim basis while a recruitment process for the job was undertaken.
Bleijie said Walker had extensive experience to take on the role.
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“Mr Walker has more than 10 years of executive experience leading senior departments across two state governments, including an interim period as the South Australia Cross-Border Commissioner,” Bleijie said.
“The work of Mr Leavers laid strong foundations, and Mr Walker will be able to combine his duties as the Acting Cross-Border Commissioner with his Director-General responsibilities so border communities will continue to be served well.”
Walker said he would ensure current plans and processes continued.
“I will respect and honour the great work of Ian Leavers, and I am looking forward to working collaboratively with communities and governments to serve residents and businesses along Queensland’s borders,” he said.
Leavers spent 15 months working on finding solutions to improve conditions for people who lived on the Queensland border with their cross-border counterparts in New South Wales, South Australia, and the Northern Territory before his death.
His role included escalating any issues raised to the Queensland Premier’s office.
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Police were called to Leavers’ Mount Ommaney home last year where the 57-year-old had died, and later said his death was not treated as suspicious.
Leavers joined Queensland police in 1989, working across several divisions, including the criminal investigation branch and child investigation unit.
In 2009, he became the general president and CEO of the Queensland Police Union and was elected the Police Federation of Australia president in 2021.
He held both positions until he resigned to take on the new cross-border position.
Goondiwindi Regional Council welcomed the appointment of Walker as interim Queensland Cross-Border Commissioner, saying he would bring significant senior-level experience and authority to the role.
Mayor Lawrence Springbord expected Walker would build on the strong foundations laid by the late commissioner Ian Leavers that included relationship-building and fact-finding tours across border regions to help elevate local concerns and priorities.
“Mr Leavers did critical groundwork by working with communities and establishing trust across the border regions and had already started to address a range of red tape challenges,” he said.
“From council’s perspective, this appointment provides the leadership and momentum needed to deliver meaningful change on long-standing cross-border issues.”
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