Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I had not intended to speak on this particular motion, but I commend the member for Macarthur for it. The reason I am speaking on the motion is to do with events that occurred in my electorate on Tuesday, 23 September, when we almost lost two police officers—an AFP officer and a 'Vic Pol' officer. For me it absolutely drove home, in a very stark and brutal way, the difficulties that our fine men and women of the police force confront.

The event I am referring to was the stabbing of two police officers, on the evening of 23 September, and the death of the young man who was involved. It is not for me to make comments about what actually occurred there that evening, because that is the subject of a coronial inquest and an internal review. But I did want to say of the very fine men and women of the Endeavour Hills police force that under incredible circumstances, in unprecedented circumstances, in a local suburban police station, one that was relatively busy but is not a 24-hour police station, two young officers almost lost their lives in the course of their duties.

I often go to police functions and to police stations. There are three police stations servicing my area: Endeavour Hills, Narre Warren and Cranbourne police stations. When you meet with the young men and women, the senior sergeants and the force commanders, they will detail to you, as they have to me, the circumstances in which they find themselves. Often it will be attending an incident with domestic violence, where one of the officers gets injured as a consequence of their trying to intervene to protect a women or man who is being assaulted.

When we see these people driving around in our electorates and walking the streets, we do not appreciate the sacrifices they make to keep our community save. On behalf of my community I want to thank them. In the horrible events of 23 September, we almost saw something occur that resulted in the loss of life of the two young police officers.

It was my honour to go to the station on two occasions on the Friday after the event. Incidentally, on 29 September one of the senior sergeants had to go to the National Police Remembrance Days service. While at the station I was fortunate to meet with a lot of the young officers and even some of the cadets who were there. I am hoping that they see this speech at some time, because I wanted to say this to them: you did well; you did very well; you did brilliantly. To contain the scene that was described to me was, under the circumstances, a great testament to the skill and resolve of the officers involved. The scene that was described to me was a horrific one, a harrowing and horrible scene. But those young men and women rose to a terrible situation, and we should be very proud of what they did.

I commend the member for Macarthur for raising this particular issue. I want to say to all of those young men and women and all the officers who serve my area that I will remember you. This is not a situation where I am going to walk into your police station and talk to you. I will be there for you, because it is clear to me from meeting the very brave young men and women who attended the scene that there was significant trauma there for the officers. That is something we do not speak about—the trauma they experience day in and day out that the community in a lot of ways takes for granted. We expect them to put their bodies and lives on the line—and they do—to keep us safe.

On behalf of my community I thank you for what you do—for putting your lives at risk. We know what the costs are to their personal relationships and to their health and wellbeing. Again, coming back to the point that hit me most viscerally, these were young men and women who were experiencing this. Congratulations to them and also to the two young officers involved. I will not forget you. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you for the work that you do for our community.

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