Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today it is a great honour to speak in support of this private member's motion, brought to the chamber by my good friend and neighbour in western Sydney, the member for Macarthur—an honourable member himself who has worn the blue uniform for 25 years, serving our community and protecting our community. And, to this day, he is still a fierce advocate for the people of western Sydney.

Our police do the work that keeps us safe. They keep our families, homes and businesses safe. They look after our community. They are our guardians and often our custodians.

I would like in particular today to thank the work of our local police in the Lindsay electorate, those from the Penrith and St Mary's local area commands. 29 September marked National Police Remembrance Day, a day we pause to honour police officers whose lives have been cut short while performing their duty. In this motion we also look at the work of Police Legacy that works with over 20,000 both retired and serving police.

Since 1862, 252 New South Wales police officers have lost their lives in the line of duty while protecting the lives and property of others—252 lives lost way too soon. These numbers and sacrifices of our police officers were brought home to me by a very good friend of mine Brendan Bunter. Brendan was in fact my oldest brother's best friend going through school and, like his father, followed his dad into the police force. He served our local communities, including Fairfield, St Mary's, Katoomba and Mudgee, rising to the rank of sergeant. Brendan went to domestic violence incidents, including one where in fact an offender tried to stab and kill Brendan. Brendan now suffers with acute post-traumatic stress disorder and has had to endure the mental anguish that goes with that. Brendan has tried to take his own life. Along with his wife, I have visited Brendan in St John of God. When speaking to Brendan today about this motion, he told me that he would like to tell you of the challenges and the journey that he had been on. Whilst we might remember the 252 lives lost, if Brendan had have been successful in taking his own life, he would not be counted in those numbers, even though the post-traumatic stress disorder that he has following this particular domestic violence incident, the numerous motor vehicle accidents that he attended, the investigations into fatalities and assisting families through suicide has left Brendan with a permanent disability.

Brendan's wife is one of my very good friends and it is wonderful to see the support of the family. This is just one police officer; just think of the knock-on effect this has for all the other families. That is why this day of commemorating National Police Remembrance Day is so important. It is why it is important that we actually stop to remember and look at the sacrifices of all our local police officers. Once again, I have the opportunity here today to publicly put on the record and acknowledge the work of both Penrith and St Mary's local area commands.

Friday also marked a very special day for Inspector Harry Goedings, who retired from the Penrith Local Area Command. Harry had served the New South Wales Police Force for 37 years and retires after a very long and distinguished career. On Friday he marched out of the Penrith station for the last time. He waved goodbye to his Penrith policing family, which I am sure he will be back to visit from time to time. Harry, I would like to thank you for your service, I would like to thank you for protecting our local community and I wish you all the best in your retirement.

I would also like to thank all the current serving police officers for the remarkable job that they do in ensuring that there is peace and safety right across our community. I would like to thank the member for Macarthur for bringing this motion to the House.

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