Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

'Born to be a hero'—that's how Stuart Forte described his son, Senior Constable Brett Forte, after he was shot in the line of duty earlier this year. And a hero he was. Later this month is National Police Remembrance Day, but I rise today to recognise the risks they take and the sacrifices that our police make to protect our country. They are all heroes. I would like to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the course of their duty and to reflect on their lives and memories.

This year in Queensland and in Longman we specifically reflect on the life of Senior Constable Brett Forte. Though he was working in the Tactical Crime Squad at the Toowoomba Police Station Complex when he tragically fell, Brett actually grew up in the Moreton Bay region. He went to school not far down the road at Clontarf Beach State High School and joined the Queensland Police Service. Not long after he found himself working in the region at the Caboolture Police Station. This made him a third-generation police officer in his family. Caboolture Police Station is just down the road from my office, and so I have heard firsthand the memories that many of his former colleagues have of just what a wonderful man he was. His former team leader, Sergeant Pete Thompson, said it was a privilege to have worked with him. Though Brett worked at the Caboolture station from 2009 to 2012, he forged some truly meaningful relationships there. A number of the officers at the Caboolture station told me that they even had attended his wedding. That's how close they became working together. They were really a very tight-knit family at the Caboolture Police Station.

Police officers like Brett, who are outstanding members of society and who serve and protect our communities, should be recognised, and those who fall must be honoured and remembered and their families supported. And so I must take this moment to commend the work of Police Legacy, a charitable organisation which offers this support and assistance to the loved ones of police officers who have been killed on duty or who have died as a result of their duties. As at July 2017, Queensland Police Legacy was supporting 55 Queensland Police Service families just like Brett's. It's supporting partners just like Brett's—his wife, Susan, is also a police officer out in Toowoomba—and children just like Brett's—his children are Emma, Brodie and Sam, and they have lost their father.

I stand here and express my unwavering support for the nation's police officers, particularly those in my home state of Queensland. As the member for Morayfield, the state seat that is located inside the electorate of Longman, we have the Hon. Mark Ryan. He is the member there, but he is also Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services and Minister for Corrective Services. In speaking to him and his office, I can see just how much the Queensland state Labor government is putting into supporting its Police Service.

Just last week, last Wednesday actually, we had the officer of the year awards at Caboolture, at the function centre. They were hosted by the Caboolture and Morayfield Combined Services Club. I saw and heard firsthand of the quality of our local officers, both in their roles in the service and as members of their local community. They spoke about the work that they do when they take the uniform off. They are coaches at the local football club; they belong to their local service organisations; they go above and beyond just being members of the Police Service. They truly are members of their communities and their families' communities as well.

These men and women—the men and women in Caboolture, the men and women in Queensland and the men and women right across Australia—who make up the nation's police service deserve our respect and, when it's needed, they deserve our support. So this year, on 29 September, National Police Remembrance Day, I urge all Australians to take a moment and reflect upon those people who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect us all—people like Senior Constable Brett Forte.

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