Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to pay my respects to Constable Anthony Woods, who tragically lost his life on 11 June this year after succumbing to his injuries after being dragged underneath a vehicle. I didn't know Anthony Woods, but I know Anthony Woods. I say that because in my 12 years in the police force in New South Wales there was a common thread, and that was family—the family in the police force. And it actually doesn't matter whether you're serving or you've left, or if you've retired: there's always that common thread. It's an understanding that you've all done the same thing, have done that job and have worked together.

I can stand on prepoll for hours and hours and I'll have ex-police or current police come up to me. Someone might say to me, 'I was in the Queensland cops'—great—and you'd have that conversation, because you'd have that understanding and camaraderie. That could be said internationally, as well. I know that every police officer in Australia today and on 11 June would have been thinking about Anthony Woods.

I've seen some photos of Anthony in the media. I can say that I know he would have loved his job. The look on his face—he would have loved getting up every morning, or at night time going on night shift, pulling on those black Baxter boots and going out there and doing that job, and part of that would have been doing that job with his mates. He wouldn't have walked out that door thinking, 'I might have to face danger tonight,' because that's just assumed. Every single police officer walks out the door like that because they walk into this job with eyes wide open, as I did in 1989. What you see with your eyes wide open is different, but you know that's part of the job. Yet Woodsy—I'm sure they called him Woodsy—would have walked out that door looking forward to going to work, looking forward to working with his mates and looking forward to the job in which he swore to protect our communities. And that's exactly what he did.

I offer my condolences to his family—his wife and his extended family. There will always be pain. But after time, the memories of him will fill your heart. I offer my condolences to his mates, his work colleagues. And the families of police should be recognised today because they let those police officers walk out the door every day, knowing that this may happen. It's quite unfair to them, but it's a choice that they make because they love their loved ones. They know they love their job. It's a sacrifice that the families of police officers make. So I thank you, the families of police officers, for letting your loved ones walk out the door every day to serve us.

Finally, I recognise the first responders. That would have been one of the toughest scenes to visit, knowing that it was one of them, knowing that it was one of theirs. Having been to many incidents, I thank God that none of them were people known to me or loved ones. I offer my thoughts and my prayers to the first-responder community around Australia and thank you for what you do for our communities.

Might I just recognise Peter Addison and Robert Spears, who were two senior constables working at the Kempsey police station back in 1995, a station where I once worked, who both lost their lives in a tragic shooting incident. It's been 28 years, but we still remember them, as we will always remember Constable Anthony Woods. Again, thank you to all the police officers, and vale, Anthony Woods.

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