Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) National Police Remembrance Day is observed on 29 September; and

(b) this year marks 100 years of women in policing;

(2) acknowledges the:

(a) significant role police officers across Australia make to our local communities and the great deal of risk and sacrifice that comes with their duty; and

(b) ultimate sacrifice that has been made by police officers who have been killed in the course of their duty and honours their lives;

(3) recognises the good work of Police Legacy who look after the loved ones of police officers who have died as a result of their duty; and

(4) reaffirms its support for the nation's 56,000 police officers whose dedication and commitment ensure peace and safety of our communities.

National Police Remembrance Day is coming up on 29 September. It is observed each year on Saint Michael's Day—Saint Michael, being the patron saint of law enforcement and, according to Christian tradition, the protector of good over evil. This is the day to reflect on the significant role that police play in our community. It is also a time to pause and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice during the course of their duties.

Last Saturday I participated in the sixth annual Wall to Wall Ride for Remembrance, with police and their supporters across Australia converging in Canberra on motorcycles. This year we had over 2,000 riders coming together to pay tribute to the brave men and women who wear the police uniform. This ride was also a valuable opportunity to promote motorcycle safety. But, primarily, it is about a charity. It is a charity ride to support the great work of Police Legacy, the people who look after the loved ones of officers who have died as a result of their duty. Over the past five years, the Wall to Wall Ride has raised in excess of $400,000 for Police Legacy.

On Police Remembrance Day we also think about the loved ones left behind, those who are left permanently affected and live in grief. We owe it to the former to look after their families. The New South Wales Police Legacy alone provides care and support to more than 20,000 serving and retired police officers and their families during times of tragedy and need. The ride is also an opportunity to acknowledge the unique and often dangerous nature of policing. The job of protecting and serving the community is not an easy one. Those brave enough to wear the police uniform are to be recognised and absolutely deserve our gratitude.

Given that this year marks 100 years of women in policing, it is also important to acknowledge the great role women have played over the past century in protecting our communities across Australia, and sometimes making the ultimate sacrifice. In that respect, I would like to reflect on Detective Sergeant Jillian Hawkes, who suffered horrendous injuries during an attack while responding to an incident at Luna Park in 1977. She was effecting the arrest of a felon. Following her injuries, her leg was amputated and, as a result of further complications, she died some four years later. This is just the story of one woman, one police officer, who paid the ultimate price in carrying out her duties.

Policing comes, as we understand, with a high degree of risk that, thankfully, most of us will never have to face. It takes a special type of person with a special type of courage to wear the police uniform, and we are truly indebted to the men and women who choose to do so. The bravery of our police and their dedication to serving and protecting our communities should be nationally recognised and never taken for granted. We are forever in their debt.

The Wall to Wall Ride for Remembrance was led by New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione. His Queensland counterpart, Ian Stewart, was also there on the ride from the Police Memorial in Sydney through to the National Police Memorial in Canberra. In Canberra we were joined by police commissioners from each state and territory as well as the Australian Federal Police. We also had the presence of each police association across the nation including, Mark Carol from South Australia, who is president of the Police Federation of Australia, and Scott Webber, who is the vice president of the PFA as well as president of the New South Wales Police Association. I would particularly like to congratulate Mark Burgess of the Police Federation of Australia, Senior Sergeant Paul Bousfield, chair of New South Wales Police Legacy and Assistant Commissioner Mick Corboy, who, together with retired Inspector Brian Rix, from Victoria, were the instigators of the Wall to Wall Ride.

On 29 September, Police Remembrance Day, we pause to remember the 757 officers who have, throughout the history of policing in Australia, lost their lives in the line of their duty. On behalf of a very grateful community, I want to assure the nation's 56,000 police officers that we value and appreciate their commitment. To police across the nation, in particular the police officers in Liverpool, Green Valley, Cabramatta, Fairfield local area, thank you. (Time expired)

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The men and women of our police force perform a difficult and at times thankless job. They are the people to whom we turn in times of acute crisis. They occasionally see humanity at its best, but more often at its very worst. They are the people to whom we go in dangerous situations, when the rest of us are escaping to safety. By its very nature the act of policing will always come with some risk, but sometimes police men and women pay the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe.

On the 29 September, National Police Remembrance Day, we remember those who have died in the course of or as a result of their duties. The National Police Memorial in Canberra was completed in 2006. It records the names and honours the memory of 757 police men and women. The list dates right back to first recorded fatality in 1803. It makes for some sombre reading. It includes the 29 officers from Queensland, who have lost their lives. For the Hansard record, I would like to repeat them: Patrick Cahill, John Power, George Dyas, Henry Kaye, Mark Beresford, William Dwyer, Alfred Wavell, James Sangster, Edward Lanigan, William Conroy, George Doyle, David Johnston, Charles O'Kearney, Albert Price, Roy Doyle, Gregory Olive, Douglas Wrembeck, Cecil Bagley, Desmond Trannore, Douglas Gordon, Lyle Hoey, Colin Brown, Michael Low, Peter Kidd, Brett Handran, Norman Watt, Perry Irwin, Detective Senior Constable Damian Leeding and Constable Brett Irwin, who, in 2007, having already served his country in the Army, had joined the police service and was posted to Ferny Grove in my electorate of Ryan. On his first night shift, he was sent to serve a bail warrant on a career criminal at a house in Keperra. He was shot without warning and died at the scene. His last act was to shout a warning to his colleague. He was just 33 years old. We must always remember that every loss leaves behind a grieving family. In the case of Constable Irwin: his mother, Christine and her surviving children.

Police legacy organisations around Australia work to support the partners and dependents of deceased officers. I wish to pay particular tribute to the work of Queensland Police Legacy who, for more than 40 years, have been supporting police and their families. At present they are assisting 53 families from across the state, including meeting education expenses of 80 dependent children. They also fund group holidays for police families who have suffered loss. These trips encourage them to share their stories and to look out for each other, with many establishing connections, support networks and friends that last a lifetime. Queensland Policy Legacy receives no government funding, and relies entirely on charitable support. I encourage all Queenslanders to support this very worthy cause.

In Ryan, we are well served by a police service that is heavily involved in our local community. Key to this is the work of Sergeant Jose Sarmiento, the District Crime Prevention Coordinator for our area. Jose is a frequent presence at schools and events and gives his time to speak to many community groups, including local Neighbourhood Watch meetings. He is a great example of an officer who genuinely cares about his community and is committed to working with us to keep us safe. For all the safety improvements in process, in vehicles and firearms, policing will always carry risk. It is perhaps the only profession that asks its members to leave their homes each and every day not knowing if they will return.

On National Police Remembrance Day, on 29 September, please take time to consider the vital role that the men and women of our police forces play. Remember those who have given their lives and also pay tribute to those still serving and those who have served—people like the member for Macarthur. We need to be appreciative of the risks that they take every day to keep our community safe and secure. We owe our police and their families a debt of gratitude for the work that they do. I thank the member for Fowler for bringing this motion to the House today.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion put forward by the member for Fowler, a ferocious advocate for the 56,000 police throughout Australia. This nation observes National Police Remembrance Day on 29 September. It is a sad but important opportunity to honour those police officers who have given their lives serving our community. The National Police Memorial here in Canberra honours the 757 police who have died in service; 29 of those from Queensland. The first of those officers was Constable Joseph Luker of Sydney, who died on duty in 1803. In Queensland our police service history spans 131 years. In 1864 there were 143 people employed in the Queensland police force. Currently, there are more than 15,000, with around 10,000 being on-duty police officers.

This year also marks 100 years of women in policing. In Queensland women have been employed since 1931. Initially, their main duties were assisting female suspects and prisoners. It was not until 1965 that the first women were sworn into the force. They initially had no power of arrest, and their duties mainly involved women and children. Later that year, 50 years ago, an act was passed giving policewomen the same powers as policemen.

The Queensland police, like all states and territories, has been an evolving body. As mechanisation and technology have changed, so too has the police force. In 1934, with the widespread adoption of the motor car, a motor garage was built in Brisbane to maintain the motor vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles. The buildings that stabled the police horses and equipment were taken over for that purpose, and it was at that time that the mounted police force moved from the city out to Oxley, in my electorate of Moreton.

In fact, Morton was very important in the development of the Queensland police force. In 1969 the Chelmer College at Laurel Avenue was established as a training complex for 27 live-in students right alongside the river. In 1972 the Queensland Police Academy at Oxley was completed. Along with the facility in Townsville, these are still the two major police training venues in Queensland.

There have been many changes to policing over the 131 years that the Queensland police force has been operating: traffic police became essential; fingerprinting; the use of radio necessitated the erection of a police wireless station in the grounds of the police depot at Petrie Terrace; central communications became operable in 1951; and, with modern communications, social media and computing, policing has changed enormously, even in the last decade.

The men and women who make our modern police force are brave and decent people. On National Police Remembrance Day we honour those brave men and women who have given their lives in their service to our country. I mentioned earlier that the first officer to die on duty was Constable Luker, who died in 1803. There have been 756 deaths in the course of duty in Australia since then.

I would also, on this occasion of the centenary of World War I, like to remember and honour those brave policemen who died on active service during the First World War. There are 30 of them in total—brave officers who were exempt from enlisting due to their occupation but who took the leave of absence to join up. There were 66 officers out of 1,112 enlisted with the permission of the police force. We remember those 30 or more Queensland police officers who died in the Great War as well as those who have died in the service of keeping the good order in our community.

One of the 757 police officers named on the National Police Memorial in Canberra was killed while on duty in my electorate of Moreton. His name is Constable Douglas George Gordon. I would like to tell you his story. On 27 March 1968 at 5.05 am, Constable Gordon was called to the Oxley Ambulance Station where a man, Mr Stabe, was causing a disturbance. The man's wife had bruising to her face and a wound near her ear. The ambulance officer advised that the wound would need to be stitched. The man insisted that the wound was nothing to worry about. Before being conveyed to hospital by ambulance, Mrs Stabe requested that Constable Gordon follow her home while she packed some clothes. Constable Gordon, sensing that Mrs Stabe's husband might be volatile, called for assistance. At the house, Constable Gordon was joined by another officer from the Inala police station. Both officers followed Mrs Stabe into her bedroom. Constable Douglas Gordon and the other officer were standing in the room when they saw Mr Stabe kneel down and reach under the bed. Before either of them could react, Mr Stabe had pulled out a rifle and shot Constable Gordon, mortally wounding him. He pointed the gun at the stomach of the other officer, who, fortunately, was able to grab the barrel of the rifle, grapple with Mr Stabe and handcuff him. Mr Stabe was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

We honour Constable Douglas George Gordon, along with the other brave officers who have died in the service of this nation. Constable Gordon died protecting a woman from her violent husband. That is one of the bravest acts of all. I support the whip's motion. Lest we forget. (Time expired)

Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the member for Fowler's motion, along with the members for Moreton and Ryan. With National Police Remembrance Day fast approaching on 29 September, I am thankful for this opportunity to acknowledge the important role police officers play in our community and the significant sacrifices they make regularly in order to keep us safe. National Police Remembrance Day is a day for all Australians to pause and honour the bravery of officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty, as well as those who have passed away through illness and other circumstances.

Each year, I am compelled to raise awareness of National Police Remembrance Day because I know from firsthand experience how challenging a job it is, both for the officers and their families. For 25 years I proudly served my community as a police officer in the New South Wales Police Force, so I understand the physical and emotional demands that are part and parcel of doing the job. I understand what it is like to work long and antisocial hours away from one's family in difficult and often dangerous circumstances. I understand the strain this places on our partners and loved ones, who are forced to supress the niggling fear that one day someone may turn up at the front door and, from that point onwards, they will be left to raise their children alone.

Every loss of a police officer is a solemn and jarring reminder of the dangers they face in the line of duty and the immense expectations that we, as a community, place on them to protect us. On Saturday, thousands of people from right across Australia took part in the Wall to Wall Ride for Remembrance: an annual tribute that honours the service and sacrifices of the many law enforcement officers killed while on duty. All funds raised during the Wall to Wall ride by the New South Wales contingent goes to New South Wales Police Legacy, which provides care and support to more than 20,000 serving and retired police officers and their families during times of tragedy and need. The charity ride is a sight to behold, and this year was no different with the banks of the Hume Highway lined with saluting officers, well-wishers and historic police cars, as more than 2,000 riders made the symbolic journey from Sydney to the National Police Memorial in Canberra on what was a beautiful spring day.

In a final gesture of solidarity and remembrance, a ceremony was held at the National Police Memorial in honour of the police who have made the ultimate sacrifice, with the names represented on the touchstones of the memorial wall. During the ceremony, batons were presented by each of the nine policing jurisdictions and the names of the inner scrolls were read out to honour those who lost their lives in the past year. Thankfully, the New South Wales scroll was blank this year. Two hundred and fifty two officers have lost their lives in the service of their community throughout the 153-year history of the New South Wales Police Force.

On previous occasions, I have spoken about two courageous police officers killed in the line of duty: namely, Detective Senior Constable Damian Leeding, who was killed during an armed robbery on the Gold Coast in 2011, and Senior Constable Jim Affleck, a highway patrolman from my electorate of Macarthur, who was run down during a police pursuit along the F5 in 2001. More recently, on 6 December 2012, Detective Inspector Bryson Charles Anderson attended a neighbours' dispute in Oakville in New South Wales where a number of arrows had been fired in the vicinity of people working on a neighbouring property. While Detective Inspector Anderson was questioning the offender, who was at the back door of the residence, the offender produced a knife and stabbed him in the face and chest. Despite his wounds, Detective Inspector Anderson assisted his colleagues to subdue the offender and a female accomplice, before he collapsed and later died from his injuries. Detective Inspector Anderson fought to protect his comrades while mortally wounded, without thought for himself and his own injuries, and his remarkable bravery should never be forgotten.

Throughout my career in the New South Wales Police Force and in my subsequent role as a member of this parliament, I have been fortunate enough to have met and made countless friends in the police force. The year 2015 marks a significant milestone for the New South Wales Police, which celebrates the evolution of the role of women in policing in New South Wales since the introduction of the first female special constables, Lillian Armfield and Maude Rhodes, in 1915. Today, New South Wales boasts 4,542 female sworn officers and 2,581 female unsworn officers.

To commemorate this remarkable achievement and all that women have achieved in policing over the last century, officers from across the 79 local area commands in New South Wales took part in the inaugural New South Wales Women in Policing Baton Relay which was launched on the steps of the Opera House on 8 March. I am delighted to say that both the Camden and Campbelltown LACs in Macarthur took part in the relay, which included a number of celebratory events and presentations along the way.

On behalf of the people of Macarthur, I would like to thank everyone involved in this landmark event and, more importantly, the remarkable policemen and women past and present who have served communities throughout Australia with such valour and distinction. You deserve the highest respect for what you do and we are all greatly thankful.

Debate adjourned.