Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

SITOU () (): There is a photo that I have with Superintendent Christine McDonald, and I think it captures who she is and what she brings to the role. It's a photo that I have with her in her uniform, and it's covered in Holi colours. It was at an event that I held in March this year. Superintendent McDonald had been the local area commander for the Burwood area for only less than a month, and she was at this event because she believes in the role that police can play in connecting with the community. Young students were there and they were squealing with delight as they got to throw colours at the police, and families had the opportunity to meet Superintendent McDonald. She was accessible and personable, and that's important for communities like mine, a diverse community made up of people from around the world. For some, their interactions with law enforcement in their home countries may have been very different. They may have been bound by fear or defined by corruption.

The work that Superintendent McDonald does with her team lives out the true meaning of community policing, focusing on building relationships with the community because they understand that crime prevention, finding perpetrators of violent crimes and making the community feel safe can only be done in partnership with the community. Residents need to trust their police and know where to go when they witness crime or feel scared or threatened. It's that active policing and building trust with the community that I admire in Superintendent McDonald, and I'm pleased it has been recognised by others too. Last week Superintendent Christine McDonald was awarded the Irene Juergens APM Fellowship Award at the Rotary NSW Police Officer of the Year Awards in recognition of her outstanding dedication to community based policing. I feel privileged to get to work alongside Superintendent McDonald. I've learned so much from her and I am inspired by her example.

We've had frank conversations about the challenges in our community, and Superintendent McDonald has said that the biggest challenge for her team is tackling domestic violence. This is true not just in my electorate; it is a major challenge across New South Wales. It's an issue that the federal and New South Wales governments are squarely focused on. Both governments are spending record amounts to help fund emergency financial support and accommodation to help victim-survivors and expand programs that reduce the rates of violence against women and children. The New South Wales government has passed laws that make it harder for alleged domestic violence offenders to get bail and has made coercive control a criminal offence.

I've been to many community events with Superintendent McDonald, and there is a line that she often uses at these events: 'I don't want anyone to suffer in silence. Come to your police so we can help you.' That is the exact message that the community needs to hear. While she has been the Burwood police area commander for less than a year, she's having an extraordinary impact. Earlier this year, along with the member for Strathfield, Jason Yat-Sen Li, we held a community round table to discuss how we can tackle domestic violence together, working with Burwood police. I was so pleased that Superintendent McDonald was able to be there.

We've also been working closely with Burwood police on another major crime that is having an extraordinary toll on many in the community: scams. I've seen the devastating impact scams can have on an individual. We've had several constituents come for help because they've been scammed out of huge sums of money. The financial and emotional consequences can be devastating. I've now held two antiscam forums to arm the community with the knowledge and information they need to protect themselves and at each of those events Superintendent McDonald and her team have been there to speak directly to the community about how the police can support them.

Recently, a 15-year-old in my electorate was charged with a knife crime. That young person killed someone. There was a line that Superintendent McDonald used in a press conference. She said, 'Today, one life was lost and one life was ruined.' That is the approach that she takes to policing—to be strong and tough but also to be empathetic. It is something that I have lived by.