Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about National Police Remembrance Day. As we approach National Police Remembrance Day, on 27 September, it is important that we acknowledge the crucial role that police officers serve in our communities and pay tribute to those officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the course of their duty.

It was only recently that four members of the Victorian Police Force tragically lost their lives in a multiple vehicle collision on Melbourne's Eastern Freeway. I would like to extend my condolences to the families and friends of Leading Senior Constable Lynette Rosemary Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin Neil King, Constable Glen Andrew Humphris and Constable Joshua Andrew Prestney. We acknowledge the sacrifices they have made and all the police make to ensure our communities are a place of peace and safety.

I also want to take this opportunity to commend the valuable work of Police Legacy, who look after the loved ones of police officers who have fallen in their line of duty. Being a member of the police force comes with an incredible physical and psychological risk, and this can also be experienced by the love ones in their extended police family. I know this because, as a psychologist, I would see police officers who had been exposed to traumatic events, which, unfortunately, increases their risk to post-traumatic stress disorder. Police Legacy develop lasting relationships with families who have lost loved ones in the line of duty and ensures their needs are being met. This may mean covering the cost of their children's education, providing referrals to bereavement counselling and other social services, or introducing them to other Police Legacy families who have also gone through the same grief.

I would like to take this opportunity to affirm our nation's support for our police officers. I want to especially thank the commander of Burwood Police Area Command, Detective Superintendent Paul Delaney, and the commander of Auburn police Area Command, Acting Superintendent Peter Glynn. I want to thank them for taking the time to meet with me recently and to explain the challenges that police in my area have faced, especially in the recent months during the coronavirus pandemic. The scope of work they have had to take on due to the coronavirus, alongside their regular duties, is quite remarkable. They have been assisting and overseeing social distancing restrictions, border restrictions and even management of New South Wales quarantine hotel operations. I thank our police officers, ADF personnel and first responders for the work they are doing in the community to help control the spread of coronavirus. It is yet another example of the many ways our police force steps up to make sure that our community is safe. I speak on behalf of those in Reid when I thank our police officers for their service and for their commitment to our communities, and I remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

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