Sam Lim (Tangney, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Member for Wide Bay, for this motion. As a police officer who spent almost 16 years in WA Police Force, I want to share with you what it's like to be on the front lines. You may already know about the long shifts, about how we kit up in our uniform and accoutrements and then head out onto the streets with a job list that never ends. Maybe you can imagine that this job is intense, heartbreaking and overwhelming, but, unless you are a police officer, you can't understand that, even on these most difficult jobs, you don't have a choice. It's your duty. You have to stay and you have to be there.

I retired from the WA Police Force when I was elected as the federal member for Tangney. But being a police officer does not leave me; it still stays with me. I can drive by a tree and remember a body I retrieved from that same tree—or from a public toilet, from a bus stop or from a road. I can still feel and smell it. This work stays in our minds forever. National Police Remembrance Day is important to honour the police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty—police officers who were just doing their jobs and have been killed. The loss deeply hits our police brothers and sisters everywhere. We can never forget, because they are part of us.

I pay tribute to my two police officer brothers who recently lost their lives in the line of duty and to my police officer brother who is injured. I send my condolences and my sorrow to their families, friends, communities and all police brothers and sisters. My thoughts are also with police officers across Australia who are struggling with or who have lost their lives to injury or mental health. Through this day of remembrance, I hope that the public can appreciate the work done by our good police officers out there. They are there 24 hours a day, seven days a week, never resting. They do their job well to protect us and our community. The scars stay long after we hand in our badges. I was speaking to a Tangney constituent who is also a former police officer, and I said, 'Peter, I have had four operations from this job—my back, my knee, my shoulder and my wrist.' The scar is still here. And he replied, 'Sam, I've had six.'

Being a police officer was my childhood dream. It is still the dream of many young children. If we want it to keep being a childhood dream, we need to ensure that police officers are well supported, not only when they are active police officers but also in their retirement. I have lost colleagues to work related stress. When they go home, they don't have the energy to take care of their own families, or they try but they burn out, collapse and their family falls apart too.

When police officers are in dangerous situations, we don't think for ourselves. We think about how to protect the victims and how to get the job done. We do not know what dangers await us at each and every job. These days, when I drive home from work on the same road I once sped down with my lights and sirens on, I start to think: 'Wow, I was driving so fast. I am lucky there were no cars coming from the left or from the right.' Today I see the risk I took as a police officer. I want the public to know that police officers take this risk every day for us. I want my police brothers and sisters to know that, if you are struggling, please reach out to someone or reach out to my office. Thank you for everything you do for our community to keep us safe.

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