National Police Remembrance Day Service
Commissioner Tony Negus APM
National Police Memorial, Kings Park
Canberra Tuesday 29 September 2009
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Your Excellencies, Governor General and Mr Bryce; Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor; ACT Minister for Police and Emergency Services Simon Corbell; Lieutenant-General Mark Evans, representing the Chief of the Defence Force; High Commissioners and members of the diplomatic community; Representatives from law enforcement agencies across Australia and the Pacific; Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, and recognise their elders past and present, and their connection to this land;
National Police Remembrance Day began as the result of an agreement between Commissioners of Police Australasia and the South West Pacific Region in 1989. So this is its 20th year. For the past 20 years police in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands have remembered their colleagues who died on duty, with a service today, on the 29th of September, the feast day of Saint Michael, the patron saint of police.
We gather here this afternoon, as we have every year on this day since this memorial was unveiled in 2006 to commemorate that day. You will see the undulating path that represents the uncertainty of police work, as you walk along the path will notice the names of officers from every State and Territory across the nation inscribed upon the wall.
The memorial is a significant place of remembrance for every Australian jurisdiction and I am honoured, as the AFP Commissioner, to act as your host at today’s ceremony.
There are 741 touchstones in the memorial wall. Each stone represents a dedication to duty, and a life lost in undertaking that duty.
There is something special about this location by the lake, which lends itself to quiet reflection and appropriately quiet reminiscence.
Such places are very important. It is important to acknowledge our fallen colleagues, and important to place their sacrifice in the context of our daily lives. Every time one of our officers puts on a uniform, responds to a call or executes a search warrant, it is with the subconscious understanding that what we do for a living can be a dangerous job.
It is important to understand the impact this has on our loved ones; and the tremendous loss felt by the families and friends of those honoured on this wall.
And while there is no way to alleviate the grief of losing a loved one, it is important, on days like today, to acknowledge the contribution they made to our community.
This year, Australia has been fortunate in that no police officers have lost their lives in the course of duty. However today 10 names have been added to the wall after being identified from historical records.
The deaths of some of these officers go back more than 150 years, however I’d specifically like to acknowledge four of them, whose descendants are actually with us here today.
District Constable William Ward, who was shot by a bushranger in 1843; Constable William Thompson, who was killed on duty in 1883; Constable Charles Siely, who died in 1937 from injuries he sustained fighting bushfires near Hobart; and Constable John Robertson, who died in an accident while on duty in 1944.
The fact that members of their families – in two cases their great, great granddaughters – are here today, highlights the significance of their service, and the ongoing impact that their losses had on their loved ones.
This particular memorial recognises members of Australian police forces who have died in the line of duty. This afternoon I would also like to acknowledge the losses suffered by other law enforcement agencies in our region. The reading of the roll of honour will identify each of these officers shortly.
Today, remembrance services are being held by police organisations across our region, from Fiji to Western Australia where these names will be honoured.
As the criminal environment grows increasingly more complex, borderless and fluid, police across the region continue to work together to combat crime in all its forms.
In the Pacific region there are several multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency police operations currently underway, with the Regional Assistance Mission in the Solomon Islands perhaps one of the best known examples.
In Australia, joint operations between the Commonwealth, states and the territories are now happening on a daily basis. Our increased ability to share intelligence and skills is bearing fruit, and in recent months we have experienced a number of successes thanks to the hard work of the men and women of all Australia’s police forces.
Today, we remember those police officers across Australia and the Pacific who died in the course of their duty, and we thank them for their efforts to keep our community safe. We also thank the men and women still serving in our police forces who each and every day put their communities before themselves.
Thank you