Condolence

Draper, Mr L.

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (15:04): By leave, I move:

That the House of Assembly expresses its deep regret at the death of Mr Laurence Draper AO, QPM, and places on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious service to the South Australian police force, including his distinguished service as South Australia's 17^th Commissioner of Police.

It is my sad duty to inform the house of the passing of the former Police Commissioner of South Australia, Mr Laurence Draper, on 10 October 2016. He was aged 93 years. Mr Draper served the people of South Australia as a police officer with distinction throughout his career, ultimately rising through the ranks to lead our police service as commissioner.

After joining the South Australia Police as a junior constable in 1940, Mr Draper served for a great deal of his early career as a detective in the Criminal Investigation Branch. Mr Draper played a significant role in the implementation of a major reorganisation of SAPOL in the 1970s, and he was appointed Deputy Commissioner in 1972 and police commissioner in 1978. Mr Draper served as South Australia's 17^th Commissioner of Police from January 1978 until May 1982. Those with a keen interest in the political history of our state, like the Speaker, will note the date of his commencement as police commissioner as coming during a particularly tumultuous time in the state's political history.

Mr Draper was the deputy commissioner when Mr Harold Salisbury was Commissioner of Police and, on the sacking of Mr Salisbury, it became Mr Draper's job as commissioner to calm a heated situation. An editorial in The Advertiser, published just prior to the retirement of Mr Draper, reflected on his service and the excellent job he had performed in difficult circumstances, stating he was 'entitled to take pride in what has been accomplished in his four years at the top'.

The situation positively cried for a new police chief with a cool head and no propensity for provocative action. In Mr Draper, those special talents had already been on display as Deputy Commissioner. The government found the ideal man. In late 1979, Mr Draper had begun to have health problems, with his doctor advising him to retire immediately due to his blood pressure being well beyond safe limits. His dedication to service saw him continue on as commissioner for 2½ more years before his doctors advised that the only way to reduce the pressure was to get away from the fire.

His service and influence extended beyond our state's borders, as he headed a four-man advisory team at the request of the Papua New Guinea government to survey and make recommendations for the reorganisation and operation of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. Later, he headed a contingent of South Australia Police to Papua New Guinea to design a patrol system and assist in training operational personnel.

Additionally, Mr Draper has provided future police and the general public with a rare insight into policing by penning an autobiography after his retirement, something only one other South Australian commissioner had done at the time of Mr Draper's publishing his text in 2007. Titled More Than Just a Job: My Life and Career From Junior Constable to Commissioner of Police, the book details Mr Draper's passion for the vocation of policing.

At the time of his retirement, Mr Draper had been awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia, the Queen's Police Medal for distinguished service, the National Medal and the Long Service Medal. For his Order of Australia award, Mr Draper was cited as being acknowledged by his contemporaries throughout Australia, as well as in many overseas countries, as one of the most effective and progressive police administrators of his time. On behalf of the government, I extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to the family, friends and former colleagues of Mr Draper.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (15:08): I rise to speak on behalf of the state Liberal team to concur with the Deputy Premier's reflections on the passing of Mr Laurence Draper AO, QPM, the former police commissioner of South Australia.

Born in Adelaide on 14 March 1923, Laurence first joined the South Australia Police force as a junior constable in 1940, starting a remarkable career of Public Service that would span over four decades. Throughout his life, Laurence served as a detective in the Criminal Investigation Branch, a superintendent, officer in charge of the management services branch and Deputy Commissioner of Police. Laurence was held in such high regard in the field of law enforcement that in 1973 he received a request from the Papua New Guinea government to lead a four-man advisory team charged with making recommendations on the reorganisation of the operations of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. This trip would see Laurence return to Papua New Guinea again the following year to continue his invaluable work to assist this police force in establishing itself.

After decades of service in which he played a significant role in reshaping South Australia's police force, Laurence was appointed at South Australia's 17^th Commissioner of Police on 19 January 1978, a post he served in until his retirement in May 1982. Laurence's dedication and commitment to serving the public and the police force throughout his life was recognised through a number of honours and accolades, including receiving the Queen's Police Medal for Gallantry in 1981 and being made an Officer of the Order of Australia.

As the Deputy Premier also mentioned, a book written by Laurence, entitled More Than Just a Job: My Life and Career from Junior Constable to Police Commissioner, is available in our South Australian state parliamentary library for anybody who is interested in having a look at it. Having served as a police officer for more than 42 years and as commissioner for five, Mr Draper has made a truly significant contribution to our community and society. One of his more unique contributions lives on in the South Australia Police flag, an emblem which he saw the importance of and lobbied for before it was authorised by state cabinet in 1981.

He was a loving husband to Flo, the dedicated father of Jill, Wendy, Anne, Marie and Susan, and a much loved grandfather to no less than 13 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Our grateful thanks go to Laurence for his many years of service and dedication to our community and state, and our thoughts and well wishes are with his friends and family. Vale, Laurence Draper.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright) (15:11): I think it is very true to say that our South Australian police force very much value and appreciate police commissioners when they come through the ranks and work their way through to that lofty position. I know that former Commissioner Draper was held in very high esteem. He came into the position during a very difficult time for police in South Australia. A number of significant critical events had occurred, and they were looking for a very steady hand and one in which they had confidence.

Commissioner Draper, as we have heard, was very highly decorated, but I want to reflect on a personal story. He will always have some affection in my heart. As people know, I was part of a police family for 24 years. As a very young mum, I moved to Peterborough with my husband, who had been posted to Peterborough, with a not quite two year old in tow and heavily pregnant. We were supposed to be moving into a new house, and at that time the Housing Trust built all the housing for police officers in South Australia and the public buildings department managed them. Two new houses had been built in Peterborough for two families to move into, and I thought I was just going to be the bee's knees.

As it turned out, the houses were not ready when the trucks arrived to move us up there, and so we were moved into the old divisional headquarters in Peterborough. We had no curtains, no floor coverings, there was a hole in the kitchen window taped up with some cardboard, and there we were left for 18 months. It did not matter what we tried: we met on site with the public buildings department head about the state of this new house, and it was consistently rejected for very important building faults. For example, the tap buttons in the basin did not match the tap buttons in the shower and the painting job inside was not up to standard.

There I was with two babies in this very cold old house. One day, when I looked out of the kitchen window and saw water running down past the kitchen. I could not work it out; it had not been raining, so why was rainwater running past the kitchen window, only to find that the pipe from the toilet had burst and we had sewage running past the kitchen window. At that point, I decided to write a letter to the head of the public buildings department to express my concern. When I had penned it, I decided that, rather than send it him, I would send it to Commissioner Salisbury. My husband was not very happy about that, and thought that was going to be the end of his policing career. Anyway, off went the letter.

About a week later, a superintendent walked into the Peterborough Police Station. My husband jumped up and introduced himself, and he said, 'Oh yes you're the fellow whose wife wrote about the house.' He apologised profusely and was told, 'Don't worry about it, we've discussed it at executive level,' at which point I think Tony nearly passed out.

A day or two later, a letter came from Acting Commissioner Draper telling me I was quite right to alert them to our circumstances, and to pack up the contents of our house: a truck would be there to pick us up in a week's time and move us into the new house—in which I delighted. I had my wonderful net curtains of the 1970s: orange in the lounge room, purple and white in my room, gold and white in another, and lime and green in the boys' rooms. Every Sunday, the township would do its Sunday drive, and we would have 20 or 30 cars coming up to have a look at the people in this new house.

That was testament not only to his consideration for not only the men under his command but also to his caring for families, that he took the time to consider a letter from a young 22-year-old wife living in a remote area in South Australia and make sure that we had decent accommodation. There is a long story to the end of that. The fellow running the public buildings department at that time later came into quite significant disrepute, but now is not the time to go into that. I want to pass on my condolences to former Commissioner Draper's family. Vale, Commissioner Draper.

Mr DULUK (Davenport) (15:16): On Monday morning, I had the privilege to attend the funeral of Laurie Draper AO, QPM, who was one of my constituents—not just one of my constituents, but a long-time supporter and member of the Liberal Party. My dealings with Mr Draper were in his later stage of life, but he came across and was an incredibly gentle, humble and unassuming man. If you read his autobiography More Than Just a Job: My Life and Career from Junior Constable to Commissioner of Police, you will see in that man why he became Commissioner of Police in 1978, after Commissioner Salisbury, and, of course, in a period of a lot of social change in South Australia.

Something that was evident through the eulogies at his funeral was that he was promoted to that position because he was seen as a safe pair of hands within the police force. He was promoted much to the displeasure of a lot of senior officers at the time. In his own words, he was not a company man and he was not necessarily one of the boys, but he was extremely diligent, he was extremely process driven, and he saw change in the South Australian police force that made it a stronger institution. A lot of the hallmarks we see in the South Australia Police today came through the time under his service as Commissioner Draper.

He was a wonderful family man. His five daughters (Jill, Wendy, Anne, Marie and Susan), and sons-in-law (David, Mark, Danny, and Stephan), 13 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren have suffered a huge loss, creating a huge void in their lives because he was such a wonderful family man. He was a man who loved horses and country living: one who, up until a couple of weeks ago, was still playing lawn bowls, and someone who slipped to the next life peacefully in the last couple of weeks.

It is people like Laurie Draper who, when we go back and study the history of South Australia, and particularly the civil service, will be remembered for a long time to come. Vale, Laurie Draper.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: As there are no further speakers, I add my condolences on behalf of the people of Florey, and ask members to rise in their place so that the motion can be carried in silence for one minute.

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.