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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-07-02 Daily Xml
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Burns, Commissioner Gary

Ms COOK (Fisher) (15:32): I rise today using this great opportunity to pay thanks to police Commissioner Gary Burns for the fantastic work he has done as head of South Australia's police force during his tenure before he retires on 20 July. Gary Burns has been involved in policing for 45 years and really worked his way through the ranks. He has served as a cop on the beat, served on South Australia's elite STAR Group, and then served the state in a number of key, strategic and executive roles.

In 2003, Commissioner Burns was transferred to the Department of the Premier and Cabinet in the Security and Emergency Management Office. He was responsible for implementing a number of policies which have kept South Australia safe from terrorism and led a number of emergency management reviews.

Commissioner Burns has always gone above and beyond what is expected of a police officer. Among his many personal achievements is the 1978 awarding of a Bravery Medal after he entered a burning house to save the life of a resident, as well as his receipt of the Australian Police Medal, National Medal and SAPOL Service Medal.

I had the great honour of working with Commissioner Gary Burns when I was the co-CEO of the Sammy D Foundation. He demonstrated a real commitment to working with a range of community organisations throughout South Australia, ensuring that our police force always had their ear to the ground responding to community needs. The premature use of alcohol by our teenagers and, of course, the use of any illicit substances can lead to developmental delays, reduced engagement in education, poor education, antisocial behaviours, violence and criminal and recidivist behaviours.

The Sammy D Foundation used a consultative and evidence-based approach in the development of its programs from inception. The three programs were developed based on the use of powerful narrative, engaging information sharing workshops and public campaigns targeting risk groups. These programs target bullying, violent and antisocial behaviours and offer strategies for prevention, particularly in relation to the exacerbation of those serious community problems in the presence of the use of alcohol and/or other drugs.

The Party Wise program in particular targets groups of young people to empower them to make safe choices while celebrating, while promoting mateship and leadership. The foundation was able to demonstrate its methodology was best practice, and with outcomes and evaluations well-documented, the commissioner and his team now provide support and endorsement of this delivery to thousands of young people every year. Thanks to this agreement offered under the watch of Commissioner Gary Burns, SAPOL local officers have supported workshops in partnership with the foundation in dozens of regional and metropolitan locations.

A significant partnership was also in the work of the Great Night Out campaign. SAPOL cobranded public awareness material and participated actively in the steering committee, along with approximately 10 other NGOs and peak bodies. This program continues now post the funding period using charitable donor dollars—a great investment. SA Ambulance and SAPOL both support the delivery of Party Wise programs. The Sammy D Foundation does not operate alone in this space, with other NGOs, such as Encounter Youth and Drug ARM, working tirelessly to educate and support young people in the space of alcohol-related harm.

It is pleasing to note that alcohol-related harm is now down. The presentation rate to hospitals related to excessive alcohol intake is at its lowest in four years for adults and is, in fact, down by approximately 30 per cent for teenagers. This is so very positive. These results can be attributed to a combination of the fantastic work undertaken by the above and many other NGOs, but also by the wonderful leadership shown by the commissioner in relation to the work of SAPOL supporting this journey and to the cooperative work undertaken by his team and this government in relation to the late night code. This work will form part of Commissioner Gary Burns' legacy.

Thank you, commissioner, for your vision, your progressive leadership and most of all for your investment. I wish Commissioner Burns the best of luck with whatever he pursues in his retirement. He has always put the community first and demonstrated his complete devotion to our state. I would like to welcome Grant Stevens to the role.

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