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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-06-21 Daily Xml
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Queen's Birthday Honours

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:09): My question is to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. Can the minister update the chamber about the exceptional contribution of members of our police and emergency services sector who were recently awarded Queen's Birthday honours?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:09): Let me thank the honourable member for his important question. As members may be aware, the great deeds and contributions of Australians from all walks of life were recognised over the recent Queen's Birthday long weekend. As the Minister for Police and Emergency Services I am privileged to have within my portfolio some of the hardest working, dedicated and most talented individuals in our state.

Through Australian honours awards such as the Australian Police Medal, the Australian Fire Service Medal and the Australian Emergency Services Medal, we get a chance to recognise and reflect upon the exceptional service, above and beyond what is required or reasonably expected, that officers and volunteers from the sector deliver to our state.

First of all, I would like to speak about an extraordinary CFS volunteer firefighter from Millicent who recently received the distinguished Order of Australia medal in this Queen's Birthday honours for his service to the community through emergency response organisations. Without question, Mr Mike Kemp deserves this high honour, having been recognised several years ago with the Australian Fire Service Medal. What's more, he received the 2017 Premier's Certificate of Recognition just last month for outstanding volunteer service and was also honoured by the Wattle Range Council with a reception in the Bruce Towers History Room at the Millicent Public Library.

Mr Kemp boasts a strong history with the CFS, joining 44 years ago and becoming the local group officer shortly thereafter at just 22 years of age. He held this position for decades and is still a volunteer firefighter with the Millicent brigade. He has been a part of firefighting operations through all major fires and his expertise has been recognised by the CFS at both the regional and state level. Undoubtedly, Mr Kemp is an inspiration to his peers, volunteers and the Australian community and I congratulate him on his great honour.

Mr Dennis Turner, a volunteer CFS member and brigade lieutenant from the CFS 1 Region Operations Brigade, was awarded the Australian Fire Services Medal demonstrating distinguished service during his 49 years within the CFS. Mr Turner has also been highly influential in road crash rescue areas, advocating for police psychology training as well as the training and use of hydraulic rescue tools. As a strong believer in training and development, Mr Turner's excellent leadership skills have also been recognised.

Mr Jeffrey Wiseman, a staff member of the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources brigade, was also awarded the Australian Fire Services Medal. Starting his career as a ranger for ForestrySA, Mr Wiseman counts close to 40 years of service as a firefighter in South Australia. Notably, he was involved in the design of the prototype hose winder, which would later become standard equipment in this state. He has displayed exceptional service during major fires, from Ash Wednesday right through to Pinery. A leader and mentor for many years, he is widely respected by his colleagues and the sector broadly.

From the State Emergency Service the unit manager of the Sturt unit, Mr Christopher Shaw, was awarded the Emergency Services Medal for his leadership, guidance and mentoring throughout what was the busiest period the SES has ever seen. With over 20 years of service to the community, Mr Shaw has responded to several major incidents, including the Pinery fire as well as the recent severe weather event of last year. His dedication to strengthening the SES can also be seen through his training of other trainers in the rescue operations and drive vehicles operational courses.

The first of SAPOL's Australia Police Medal recipients in this year's Queen's Birthday honours was Senior Sergeant First Class Peter Brown. His duties in regional towns across our state, including as officer in charge of the Millicent Police Station, has seen him highly regarded by his fellow staff members for his knowledge of the law and procedure, intellect and judgement. I am particularly heartened by his efforts in facilitating recent ice forums across the Limestone Coast as well as his commitment to road safety committees over more than 20 years.

Chief Superintendent Bob Fauser was also afforded the Australian Police Medal for achieving outstanding results in operational policing, organisational development and community engagement across his close to 40-year career within SAPOL. Proof of his ability is nowhere more apparent than in his current efforts leading SAPOL's organisational reform team to deliver and enhance policing services to the community.

I am pretty sure that Chief Superintendent Fauser will not mind me saying that he is also one of the fittest police officers in SAPOL. I see him regularly at the gym early in the morning, looking fit as a fiddle. I am sure he won't mind me mentioning that. As minister for both road safety and police, I also have a tremendous respect for the chief superintendent's hard work and tireless dedication to drive down our road toll, as officer in charge of SAPOL's traffic support branch.

Last but not least, Detective Sergeant Tania Sheldon was awarded the Australian Police Medal for displaying distinguished service to SAPOL, particularly through her involvement in criminal investigations that specialise in coronial, sexual-based crimes and family and domestic violence. Her contributions to the development of the multiagency protection service have been pivotal to its success in what is now recognised as a best practice model in Australia for managing matters of domestic violence.

I congratulate all of these very worthy medal recipients and thank them for their continued effort and dedication to the South Australian community. South Australia is a stronger, safer and more resilient state thanks to their contributions. The list of recipients in the Queen's Birthday honours was substantial, and many of those recipients received a large amount of kudos publicly in the media—and for good reason. People who receive these honours have, more often than not, made an outstanding contribution to our state and country.

What strikes me is that most of the awards that are reported in the media tend to be of those people who have a high profile, whether it be CEOs being paid millions upon millions of dollars per year to work for their companies or, of course, actors and actresses or people of high profile. The thing about the men and women that I have just listed is that they go about their work with enormous humility. They don't deal with any public adulation, nor do they seek public recognition or adulation. They go about their work humbly, behind the scenes, just looking after fellow South Australians. That adds up to a particularly special element of the recipients that I have just mentioned. I thank them for their hard work and wish them all the best for what, no doubt, will be more years to come of contributing to this state.

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