Queensland Police Union Journal March 2011
Queensland Police Union Journal March 2011
Queensland Police Union Journal March 2011
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MARCH <strong>2011</strong><br />
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE QUEENSLAND POLICE UNION<br />
What Lies Beneath<br />
A LIFE CUT SHORT<br />
FOR HER WHOLE LIFE, KAT DALEY’S HOMETOWN NEVER<br />
BORE WITNESS TO A MURDER UNTIL THE NIGHT THIS YOUNG<br />
WOMAN WAS RAPED AND KILLED BY AN OUTSIDER.<br />
WE TAKE YOU INSIDE THE POLICE INVESTIGATION AND<br />
INTO THE KILLER’S PERVERTED LIFE.
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GENINS0311
cover story Page 32<br />
What Lies Beneath<br />
For more than 20 years, the central <strong>Queensland</strong> town of<br />
Gladstone was untouched by murder. However in the early<br />
hours of February 17, 2008, that was shattered along with the<br />
community’s sense of safety when an outsider took the life of one<br />
of the town’s daughters.<br />
Read the story of the investigation into the rape and murder of<br />
Kathryn Louise Daley on page 32<br />
It must be distinctly understood that any expressions of opinion<br />
by correspondents in our columns must not be considered the<br />
opinion of the Editor, and no responsibility arising from there can<br />
be accepted.<br />
The Editor of the <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> reserves the right to grant<br />
permission to reproduce articles from this magazine. Such<br />
permission is hereby granted to any <strong>Police</strong> Association or <strong>Police</strong><br />
<strong>Union</strong> in Australia and to the <strong>Police</strong> Association of New Zealand.<br />
Permission is also granted to any <strong>Police</strong> Association, <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong><br />
or organisation representing police employees in any other<br />
country.<br />
Acknowledgement of the source must be contained in any reprint.<br />
Where an article indicates that copyright is claimed by the author,<br />
then permission to reproduce is withdrawn unless permission<br />
from the author is granted.<br />
also in this issue...<br />
Contents<br />
General Presidents Message<br />
General Secretary’s Message<br />
Assistant General Secretary’s Message<br />
Metro North Region<br />
North Coast Region<br />
Southern Region<br />
Central Region<br />
Metro South Region<br />
South East Region<br />
Notice of Election & Nomination<br />
Darling Downs Flood<br />
Tropical Cyclone Yasi<br />
The National <strong>Police</strong> Service Medal<br />
Skirmishing the Youth<br />
Climbing for a Cause<br />
High Profile Crimes That Reshaped the Law in QLD<br />
Letters to the Editor<br />
<strong>Police</strong> Health<br />
QRPA<br />
Advertising (07) 3259 1989<br />
Letters and articles for inclusion in the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong><br />
<strong>Journal</strong> should be addressed to:<br />
The Editor<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong><br />
PO Box 13008 George Street Brisbane QLD 4003<br />
TEL: (07) 3259 1900 FAX: (07) 3259 1950<br />
Contents<br />
Page<br />
2<br />
6<br />
7<br />
8<br />
9<br />
10<br />
12<br />
14<br />
16<br />
19<br />
22<br />
26<br />
41<br />
44<br />
46<br />
52<br />
56<br />
58<br />
61<br />
EMAIL: journal@qpu.asn.au WEBSITE: www.qpu.asn.au<br />
Deadline: Editorial Copy - typed or on disk to be submitted by the<br />
12th day of the month prior to publication.<br />
General President<br />
General Secretary<br />
Asst General Secretary<br />
EXECUTIVE MEMBERS<br />
General Vice President<br />
and Northern Region<br />
Far Northern Region<br />
Central Region<br />
North Coast Region<br />
South Eastern Region<br />
Southern Region<br />
Metro North Region<br />
Metro South Region<br />
HQ & COC Region<br />
UNION STAFF<br />
Industrial<br />
WHS<br />
Executive Secretary<br />
Ian LEAVERS<br />
Mick BARNES<br />
Denis SYCZ<br />
Mick Gerrard<br />
Denis FITZPATRICK<br />
Bill FELDMAN<br />
Des HANSSON<br />
Bob SMITHSON<br />
Darren Lees<br />
Shayne Maxwell<br />
Tony COLLINS<br />
Paul MULLEN<br />
Stephen MAHONEY<br />
Chris STEPHENS<br />
Rosemary<br />
FEATHERSTONE<br />
Janice GADEN<br />
Finance<br />
Allan SUTTON<br />
Solicitor<br />
Calvin GNECH<br />
Wendy<br />
MACDONALD<br />
Legal<br />
Barrister (Retained) Troy SCHMIDT<br />
Editorial Coordinator and Simon Tutt<br />
Media/Government Relations<br />
<strong>Journal</strong> Editor<br />
Paula Doneman<br />
IT Admin<br />
James JOHNSTON<br />
Membership<br />
Kaye ELLIS<br />
Carly Beutel<br />
Reception<br />
Melissa LindNer<br />
COMMITTEES<br />
Executive Committees and Committee Members<br />
Legal<br />
M. Gerard (Chair)<br />
D. Lees<br />
D. Fitzpatrick<br />
D. Hansson<br />
WPH&S<br />
Rules<br />
Conference<br />
D. Fitzpatrick (Chair)<br />
B. Feldman<br />
T. Collins<br />
S. Maxwell<br />
T. Collins (Chair)<br />
B. Smithson<br />
D. Hansson<br />
P. Mullen<br />
S. Maxwell<br />
B. Smithson<br />
Training<br />
Communications<br />
Membership Services<br />
Finance<br />
Women’s Consultative<br />
M. Gerard<br />
P. Mullen<br />
D. Fitzpatrick<br />
B. Feldman<br />
D. Hanson<br />
T. Collins<br />
D. Fitzpatrick<br />
M. Gerard<br />
D. Hanson<br />
T. Collins<br />
S. Maxwell (Chair)<br />
P. Mullen<br />
D. Lees<br />
B. Smithson<br />
I. Leavers (GP)(Chair)<br />
M. Gerard (VP)<br />
B. Feldman (Treasurer)<br />
D. Hansson (Chair)<br />
Members Women’s<br />
Branch Officials<br />
General President, General Secretary and<br />
Assistant General Secretary are ex-officio<br />
members of all committees.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong><br />
PO Box 13008 George Street Brisbane Qld 4003<br />
Phone 07 3259 1900 Fax 07 3259 1950<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 1
General President’s Message<br />
IAN LEAVERS<br />
This month has been another busy month at the <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong>.<br />
On the twelve month anniversary of the appointment of CMC Chair,<br />
Martin Moynihan, I responded to Mr Moynihan’s interview in<br />
a <strong>Queensland</strong> Sunday paper by declaring the article<br />
“breathtaking hypocrisy”.<br />
In the article, the CMC accuses police of<br />
being soft on discipline of other<br />
officers, and the article canvasses<br />
issues such as fixed maximum terms<br />
for the Commissioner of <strong>Police</strong>, the<br />
accusation that it was inappropriate for<br />
Deputy Commissioner Kathy Rynders to<br />
consider disciplinary findings after<br />
a decade. Many senior government<br />
positions have fixed terms.”<br />
FACT: If anyone can comment on<br />
possibly being in a job too long, it may<br />
be Mr Moynihan. Mr Moynihan spent<br />
almost 25 years as a Judge before<br />
retiring from the court and now a few<br />
“ It seems these days that not a week goes<br />
by without a police officer being so seriously<br />
assaulted that they are put in hospital by<br />
an offender. ”<br />
having previous findings appealed by<br />
the CMC, the accusation that there is a<br />
lack of support for police reporting<br />
other police, and the inefficacy of the<br />
police discipline system and the<br />
implication that the <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> needs<br />
to do more.<br />
I responded to these accusations by<br />
stating, “Not only is the article<br />
factually incorrect, it borders on being<br />
fanciful.”<br />
“For the CMC to suggest that they are in<br />
some way exempt from the <strong>Police</strong><br />
discipline system is laughable. They are<br />
an integral part of the police<br />
discipline system and they must assist<br />
both the police union and the police<br />
service to reform the system to ensure<br />
real change, not wipe their hands and<br />
pretend to judge like a modern day<br />
Pontius Pilate”.<br />
1. Insinuation made in article<br />
about 12 month anniversary of the<br />
appointment of CMC Chair Martin<br />
Moynihan:<br />
That <strong>Police</strong> Commissioner Bob Atkinson<br />
has been in the job too long, noting<br />
provocatively that “Commissioner<br />
Bob Atkinson has been in power for<br />
months short of age 70, (many years<br />
older than Commissioner Atkinson), he<br />
has taken on the position of Chair of the<br />
CMC.<br />
(Irrespective of our views on how long<br />
the Commissioner has been in the<br />
role, it is not up to the CMC to dictate to<br />
police who should be the <strong>Police</strong><br />
Commissioner)<br />
2. Insinuation made in article about 12<br />
month anniversary of the<br />
appointment of CMC Chair Martin<br />
Moynihan:<br />
The Sunday Mail asked why Mr<br />
Atkinson had appointed Ms Rynders, to<br />
hear discipline matters given the CMC<br />
had appealed against her findings in the<br />
past.<br />
FACT: Mr Moynihan, as a former judge<br />
knows that all judges have their<br />
decisions on occasion appealed to<br />
higher courts and the Court of Appeal,<br />
with the Court of Appeal also on<br />
occasion overturning decisions made<br />
by juries.<br />
No person subsequently questions<br />
the appropriateness of judges to<br />
continue hearing matters even when<br />
their decisions are overturned, yet a<br />
double standard appears to exist when<br />
a decision made by police does not<br />
“accord” with the wishes of the CMC.<br />
3. Insinuation made in article about 12<br />
month anniversary of the<br />
appointment of CMC Chair Martin<br />
Moynihan:<br />
Mr Moynihan said more police would<br />
come forward if they felt they would be<br />
supported by the system. ``(<strong>Police</strong><br />
<strong>Union</strong> president) Ian Leavers is always<br />
saying to me . . . the honest police get<br />
tarred with the same brush, so I keep<br />
saying to him, `if that’s their concern,<br />
if they step up when they see things<br />
going on, then they can contribute to<br />
that not happening’,’’ Mr Moynihan<br />
said.<br />
FACT: In a unique situation, both <strong>Police</strong><br />
<strong>Union</strong> president Ian Leavers and<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> Council of Civil Liberties<br />
spokesperson, Terry O’Gorman are on<br />
record saying the police discipline<br />
system needs an overhaul and that the<br />
CMC has a role to play.<br />
Both organisations are willing to<br />
work with the CMC to reform the<br />
police discipline system, but to date<br />
the CMC have appeared to be more<br />
interested opining about the parlous<br />
state of this police discipline system<br />
rather than working with stakeholders<br />
for real change. Further, the police<br />
union supports all officers in discipline<br />
hearings and those who wish to come<br />
forward.<br />
4. The CMC has repeatedly called for<br />
better processes, yet, as has been<br />
confirmed by the article in a<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> Sunday Paper, any police<br />
officer being investigated by the<br />
CMC appears to have a better chance<br />
at being informed of the progress<br />
or outcome of that investigation by<br />
reading the paper, rather than first<br />
being informed privately.<br />
New National <strong>Police</strong> Service<br />
Medal announced<br />
The Australian Government announced<br />
that The Queen signed Letters Patent<br />
instituting a new award within the<br />
Australian honours and awards<br />
system to accord “recognition for the<br />
unique contribution and significant<br />
commitment of those persons who<br />
have given ethical and diligent service<br />
as a sworn member of an Australian<br />
police service.”<br />
This new award is to be known as the<br />
National <strong>Police</strong> Service Medal (NPSM).<br />
2<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
The operable date for the new medal is<br />
30 October 2008, as that is the date<br />
on which the Queen initially gave inprinciple<br />
approval for the award. The<br />
medal is only awarded once and there<br />
are no clasps awarded for additional<br />
periods of service.<br />
The NPSM will be awarded to a all<br />
sworn members of Australia’s police<br />
forces who is or was a member on or<br />
after 30 October 2008; and in the<br />
opinion of that person’s Commissioner,<br />
gave ethical and diligent service;<br />
and has given full-time or part-time<br />
service as a member of 1 or more<br />
Australian police forces for a period of<br />
at least 15 years or periods totalling at<br />
least 15 years.<br />
A Commissioner may waive the<br />
minimum duration of service necessary<br />
to qualify for the NPSM if a member<br />
was unable to continue serving because<br />
of death, injury or disability which<br />
occurred as a result of their police<br />
service. But the other conditions must<br />
still be met - service must have been<br />
“ethical and diligent”, and must include<br />
at least one day on or after 30 October<br />
2008.<br />
Whilst the NPSM is not an award to<br />
recognise long service, it does<br />
recognise the unique contribution given<br />
to the community by sworn members of<br />
Australia’s police forces.<br />
Long and diligent service has been<br />
recognised since 1975 by the National<br />
Medal. The National Medal and<br />
clasps will continue to be awarded to<br />
recognise eligible long and diligent<br />
service.<br />
In the Government’s Press Release<br />
announcing the medal they recognised<br />
the PFA as the key proponent of the<br />
creation of the award. Medal and press<br />
release attached.<br />
Our renewed calls for jail terms for<br />
those who seriously assault police<br />
The incident happened about 3:45am,<br />
and you can guarantee that most<br />
people “out and about” at this time of<br />
the night are affected by alcohol and/or<br />
drugs.<br />
To stop this wanton alcohol fuelled<br />
violence, three things need to happen.<br />
Mandatory sentencing of these violent<br />
offenders who assault police and<br />
emergency services workers, more<br />
police on the beat, and winding back<br />
hotel licensing hours.<br />
While we are getting some support on<br />
the first two, the third issues of<br />
winding back trading hours, if only to<br />
3am has been met with lukewarm<br />
support from both sides of parliament,<br />
when this is the easiest and cheapest<br />
thing to do of all three. No doubt there<br />
must be an election in the wind and<br />
no-one wants to upset those young<br />
voters who drink ‘til they drop!<br />
Winding back licensing hours treats the<br />
cause not the symptom, but since<br />
when does common sense prevail?<br />
We know minimum sentences for those<br />
who assault police and emergency<br />
services workers work. We’ve seen a<br />
30% reduction in assaults on police in<br />
Western Australia when they introduced<br />
this legislation.<br />
Oh, and <strong>Police</strong> Minister Neil Roberts<br />
even popped his head up to add this<br />
gem to the debate, “<strong>Police</strong> Minister<br />
Neil Roberts says Australian and<br />
international studies show mandatory<br />
sentencing does not deter offenders. In<br />
opportunistic crimes such as those<br />
committed in the heat of the moment<br />
often people are affected by alcohol or<br />
drugs.<br />
They’re simply not thinking of the<br />
consequences when they lash out.<br />
We’ve increased the penalties, the<br />
courts are applying those penalties in<br />
appropriate cases and that’s where the<br />
matter needs to be dealt with.”<br />
General President’s Message<br />
State Government finally<br />
makes a police commitment, but<br />
luckily WE read the fine print.<br />
Another sign there must be an election<br />
in the wind, the State Government has<br />
FINALLY made a police commitment!<br />
Before you fall off your chair, we need<br />
to read the fine print.<br />
First, the commitment. The Premier’s<br />
announced a new <strong>Police</strong> Beat for<br />
Burleigh Heads. OK, all good here.<br />
Of course the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong><br />
supports the establishment of a <strong>Police</strong><br />
Beat at Burleigh Heads. This is a<br />
commonsense decision by the Premier<br />
and her Government and I appreciate<br />
any additional resources that she<br />
allocates to police, particularly on the<br />
Gold Coast, which is the tourist, party<br />
and nightclub capital of Australia.<br />
I know the local member, Christine<br />
Smith, has called for this <strong>Police</strong> Beat<br />
for a while and this decision is long<br />
overdue.<br />
So... the fine print... Where’s the money<br />
coming from? That’s right, from another<br />
police redevelopment that is just as<br />
worthwhile but perhaps doesn’t attract<br />
as many votes as a shiny new police<br />
beat. While I welcome any new police<br />
resources, taking the money earmarked<br />
for the Burleigh CIB upgrade for the<br />
new police beat does not seem to make<br />
a whole lot of sense.<br />
I know the <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong>’s South Eastern<br />
Region representative, Bob Smithson<br />
agrees that the reduction in the<br />
allocation of funding for the Burleigh<br />
Heads CIB refurbishment seems to be<br />
short sighted, and ‘robbing Peter to pay<br />
Paul’.<br />
We will not rest until this Burleigh CIB<br />
refurb budget is fully reinstated. With<br />
a new state budget just around the<br />
corner, this is what we’ll be pushing for.<br />
It seems these days that not a week<br />
goes by without a police officer being<br />
so seriously assaulted that they are put<br />
in hospital by an offender.<br />
Gone are the days when the most you<br />
would have received is a cut or some<br />
bruises, now fractured skulls and<br />
broken bones are par for the course.<br />
Two of our members were assaulted in<br />
Fortitude Valley last Friday night, and<br />
one of them was in hospital until the<br />
following afternoon.<br />
It seems the only time the government<br />
will increase a penalty is when they<br />
receive a monetary gain, however when<br />
it comes to protecting police and<br />
introducing other criminal offences,<br />
(and maybe locking up some young<br />
thugs, or sending them home an hour<br />
or two earlier from the nightclubs), all<br />
of a sudden the government backtracks<br />
and says deterrents don’t work, so we<br />
have Neil Roberts’ answer of, “Let’s<br />
not do anything while police continue<br />
to be put in hospital...” We’ll keep you<br />
informed of any progress...<br />
Field Officer for North<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong><br />
As many of you are aware, last year<br />
I gave a commitment to our state<br />
conference that I would implement<br />
my vision that we need to continually<br />
progress the <strong>Union</strong> as an organisation<br />
and have a permanent base in North<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong>. To this end, the QPU<br />
Executive have agreed with and endorsed<br />
my vision for a North <strong>Queensland</strong> based<br />
Field Officer for the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong><br />
<strong>Union</strong> to be based in Townsville.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 3
General President’s Message<br />
This position will service North<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong>, Far North <strong>Queensland</strong>,<br />
south to Mackay and the Whitsundays,<br />
and western <strong>Queensland</strong> to Mt Isa and<br />
the <strong>Queensland</strong> border.<br />
I have not taken this decision to<br />
employ another staff member lightly. I<br />
believe we need to do this to properly<br />
service and benefit the membership<br />
and Townsville is the logical location,<br />
considering its geographically<br />
central position for all of Northern<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong>, and that it is the capital<br />
of commerce for North <strong>Queensland</strong>.<br />
Further, many Government<br />
Departments, both State and Federal,<br />
are based there, as well many other<br />
unions already have a permanent field<br />
officer based there also.<br />
I have seen it in my travel throughout<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong>, talking with police that<br />
it is imperative that we have a<br />
permanent base in north <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
when so many other <strong>Union</strong>s are already<br />
well established there.<br />
We pride ourselves on our pledge of<br />
offering the best service of any union<br />
to our members and this is the logical<br />
extension of the pledge.<br />
As always, please contact us 24/7 if you<br />
have a query or an issue that we<br />
can help you with.<br />
CMC’s Palm Island “findings”<br />
Finally this month, perhaps the most<br />
contentious issue of all, the CMC’s<br />
announcement on the Palm Island<br />
investigation and review.<br />
The CMC released their “findings” of<br />
the review of the review of the events<br />
that occurred on Palm Island, and they<br />
came across as spoilt brats who<br />
haven’t got their own way.<br />
For those who may have joined the job<br />
in the last 6 and a half years, you<br />
may not be entirely familiar with the<br />
events that commenced this<br />
investigation, because that is how long<br />
this has been going on.<br />
6 and a half years!<br />
In a nutshell, the CMC recommended<br />
the QPS consider disciplinary<br />
proceedings against 6 officers. The<br />
QPS considered it and decided that<br />
disciplinary proceedings were not<br />
warranted. End of story.<br />
However, in “CMC land”, if they ask you<br />
to “consider” something, what they are<br />
really meaning is that you should “do<br />
it” if you know what’s good for you...<br />
In this case it was former Deputy<br />
Commissioner Kathy Rynders who<br />
thoroughly and diligently considered<br />
the matter and decided that managerial<br />
guidance was all that was necessary.<br />
The CMC’s response was that they were<br />
“astounded”. The CMC’s glib press<br />
release is attached as well as Kathy<br />
Rynders’ 410 page report.<br />
Kathy Rynders’ report link is here:<br />
www.police.qld.gov.au/resources/<br />
internet/documents/ReportPublic.pdf<br />
<br />
Regardless of how some of us may feel<br />
about other decisions made by Kathy<br />
Rynders, she was always thorough and<br />
fair and this 410 page report is yet<br />
another example of her methodical<br />
approach.<br />
For the CMC to say they were<br />
“astounded” and that it is “almost<br />
incomprehensible that the police<br />
service has decided that there is no<br />
case for these officers to answer,’ is an<br />
outrageous slur on all police.<br />
Further, the CMC could have pursued<br />
this matter further if they thought<br />
there was a case. There wasn’t a case,<br />
but rather than saying that, the CMC<br />
have said the legislation is insufficient<br />
to allow them to proceed, even<br />
when the QPUE, the QPS and the State<br />
Government all say the CMC could have<br />
proceeded if they wanted to...<br />
All police deserve to be innocent until<br />
proven guilty, not for the CMC to<br />
pre-judge long before there has even<br />
been an assessment of the evidence,<br />
but this is the approach we’ve become<br />
all too familiar with when dealing with<br />
the CMC.<br />
The CMC justify their narrow minded<br />
view by adding: ‘Six years ago an<br />
Indigenous man “who was not suffering<br />
from any injury” arrived at a police<br />
station and died shortly after of “a<br />
massive compressive force to the front<br />
of his body” while in the custody of<br />
police.<br />
The Doomadgee family, Palm<br />
Island community and the general<br />
public had a right to expect that the<br />
police service would - at the very least -<br />
investigate Mulrunji’s death rigorously,<br />
impartially and thoroughly.’<br />
What the CMC appear to be saying is<br />
“Someone has to pay! It may as well<br />
be the police.” The CMC have now<br />
proven once and for all they are neither<br />
an impartial, unbiased or transparent<br />
organisation.<br />
They appear to be hellbent on<br />
victimising police.<br />
Now that we know this, we have to<br />
operate on the basis that everything we<br />
do as police will be heavily scrutinised<br />
and analysed.<br />
Kathy Rynders’ decision in this matter<br />
was a common sense decision by the<br />
<strong>Police</strong>.<br />
There was never any evidence<br />
of misconduct despite the CMC’s<br />
insinuations.<br />
There are no winners from this entire<br />
Palm island matter, and to think the<br />
CMC forced everyone to court<br />
again because they threatened the<br />
Commissioner, only for the CMC to<br />
lose and pay our over $200,000 in<br />
other parties’ legal costs and now that<br />
they say there’s a legal loophole after<br />
threatening all parties is bizarre.<br />
This type of gross incompetence if it<br />
was another government department<br />
would be investigated by the CMC,<br />
however when it’s the CMC themselves<br />
that are incompetent we just accept it<br />
as fact.<br />
The <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> completely supports<br />
the actions of all police involved in<br />
this matter from Commissioner Bob<br />
Atkinson, Deputy Kathy Rynders down.<br />
This is truly a rare occasion!<br />
The reality is, if the CMC had actually<br />
experienced life “in the field”<br />
they’d realise that Palm Island is not like<br />
the Brisbane CBD. There are no<br />
restaurants on Palm Island, there are no<br />
taxis on Palm Island. There were no<br />
other ways at the time to be on Palm<br />
Island.<br />
It was appropriate in the time, place and<br />
circumstances for the officers to<br />
have conducted themselves in the way<br />
that they did.<br />
We do acknowledge that while things<br />
has changed in recent years, and<br />
different protocols are now applied to<br />
some internal police investigations,<br />
investigative practices in 2004-2005<br />
have been improved and refined as they<br />
always have been.<br />
The police complaints and disciplinary<br />
system is broken and must be fixed.<br />
4<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
General President’s Message<br />
Neither the police nor the public have<br />
any confidence in the current police<br />
disciplinary system<br />
No one knows where they stand, even<br />
the CMC don’t know where they stand.<br />
The CMC had been given an<br />
opportunity to take over the Palm Island<br />
investigation at a very early stage but<br />
declined to do so. They’ve simply<br />
been blaming and criticiing the police<br />
department ever since.<br />
The legal fraternity has no confidence in<br />
the CMC either.<br />
Kathy Rynders, who is now retired and<br />
can speak freely, has hit the nail on<br />
the head when she describes the CMC<br />
as “disgraceful, biased and<br />
incompetent”. It seems we all think this<br />
except for the current State<br />
Government!<br />
After 6 and a half years, a result came<br />
out in the end and this was after<br />
thorough investigation.<br />
For the CMC to say they were not happy<br />
because it was not their<br />
predetermined result shows us all just<br />
how far the CMC has slipped into<br />
irrelevance.<br />
Stay Safe<br />
Ian Leavers<br />
General President<br />
0419 786 381<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 5
General Secretary’s Message<br />
MICK BARNES<br />
NEW SUPERANNUATION INCENTIVE<br />
I AM pleased to advise that at a recent meeting, the QPUE Executive<br />
approved an incentive program for financial members to be reimbursed<br />
$50 (fifty dollars) should they receive comprehensive financial<br />
planning advice from QInvest.<br />
Initially, this membership program will<br />
only be available to members aged more<br />
than 55 years, however in 2012 that will<br />
lower to all members more than 50 years<br />
of age with the reimbursement available<br />
every three years.<br />
In consultation with professionals from<br />
QSuper and QInvest, the proposal will<br />
allow members to receive personalised,<br />
comprehensive advice to assist them<br />
in maximising their superannuation<br />
outcomes.<br />
conflict of interest when the financial<br />
planners were receiving a commission<br />
or kick-back from the sale of products to<br />
clients to whom they had given<br />
that advice.<br />
This has never been the case<br />
with QInvest who receive no such<br />
commissions or kickbacks. QInvest offer<br />
services in all major <strong>Queensland</strong> centres.<br />
In the near future, all eligible members<br />
will receive a letter outlining the<br />
membership service and how it can be<br />
“ One recommendation stemming from<br />
The Ripoll Report was that financial advisers<br />
should place the interests of their clients<br />
ahead of their own.”<br />
Three years was chosen as a mean<br />
period for which members should visit<br />
their circumstances and strategies<br />
specific to their needs. As QSuper<br />
members, police officers already enjoy<br />
a high contribution from QSuper to<br />
their QInvest session with one of their<br />
financial planning professionals.<br />
In 2009, following the collapse of many<br />
schemes such as Storm Financial,<br />
the Ripoll Report was presented to<br />
the Australian Parliament on financial<br />
products and services in this country.<br />
One criticism was the provision of<br />
financial advice.<br />
A recommendation stemming from the<br />
Ripoll Report was that financial advisers<br />
should place the interests of their clients<br />
ahead of their own. A concept that<br />
certainly at the very least fell under a<br />
accessed. The superannuation industry,<br />
its investments and the members’ needs<br />
are dynamic.<br />
It is for this reason that the QPUE<br />
Executive have identified the value for<br />
its members to get involved in their<br />
superannuation allowing them to make<br />
educated decisions if and when required.<br />
MARCH – WOMEN IN THE UNIONS<br />
Not only will <strong>March</strong> see the celebration<br />
of International Women’s Day, but also<br />
a QPUE branch Official Training Course<br />
targeted at female officials.<br />
I urge all of our members to support<br />
women within our membership to step<br />
forward and become involved with the<br />
QPUE and represent all members in their<br />
workplace. Currently our females are<br />
under-represented in union official ranks.<br />
It is our intention through our training<br />
program to facilitate further training<br />
later this year. If you’re interested then<br />
do not hesitate to contact your Regional<br />
Representative or myself.<br />
ARBITRATION UPDATE<br />
Many thanks to our Industrial Team, led<br />
by Steve Mahoney, and our members as<br />
they prepare for our hearing before the<br />
Full Bench of the <strong>Queensland</strong> Industrial<br />
Relations Commission.<br />
We are set to have our pay claim heard<br />
in arbitration and many of our members<br />
are assisting in the provision of<br />
statements and preparing for workplace<br />
inspections across the state by the Full<br />
Bench and all parties.<br />
This is a lengthy process and we are<br />
being supported by the <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Council of <strong>Union</strong>s in our endeavour.<br />
Do not hesitate to contact me if you<br />
wish any specific update or have<br />
any questions.<br />
Stay Safe<br />
Mick Barnes<br />
General Secretary<br />
0411 453 335<br />
mbarnes@qpu.asn.au<br />
6<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
Assistant General Secretary’s Message<br />
these poor people but really it does<br />
make us look just a little bit silly, does<br />
it not?<br />
DENIS SYCZ<br />
It’s not only this e-mail but I understand<br />
there are many every day, that whilst<br />
not up there for ingenuity, probably<br />
state the bleeding obvious just as much<br />
as this little gem.<br />
NOT a day goes by that I don’t see weird and wonderful things come<br />
past my desk, and recently I was sent an e-mail that is doing the<br />
rounds on how to lace up your boots.<br />
There were many questions that sprang<br />
to mind upon receipt of this e-mail, and<br />
sadly I didn’t get the author’s name<br />
forwarded along with the attachment.<br />
But to see it is to believe it, and so much<br />
so that the person that forwarded me the<br />
message stated it something like this:<br />
“Have you seen this? Apparently it is<br />
NOT a joke. Tom Malloy would have<br />
had kittens with a policy like this.”<br />
So I opened the attachment and low<br />
and behold what did I see? (see right)<br />
politically correct and so inward-looking<br />
that we’ve become ineffectual?<br />
I thought that in these enlightened<br />
times with recruiting such a rigorous<br />
process, and recruits having to attain<br />
levels of education not even thought of<br />
in the past, that we would recruit people<br />
smart enough to lace up their boots and<br />
then even be able to tie them.<br />
I even suspect that this guide was done<br />
in good faith to correct a problem for<br />
QPS footwear<br />
1. The diagram outlined is provided to ensure there is uniformity in the of lacing QPS<br />
issue foot wear. All recruits are to comply with this lacing method of the footwear.<br />
I think the QPS have really got to have a<br />
look at the overkill they produce in their<br />
everyday workings. Things like this are<br />
just a little bit too much of the micromanagement<br />
mentality that pervades<br />
the halls of the good ship QPS.<br />
What would happen to you if you got it<br />
wrong? Would you have to wear thongs<br />
or self-report with a 466?<br />
Denis SYCZ<br />
Assistant General Secretary<br />
See, I have no problem with useful<br />
advice, I in fact encourage it. But<br />
sometime things don’t really need to be<br />
stated, as in this case.<br />
I suppose it’s just a sign of the times<br />
but when you think about it, is this what<br />
we’ve really become, an organisation so<br />
Outside of the boot<br />
Right boot front view<br />
Top<br />
Bottom of the Laces<br />
Outside lace goes over<br />
the top of the inside<br />
lace<br />
Start with laces<br />
underneath<br />
Left boot front view<br />
Top<br />
Bottom of the Laces<br />
Outside of the boot<br />
If it happens, protect yourself and your family<br />
by immediately contacting the QPU office<br />
Ph 3259 1900 (24 hours)<br />
or your regional representative.<br />
They will steer you in the right direction.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 7
Metro North Region<br />
Rogers v R. I will keep you posted as the<br />
appeal progresses. Rest assured, this<br />
matter is far from over.<br />
Shayne Maxwell<br />
PRIVATE PROSECUTION<br />
In recent days, I have had numerous phones calls regarding the<br />
private prosecution for assault against Constable Ben Arndt of City<br />
Station. I will explain what is happening, as you can understand the<br />
union is not going to let this matter rest.<br />
I understand the concerns of many<br />
of our frontline officers in the City<br />
and Fortitude Valley as this case<br />
has ramifications for all <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
<strong>Police</strong>. The support for Const Arndt<br />
is overwhelming and, can I say, he<br />
has conducted himself with dignity<br />
throughout the whole saga.<br />
making of the arrest, and the obstruct<br />
charge must also be overturned.<br />
One of the factors argued for the<br />
complainant was that the force used by<br />
the police was excessive. This argument<br />
was rejected by both the original<br />
Magistrate and the District Court.<br />
“As you can understand, the union is not going<br />
to let this matter rest.”<br />
The QPUE has also sought the<br />
assistance of senior counsel to assist in<br />
drafting proposed legislation for Good<br />
Faith Protection for <strong>Police</strong>, and will, in<br />
the near future, present the proposed<br />
legislation to the government.<br />
“Stay Safe, Play Safe”<br />
Shayne Maxwell<br />
Regional Representative<br />
Metro North Region<br />
0438 112 741<br />
On 8 Feb <strong>2011</strong>, a reserved decision in<br />
a private prosecution against Const<br />
Arndt for common assault was<br />
handed down.<br />
Const Arndt was convicted on the<br />
basis he used excessive force during<br />
the course of an arrest made by his<br />
partner. The original matter involved<br />
the complainant being arrested for<br />
disobeying a move on direction and<br />
obstructing police.<br />
The complainant was originally<br />
convicted in the Magistrates Court, and<br />
that conviction was upheld on appeal to<br />
the District Court. The convictions were<br />
finally overturned some 18 months later<br />
in the Court of Appeal, which found<br />
the original move on direction was<br />
not reasonable in the circumstances (a<br />
direction to leave the toilet blocks for a<br />
much shorter period to allow cleaning<br />
may have been reasonable and lawful).<br />
The court found it followed that as the<br />
direction was so unreasonable, the<br />
officers could not have been acting in<br />
the performance of their duty during the<br />
The Court of Appeal did not consider it<br />
(having found for the complainant on<br />
another basis). However one Appellant<br />
Justice did make comment in relation<br />
to force used, observing the difficulty in<br />
making assessments on the actions of<br />
the officers with regard to the<br />
CCTV footage.<br />
In convicting Const Arndt, the<br />
Magistrate found he honestly but<br />
mistakenly believed the application<br />
of force was in the performance of<br />
police duty. However, the force used<br />
was excessive in the circumstances.<br />
The Magistrate found the Court of<br />
Appeal decision had overturned the<br />
findings of the original Magistrate and<br />
District Court Judge in relation to the<br />
lawfulness of force used, and it was<br />
open to her to find the force used<br />
was excessive.<br />
The QPUE Solicitor has sought advice<br />
from senior counsel and is lodging an<br />
appeal in relation to this issue. The<br />
matter involves consideration of the<br />
application of the High Court decision in<br />
8<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
North Coast Region<br />
the QPS hierarchy and many male<br />
colleagues showing their support. The<br />
QPU is a major sponsor of the event<br />
and, as the chair of the Women’s<br />
Committee of the QPU Executive, I will<br />
continue our support to increase female<br />
representation within the union.<br />
DES HANSSON<br />
ALL HAIL SAINT ANNA OF FLOOD<br />
As I write this, Yasi has hit north <strong>Queensland</strong> and all I can say is,<br />
can we please get rid of Bligh as the weather forecaster? Yeah, I<br />
know her spin doctors highly recommended the free press coverage<br />
associated with the floods, and she is pinning her re-election hopes<br />
on her so-called wonderful leadership during that crisis, but enough<br />
is enough..<br />
Anyway, be careful out there.<br />
Des HANSSON<br />
NCR Rep QPUE<br />
0412707434<br />
I didn’t see Bligh show any compassion<br />
when she kicked our brother<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> unions in the guts and sold<br />
off the family jewels: QR, the ports,<br />
the water, electricity. Nor did I see<br />
any compassion for our hard-working<br />
colleagues at Oxley Academy.<br />
They are living and working in cheap,<br />
aging, dormitory-style accommodation<br />
and temporary buildings, in amongst<br />
the gravel and mud, as a result of our<br />
Premier stopping funding for the new<br />
academy and slowing recruiting down<br />
to a trickle to save a few dollars.<br />
Saint’s weather warnings? I would<br />
have thought the tears and the halo<br />
were enough for Saint Anna without<br />
our fearless non-partisan leaders<br />
taking a role in some spin doctor’s<br />
choreographed version of the Bold and<br />
the Beautiful meets Hurricane Katrina.<br />
Bring back the Thunderbirds, they were<br />
more fair dinkum, and had a wider<br />
range of facial expressions.<br />
I had a look at the OPMs and nowhere<br />
could I find a reference to standing<br />
beside a premier struggling for<br />
popularity.<br />
“ Bring back the Thunderbirds, they were<br />
more fair dinkum, and had a wider<br />
range of facial expressions. ”<br />
Saint Anna shed no tears when she<br />
stated that there would be no new<br />
taxes, but we’re all bleeding from<br />
parasitical utility bills skyrocketing.<br />
Not to mention the rate rises from the<br />
forced council amalgamations. Between<br />
the hikes in rates and water bills, I’m<br />
paying at least an extra couple of grand<br />
a year.<br />
Taxes have many different names. On<br />
the bright side, I suppose she got a few<br />
of her Labor mates fat cat jobs with<br />
astronomical salaries running the water<br />
and electricity mobs. Well done.<br />
And another thing, what about the<br />
separation of powers? I thought law<br />
enforcement was supposed to be kept<br />
separate from government. How come<br />
we have the <strong>Police</strong> Commissioner<br />
and Deputy <strong>Police</strong> Commissioner<br />
standing behind Saint Anna like tangled<br />
puppets from the Thunderbirds,<br />
shifting eyebrows and expressions<br />
at appropriate times in sync with the<br />
Good to see the courts are backing up<br />
the great work of our troops catching<br />
looters. I noticed a few of those<br />
thieving bastards got a harsh reality<br />
check with a stern dose of community<br />
service as their punishment. What a<br />
great deterrent. They won’t go thieving<br />
again - they’ll be too busy laughing.<br />
Anyway, I like many others have<br />
volunteered again to help our<br />
colleagues through these tough times.<br />
I applaud all our members who have<br />
stood up, without press conferences<br />
and tears, to help out our mates during<br />
these tough times. Keep up the good<br />
work.<br />
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY<br />
I attended a lunch for International<br />
Women’s Day on <strong>March</strong> 8, along with<br />
our union President Ian Leavers and<br />
General Secretary Mick Barnes. The<br />
event was well-attended with around<br />
300 people turning up including<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 9
Southern Region<br />
Darren Lees<br />
MOTHER NATURE FLEXES HER MUSCLES<br />
Troops, since my last article, which was based around the rain<br />
in our state leading into and over the Xmas period, what we have<br />
experienced in particular in the Southern Region and in the far north<br />
can only be described through the use of a number of adjectives.<br />
The two that come to my mind when I<br />
think about what we have experienced<br />
are “surreal” and “catastrophic”.<br />
It has often been the subject of friendly<br />
banter from members in Toowoomba<br />
and indeed the Toowoomba people in<br />
general, that if we ever had a Tsunami<br />
type event around the coast we would<br />
be okay here due to the fact we are so<br />
high up in the scheme of things. Well,<br />
my friends, that all changed on a horrible<br />
afternoon on the 10th of January, <strong>2011</strong>.<br />
I don’t think it requires me to go into all<br />
the details. I am sure we all understand<br />
how widely and extensively the so-called<br />
“inland tsunami” has been broadcast<br />
across all forms of media, and you would<br />
probably have to have been living on<br />
another planet not to have seen some of<br />
the images from Toowoomba, Murphy’s<br />
Creek, Grantham and other parts of the<br />
Lockyer Valley.<br />
I was not at work when this event<br />
happened, but I can recall watching<br />
the news that afternoon feeling sick to<br />
my stomach about what I was seeing.<br />
I think most of us around our region<br />
and indeed the state have probably had<br />
funny feelings about what we saw and<br />
I can specifically recall feeling strange,<br />
like I did during the 9/11 terror attacks<br />
in the USA. I honestly thought I was<br />
watching some sort of news report from<br />
some third world country or some sort<br />
of computer-based product for a recent<br />
movie set. All the time I was saying to<br />
my family, “This cannot be Toowoomba<br />
and the Lockyer Valley region. Surely<br />
not.”<br />
“ I have spoken to some older generation people<br />
who were around in 1974, who said that while<br />
the Brisbane River may not have peaked at the<br />
1974 levels, they believe this was a worse flood<br />
in many ways. ”<br />
Now that time has allowed all the events<br />
to sink into our minds I can only feel<br />
a sense of helplessness and sadness<br />
for the good people of Toowoomba,<br />
Murphy’s Creek, the Lockyer Valley,<br />
Grantham, Ipswich and other parts of<br />
our region and state whom we serve as<br />
police officers. Many of them have lost<br />
cars, homes, property, furniture and<br />
something that can never be replaced,<br />
loved ones and family members, which<br />
really to me is unbelievable. To think<br />
that the very force of Mother Nature<br />
can turn so cruelly upon any of us at<br />
any time, especially in areas you would<br />
never believe such an incident could<br />
occur, is a stark reminder to all of us, in<br />
my opinion, that our lives are very short.<br />
We need to recognise that and live every<br />
day to the fullest, and love our families<br />
unreservedly.<br />
I would just like to leave the entire<br />
Toowoomba, Murphy’s Creek, Grantham<br />
and Lockyer Valley incident on this note,<br />
to express my heartfelt sympathies to<br />
all members of those communities that<br />
lost their loved ones, their homes, cars<br />
and property in the devastation, and<br />
to remind all of them that the policing<br />
community of our region and state are<br />
with you and we will continue to work<br />
tirelessly to do what we can to assist you<br />
to, in some way, shape or form, restore<br />
what you can to your lives.<br />
AND THEN THE DAM OVERFLOWED<br />
Ladies and Gents, if the disaster that<br />
was bestowed upon Toowoomba and<br />
the Lockyer Valley was not enough,<br />
only days later, we watched in horror<br />
as disaster update after disaster update<br />
led us to another scary place we did not<br />
want to go, the eventual downpours that<br />
led to the Wivenhoe Dam overflowing<br />
(and/or water being released). And low<br />
and behold our brothers and sisters<br />
in the Ipswich District, and then in<br />
Brisbane, were inundated with water to<br />
rival the famous 1974 flooding.<br />
Again the pictures of devastation could<br />
only be described as unbelievable. I have<br />
spoken to some older generation people<br />
who were around in 1974, who said that<br />
while the Brisbane River may not have<br />
peaked at the 1974 levels, they believe<br />
this was a worse flood in many ways.<br />
This time there was a lot more property<br />
damage, as opposed to land damage, as<br />
was the case in 1974. I certainly am not<br />
going to argue with them.<br />
What I think we can all say is that what<br />
Ipswich (which is a very proud city<br />
in itself and in fact at one stage was<br />
mooted as our state’s capital in the<br />
day) and indeed Brisbane experienced,<br />
is something we never want to see<br />
again in any of our lifetimes. Again the<br />
devastation was on such a massive<br />
scale it was really hard to comprehend.<br />
And to think that this is all occurring<br />
only weeks after other parts of our State<br />
like Emerald, Rockhampton, Theodore,<br />
Chinchilla, Dalby, St. George, Bundaberg<br />
(and the list goes on) all experienced<br />
flooding at unprecedented levels. I<br />
recall hearing at one stage from our<br />
Premier, or one of the people attached<br />
to the State Disaster Coordination<br />
Centre, outlining that around 75-80%<br />
10<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
of our state had been declared a natural<br />
disaster area. That is frightening when<br />
you consider the size of our state.<br />
YASI HAS THE FINAL SAY AND BLOWS<br />
US AWAY<br />
Then came Cyclone Yasi which ripped<br />
through our far north like an outboard<br />
motor and a three-metre wide fan that<br />
had been placed in a small bath tub.<br />
The size of that cyclone was something<br />
to behold. My best mate lives in the<br />
FNR and is in the job (he knows who<br />
he is). He told me he even had to stock<br />
up on undies due to the scary nature<br />
of Yasi, which is a bit weird because he<br />
is well known for his laid back attitude<br />
towards most things, cyclones included.<br />
Again, communities in the far North<br />
like Tully, Cardwell and others had to<br />
endure the ferocity of another of Mother<br />
Nature’s lessons. Again, the same tale<br />
of woe, massive amounts of destruction,<br />
communities destroyed but to the best of<br />
my knowledge on this occasion, no loss<br />
of life, which is remarkable in itself.<br />
Again, I can see that those communities<br />
up north are going to be looking in<br />
no small way to the mighty men and<br />
women in the suit of blue, to assist<br />
in the rebuilding process, as all the<br />
communities in the Southern Region<br />
will be. They are going to need to feel<br />
safe and secure whilst their communities<br />
recover, and they cannot rely on a better<br />
group of men and women in my humble<br />
opinion. This leads me to the note I<br />
would like to finish my article on for<br />
this month.<br />
Troops, I was certainly one of the lucky<br />
ones that did not have to endure the<br />
agony some of you did during our recent<br />
natural disasters around our state. But<br />
I will say this - I have spent some time<br />
speaking to members of communities<br />
like Grantham during shifts I have done<br />
there since the disaster, and I have<br />
also spoken numerous times to our<br />
region’s Assistant Commissioner and<br />
Senior Executive. I have also tried to<br />
speak to a lot of the troops who were<br />
on the ground doing a myriad of duties<br />
from communications operators, to<br />
first response, to search and rescue, the<br />
recovering and identifying vehicles, just<br />
to name a few. I have also spoken to<br />
members in places like St. George, Dalby<br />
and other areas. I wanted to do this to<br />
get some idea of what they went through<br />
during the disasters we encountered,<br />
because I am sure many if not all of<br />
them have never seen destruction on<br />
this scale before.<br />
There have been some absolutely<br />
terrifying and sad stories which to<br />
be honest, leave you choking back<br />
tears. There have also been stories<br />
of unbelievable heroics and feats of<br />
stamina from all police working at those<br />
times right across our region and state<br />
over a lengthy period of time that leave<br />
you wondering how we didn’t have<br />
people falling over left right and centre.<br />
But then again, after thinking about that<br />
for a bit I realised something - the people<br />
I have the privilege of wearing the same<br />
uniform with across this state are a<br />
special bunch of people. It would take an<br />
atomic bomb to knock a lot of them over<br />
in circumstances like those they endured.<br />
They are people that for their own<br />
reasons joined a job to make a difference<br />
and serve their communities without<br />
fear or favour, knowing full well<br />
tragedies like we have experienced<br />
may well befall them at any time of the<br />
day or night as part of their duties. The<br />
message I have been given as your<br />
Regional Executive Representative<br />
on the QPUE from members of the<br />
community, politicians, and our own<br />
Senior Executive is very consistent.<br />
Our police are the best bar none. In the<br />
face of adversity, without sleep, hardly<br />
seeing their families whilst assisting<br />
others, many of them losing everything<br />
themselves in these disasters whilst they<br />
served their communities, they have<br />
showed a level of service and dedication<br />
that many people would only see in<br />
some sort of farfetched out of this world<br />
movie. But not on this occasion, it was<br />
real life, and it was right across a large<br />
number of communities in the mighty<br />
state of <strong>Queensland</strong>.<br />
To all of our members in the Southern<br />
Region and across this great state of<br />
ours, can I thank you all. I know our<br />
entire Executive thanks you for your<br />
efforts as does the QPS. To say you<br />
Southern Region<br />
should all feel very proud of your efforts<br />
is really an understatement. It is really<br />
quite humbling for someone like me<br />
to be able to even be in a position to<br />
represent you in a forum such as the<br />
QPUE Executive. I can promise you one<br />
thing – while I can draw breath through<br />
my slightly rotund frame, I will not<br />
stop singing the praises of you all. You<br />
deserve for <strong>Queensland</strong>ers to know how<br />
lucky they are to have men and women<br />
of your calibre protecting them.<br />
I believe the QPS, in conjunction with<br />
the government, owe it to all of you<br />
to ensure any specific heroic efforts<br />
are recognised accordingly. I am sure<br />
this will occur and I would encourage<br />
all of you to contact your Regional<br />
Representatives if you have any<br />
information of a nature highlighting<br />
any of your work mate’s feats during<br />
our disaster period. That can then be<br />
passed onto the senior executive in your<br />
respective regions. In general, the QPS<br />
and Bligh government need to finally<br />
understand that you are all worth a lot<br />
more than 2.5% per year. It might only<br />
be a small token of appreciation for<br />
efforts that can never really be quantified<br />
over the last few months, but I am sure<br />
it will go a long way to assisting all of<br />
you to look after yourselves and your<br />
families for the risks you take and the<br />
service you deliver.<br />
Ladies and gents, be very proud of your<br />
efforts; you have a lot of supporters out<br />
there that cannot get by without you.<br />
Thanks for reading my little piece for this<br />
month, stay safe and continue to spend<br />
time with your families.<br />
This is the very proud, slightly rotund<br />
one signing off for this month.<br />
Keep up the good fight and<br />
stay safe.<br />
Darren LEES (Beefa)<br />
Southern Region Executive<br />
Representative<br />
0417 776 184<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 11
Central Region<br />
BILL FELDMAN<br />
MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH<br />
The “Maxwell Smart” award this month must go to the QPS media –<br />
a poorly worded and less informative media release went out with<br />
respect to a Central Region senior sergeant’s dismissal from the QPS.<br />
The release merely (and wrongly)<br />
pointed commercial media outlets to an<br />
officer from Central Region on recreation<br />
leave from his home station and almost<br />
caused a riot in the alcohol-sensitive<br />
Aboriginal community he policed.<br />
My information is that that extra police<br />
had to be deployed from Rockhampton<br />
station to prevent an upsurge of violence<br />
and tension in the community caused<br />
by the poor investigating, and even<br />
poorer reporting from the commercial<br />
media outlets. Perhaps a little more use<br />
of the shoe phone may have prevented<br />
the foot in mouth from all media outlets<br />
concerned.<br />
It was, in my mind, an excessive penalty<br />
road system in Mackay after cyclones<br />
Anthony and Yasi, a low profile QPSmarked<br />
Holden Commodore sedan<br />
happened to traverse a couple of flooded<br />
causeways.<br />
The car bottomed out a few times on<br />
rough gouged road surfaces and as a<br />
result, developed a slight squeal when<br />
the driver braked. The vehicle has done<br />
less than 10,000 kilometres and diligent<br />
police officers immediately booked the<br />
vehicle in for a mechanical inspection.<br />
“ I can’t wait to have my say at the SERP<br />
meeting when this little nugget is bought out<br />
for a polish in the future. ”<br />
given the circumstances surrounding the<br />
dismissal and I will be doing my best to<br />
assist in forging ahead with an appeal<br />
against the severity of the action taken<br />
against a career police officer.<br />
After all, if the Labor government can<br />
fly alcohol into a dry community and no<br />
action be taken at all against that official<br />
for that indiscretion – the action taken in<br />
this case seems to be a sledge hammer<br />
on a peanut.<br />
DVDS<br />
My yearly Maxwell Smart award<br />
however has to go to the developers of<br />
the DVDS (The Departmental Vehicle<br />
Damage Reporting System). I was<br />
under the misapprehension that this<br />
system was designed to make the<br />
reporting of minor vehicle damage and<br />
the rectification of that damage so much<br />
easier than in the past.<br />
The cost to replace the muffler system<br />
Two days later, following a mechanical was $1,158.85. I am still at a loss to know<br />
inspection by Pioneer Holden in Mackay, why the whole system was replaced;<br />
the officers were advised that a Lumley’s obviously I’m just not that mechanical.<br />
claim was needed due to some minor<br />
undercarriage damage to the vehicle.<br />
The DVDS is dutifully completed in<br />
what is supposed to be a quick and easy<br />
method of fixing the vehicle and getting<br />
the vehicle back on the road.<br />
Below is the response from the<br />
overviewing officer (see photos):<br />
“Returned as further investigation is<br />
required. Standard requirements to be<br />
covered include alcohol testing of driver,<br />
circumstances of incident, investigation<br />
and findings, cost of the required repairs<br />
and or quote for same, crash history<br />
of driver, and recommendations into<br />
the investigation including any Dept or<br />
legislative actions.”<br />
“Once the investigation is completed the<br />
District officer or a Commissioned Officer<br />
should overview the file and forward to<br />
the district DVDS Manager Mackay who<br />
will then forward to the Regional DVDS<br />
Co-ordinator for presentation to SERP.<br />
“It is strongly recommended that<br />
photos of the damage be included in<br />
the report along with drug and alcohol<br />
testing return (QP0568), other relevant<br />
attachments. All correspondence should<br />
form part of the DVDS report and can be<br />
linked as a document.”<br />
Well, the simple suddenly became<br />
more complicated. The damage was a<br />
small dent in the muffler which bent the<br />
muffler system slightly upwards causing<br />
the heat dampener to come in contact<br />
with the drive shaft when the vehicle<br />
brakes and the front end dips.<br />
How and why was I to breath-test<br />
the driver two days after what was<br />
now termed an incident instead of a<br />
mechanical problem, I will never know.<br />
I did however take 300 or so<br />
photographs and then ran out of working<br />
hours that day after attaching 50 of them<br />
or so to the report along with the quote<br />
and the result of my investigation.<br />
I can’t wait to have my say at the SERP<br />
meeting when this little nugget is<br />
brought out for a polish in the future.<br />
I am forever hopeful that this timeconsuming<br />
reporting system will at<br />
least be used to highlight the type of<br />
damage sustained to the current vehicles<br />
assigned to rural and regional stations<br />
Following divisional patrols and being<br />
sent to two jobs on our less than perfect<br />
The damaged muffler<br />
A flood-damaged road<br />
12<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
Central Region<br />
and divisions.These QPS-designated<br />
vehicles, which are inappropriate for the<br />
work of that establishment, should be<br />
highlighted for change.<br />
When questioned at a meeting about<br />
upgrading the QPS-marked vehicles in<br />
the Pioneer Valley to more appropriate<br />
high clearance or 4WD vehicles some<br />
three years ago, our previous Assistant<br />
Commissioner stated that it would be<br />
futile to submit such an application.<br />
Sanity may be prevailing in <strong>2011</strong> as<br />
our current Assistant Commissioner,<br />
perhaps from his previous time at the<br />
helm of Operations Support Command,<br />
appears to be far more rational and<br />
understanding when it comes to<br />
providing the right resources for the<br />
right job.<br />
All the Pioneer Valley OIC’s are now<br />
preparing reports to upgrade to more<br />
suitable vehicles in order for us to<br />
undertake the arduous patrols on our<br />
rough, unsealed, wet and severely<br />
corrugated roads, headlands and<br />
property driveways.<br />
I say this to any other OIC in the Central<br />
Region that while we have the ear of a<br />
more informed AC, they should submit a<br />
report to obtain the appropriate vehicles<br />
suited to the conditions in their area.<br />
As always, I am in love with any<br />
computer and reporting system thrust<br />
on us.<br />
Work smart, work safe –<br />
make it home.<br />
Bill FELDMAN<br />
Regional Representative<br />
Central Region<br />
This type of terrain has to be negotiated<br />
to perform our duties to the professional<br />
standard that we must maintain.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 13
Metro South Region<br />
TONY COLLINS<br />
CONGRATULATIONS to Ian Leavers on his victory in the recent<br />
election. Of the nearly 10,000 union members, just over one-third<br />
(3,600) voted. Ian won more than 60% of this vote and will lead the<br />
union for the next four years. After the previous tumultuous years, this<br />
should now give the union some stability.<br />
GORDON DOUGLAS AND<br />
POLICE LEGACY<br />
I had the privilege to attend the unveiling<br />
of a memorial plaque for Constable<br />
Gordon Douglas who was murdered<br />
whilst attending a domestic dispute in<br />
Inala in 1968. Gordon was survived by a<br />
wife and two children. The idea for the<br />
plaque germinated with Superintendent<br />
Tonya Carew. The logistics and a lot of<br />
the hard work and family liaising was<br />
technology, an organisation must wrap<br />
its processes around the technology not<br />
the technology around the processes.<br />
That statement is well documented in<br />
any change management text book that<br />
you would care to pick up and read.<br />
As you are aware, Tasmania now uses<br />
iPhones to make vehicle and person<br />
inquiries. Tasmania also has automatic<br />
number plate recognition systems. But<br />
“ As reported by Western Australian <strong>Police</strong><br />
hierarchy, they expect a 20% reduction in crime<br />
and 20% increase in offender detection”.<br />
conducted by Sergeant Tony Maras,<br />
and the administration staff of Inala<br />
Station. The unveiling was done by the<br />
Commissioner and was well attended,<br />
by not only Gordon’s family, but also<br />
some of his now retired squad mates.<br />
Gordon’s son, Ross, spoke at the<br />
unveiling and he made special comment<br />
about how much <strong>Police</strong> Legacy had<br />
assisted him and his family after his<br />
father had died. (see right)<br />
Tasmania is a relatively compact state<br />
when compared to <strong>Queensland</strong>, so let us<br />
compare apples with apples. Let’s use<br />
Western Australia against <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
as a case study. Western Australia has<br />
recently implemented mobile data and<br />
has approximately 360 devices active<br />
and available. Western Australia has<br />
gone from 800 radio inquiries a day<br />
to 26,200 on the in-car and handheld<br />
devices. As reported by Western<br />
Australian <strong>Police</strong> hierarchy, they expect a<br />
20% reduction in crime and 20% increase<br />
in offender detection.<br />
Further, the benefits to the West<br />
Australian <strong>Police</strong> on the ground is<br />
accessing the right information at the<br />
right time. Does that phrase sound<br />
familiar? It should. Western Australian<br />
police have full access to all national<br />
data from these devices, which greatly<br />
increases officer safety and their ability<br />
to manage daily risks.<br />
Bearing in mind that Western Australia<br />
is the largest single policing jurisdiction<br />
in the world, they have achieved equality<br />
for their rural officers who are now as<br />
well-connected and informed as their<br />
metropolitan counterparts. It is quite<br />
obvious that in Western Australia they<br />
have overcome their “FBI” syndrome.<br />
For anyone unfamiliar with that<br />
acronym, it stands for Forgotten<br />
Bastards of the Inland.<br />
How did all this come about and how<br />
much does it cost? Good question. I’m<br />
glad somebody asked because that is the<br />
response I continually get when I query,<br />
‘Where is our mobile data?’. We don’t<br />
have any money.<br />
The philosophy adopted by the West<br />
Australian <strong>Police</strong> Commissioner and<br />
The fact that his father’s death occurred<br />
over 40 years ago did not diminish the<br />
invaluable assistance the family had<br />
received from <strong>Police</strong> Legacy. If you are<br />
not donating to <strong>Police</strong> Legacy, maybe<br />
you should consider it.<br />
IN-CAR MOBILE DATA<br />
It is quite clear that <strong>Queensland</strong> is being<br />
left behind in the technology stakes.<br />
Even the technology we do introduce,<br />
we can’t get right. To get the benefit of<br />
14<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
Telstra 3G is the answer. Telstra formed<br />
a partnership with the West Australian<br />
<strong>Police</strong> and instead of expanding the<br />
West Australian <strong>Police</strong> private network,<br />
they utilised the Telstra 3G network,<br />
saving millions of dollars. The data plan<br />
for this entire enterprise is $10 per unit.<br />
So Western Australia is spending a paltry<br />
$3,600 a month on its entire data plan to<br />
keep its officers connected.<br />
In terms of productivity that would<br />
equate to 221 inquiries for every one<br />
dollar spent. Well, we all know how we<br />
are currently operating in <strong>Queensland</strong>,<br />
and maverick dummy units just don’t<br />
cut it when compared to real mobile<br />
data. So, when comparing ourselves<br />
to Western Australia, we could but we<br />
would be just embarrassing ourselves<br />
by doing so.<br />
For further information and case studies<br />
on what I have written just go to the<br />
Telstra homepage and type in West<br />
Australia <strong>Police</strong> and be amazed and<br />
disappointed at the same time.<br />
FLOOD EFFECT ONGOING<br />
The effect of the flood is still being felt<br />
throughout <strong>Queensland</strong>. What has been<br />
a double blow to our members is the<br />
likelihood of not being eligible for any<br />
money from round two of the Premier’s<br />
Flood Appeal and being dropped like a<br />
school bag on a Friday afternoon by the<br />
insurance companies.<br />
What has been a greater disappointment<br />
is that the insurance that is offered<br />
through the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> Credit<br />
<strong>Union</strong> has not been honoured, and has<br />
left some of our members, who thought<br />
they were covered, with nothing.<br />
To assist these members, the QPUE is<br />
currently selling wrist bands to raise<br />
money for our flood-affected members.<br />
With approximately 100 of our members<br />
flood-affected to varying degrees, it will<br />
take a considerable sum to get them<br />
back on their feet. Please support the<br />
sale of the wrist bands to your family<br />
and friends..<br />
Metro South Region<br />
Remember, if you have any<br />
problems, I am a phone call<br />
away.<br />
Tony COLLINS<br />
<strong>Union</strong> Representative<br />
Metropolitan South Region<br />
0414 804 472<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 15
South East Region<br />
Bob SMITHSON<br />
DISASTERS IN QUEENSLAND AND ABROAD<br />
The major topics in the news over the past couple of months have,<br />
of course, been the widespread floods across much of <strong>Queensland</strong>,<br />
only to be followed by Cyclone Yasi in the north of the state. As I go<br />
to press here, we receive news of another devastating earthquake in<br />
Christchurch, New Zealand.<br />
All of the Australian States and<br />
Territories’ police unions have a close<br />
affiliation with our Kiwi counterparts,<br />
and our thoughts and prayers go out<br />
to our comrades across the Tasman.<br />
Each of the events I have mentioned<br />
above has been significant in anyone’s<br />
language and have impacted on just<br />
about every person in <strong>Queensland</strong> and<br />
beyond in one way or another. The<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> Service has been<br />
no exception and, in fact, has played a<br />
major role in the disaster management<br />
response to these terrible weather<br />
events in our own state.<br />
We have seen many <strong>Queensland</strong> police<br />
officers leave their home stations and<br />
families at very short notice and travel<br />
into the affected areas to assist with<br />
the policing effort. It is times like this<br />
that the old “police culture” comes to<br />
the surface.<br />
Governments and others over time<br />
have tried to destroy this “culture”,<br />
but it is still there. Deep down we, as<br />
police officers, are a unique profession.<br />
Occasionally we like to have a bit of a<br />
whinge and a whine about our job, but<br />
at times of crisis we just seem to get<br />
in and get the job done, no questions<br />
asked. We put up with a bit of personal<br />
discomfort for a few days to help out<br />
our fellow <strong>Queensland</strong>ers.<br />
Thank you on a job well done to all<br />
the <strong>Queensland</strong> police officers, and the<br />
many unsworn staff, who have put their<br />
job before their own affairs to help out<br />
in these times of need. I must also give<br />
a word of thanks here to the police<br />
officers who came up from Victoria and<br />
New South Wales to assist us during<br />
the flooding clean-up phase.<br />
SOUTH EASTERN REGION HEALTH<br />
INITIATIVES<br />
Our members in the South Eastern<br />
Region should have noticed lately<br />
several new initiatives emerging<br />
regarding our general health and<br />
well being.<br />
“Thank you on a job well done to all<br />
the <strong>Queensland</strong> police officers, and the<br />
many unsworn staff, who have put their<br />
job before their own affairs to help out<br />
in these times of need”.<br />
Many of these campaigns have been<br />
promoted through the Human Resource<br />
Section SER. Our union’s own WPHS<br />
Officer, Rosemary Featherstone,<br />
has also been actively involved in<br />
supporting many of the programs.<br />
One of particular interest to me is the<br />
“Lose Yourself” project. This is simply<br />
aimed towards weight loss, and is being<br />
conducted by the Weight Watchers<br />
group. Our Assistant Commissioner,<br />
Mr Paul Wilson, kindly provided<br />
sponsorship funds, which were equally<br />
matched by our union, for 30 of our<br />
members to participate in the 13-week<br />
course.<br />
Expressions of interest were posted<br />
and a response of 39 interested officers<br />
applied. This resulted in the drawing<br />
of names from a hat to select the 30<br />
‘contestants’.<br />
As well as the 30 sponsored<br />
participants, A/C Wilson, our General<br />
Secretary Mick Barnes and I, threw<br />
our own money in and enrolled for<br />
the program. The group was split in<br />
two with 15 attending Surfers Paradise<br />
and 15 going to Logan each Tuesday<br />
evening for the “weigh in”. The early<br />
results are looking good in both<br />
camps and a touch of friendly rivalry is<br />
emerging.<br />
I thank the Human Resource Section<br />
SER, Rosemary Featherstone, A/C<br />
Wilson and the <strong>Union</strong> Executive for<br />
sponsoring such a project, and WHEN<br />
it succeeds, there could well be a case<br />
to expand such programs into other<br />
Regions and Commands around the<br />
state. I will keep readers up to date<br />
as the weeks roll on and the weight<br />
rolls off.<br />
DRINK SAFE PRECINCT – SURFERS<br />
PARADISE<br />
It is still only early days into the Drink<br />
Safe Precinct Operations, but the results<br />
being achieved so far by police in<br />
Surfers Paradise give some indication<br />
that an increase in police numbers may<br />
be having an effect on loutish alcoholfuelled<br />
behaviour, once commonplace<br />
in the streets. From the number of<br />
arrests being made, it would seem that<br />
almost any number of police would still<br />
be kept busy bringing the offenders<br />
to account.<br />
One very good aspect of the new<br />
legislation is the ability for police to<br />
apply to the courts to issue ‘banning<br />
orders’ as a sentencing option. These<br />
banning orders can be imposed if the<br />
offender is convicted of an offence<br />
involving the use, threatened use or<br />
attempted use, of violence to a person<br />
or property which occurred in or around<br />
licensed premises.<br />
It is pleasing to see that the courts are<br />
on side with these banning orders, and<br />
to date the number of banning orders<br />
imposed is pushing towards double<br />
figures from the Surfers Paradise Drink<br />
Safe Precinct alone<br />
We must persist with the Drink Safe<br />
operations and hopefully, in the not too<br />
distant future, the anti-social drunken<br />
behaviour will be eradicated from<br />
our streets.<br />
Bob SMITHSON<br />
Regional Representative<br />
South East Region<br />
16<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
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<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> of Employees, PO Box 13008, George Street, Brisbane, <strong>Queensland</strong> 4003<br />
Phone (07) 3259 1900 Fax (07) 3259 1950 Email police@qpu.asn.au<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 17
QUEENSLAND POLICE LEGACY SCHEME<br />
Suite 75, Level 11, Northpoint<br />
231 North Quay, Brisbane, 4000<br />
Telephone: (07) 3236 2276<br />
Fax: (07) 3236 4219<br />
Email: qplegacy@bigpond.com<br />
Manager<br />
Payroll Services<br />
Partner One – QPS Payroll<br />
Level 6, GPO Box 1395<br />
BRISBANE 4001<br />
AUTHORITY TO DEDUCT<br />
I hereby authorise and direct you to deduct from my fortnightly pay,<br />
the sum of $ :<br />
This authority replaces all previous authorities and shall remain valid until cancelled<br />
by me in writing to the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> Legacy Scheme.<br />
FULL NAME:<br />
RANK:<br />
REG NO.<br />
REGION:<br />
STATION:<br />
SIGNATURE:<br />
Please forward this authority directly to the following address:<br />
18<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong><br />
The Secretary/Manager<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> Legacy Scheme<br />
P O Box 13003<br />
GEORGE STREET Qld 4003
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> tHE of Employees<br />
Election Notice - Executive Member-Regional Representative<br />
The Industrial Registrar has issued a Decision, pursuant to the Industrial Relations Act 1999, that the Electoral Commission of<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> conduct a casual vacancy election for the position of Executive Member-Regional Representative for Far Northern<br />
Region for the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong>. The successful candidate for the position will be elected for the remainder of a four<br />
year term until 30 June 2013.<br />
Office<br />
No. of Positions<br />
Executive Member-Regional Representative<br />
Far Northern Region ........................................................................ 1<br />
Nominations close midday Friday, 29 April <strong>2011</strong><br />
Nominations open at midday on Monday, 4 April <strong>2011</strong>. Written nominations signed by at least three financial<br />
members as nominators and by the nominee and complying with the <strong>Union</strong>s’ Rules must be lodged with the<br />
Electoral Commission of <strong>Queensland</strong> no later than midday on Friday, 29 April <strong>2011</strong>.<br />
Candidates for election shall be financial members of the <strong>Union</strong>. A Nomination Form is printed with this Election<br />
Notice. Extra Nomination Forms are available from offices of the <strong>Union</strong> and the Electoral Commission of <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
and the Commission’s internet web site; www.ecq.qld.gov.au. These forms are provided for members’ convenience.<br />
However, any form of nomination that complies with the <strong>Union</strong>s’ Rules is acceptable.<br />
Nominations may be received by means of hand delivery, post, facsimile or any other electronic means that<br />
includes the signatures of the nominees and nominators. Nominees should ensure that their nomination is<br />
received by the Commission and can be clearly read. Candidates may withdraw from the election at any point prior<br />
to the printing of ballot papers by giving written notice of their intention to the Commission.<br />
Candidate Statements<br />
Candidates may lodge a statement on a single A4 sheet supporting their election to each position sought. These<br />
statements are included with eligible voters’ ballot material. Statements must be received by the Commission no<br />
later than the close of nominations.<br />
Ballot<br />
If necessary, the Commission will take a secret postal ballot to determine the successful candidate for the position.<br />
A roll of voters is completed when nominations close and contains the names of persons who are financial members<br />
of the <strong>Union</strong> 30 days before nominations opened and are eligible to vote for the Region in which the voters home<br />
station is situated. Voting is by the First-Past-the-Post method.<br />
It is a member’s responsibility to ensure that the <strong>Union</strong> is advised of their correct address and other details.<br />
Members entitled to vote in a ballot and who will be away from their usual address at the time the ballot is taken<br />
may give the Commission a forwarding address at which they can receive their ballot material.<br />
The ballot/s will open on Wednesday, 1 June <strong>2011</strong> and close at midday on Wednesday, 22 June <strong>2011</strong>. Ballot<br />
materials may be posted to eligible members up to two days before the ballot opens.<br />
JOHN COOPER-JANSSEN<br />
Returning Officer<br />
15 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong><br />
ELECTORAL COMMISSION of QUEENSLAND<br />
Level 6 Forestry House, 160 Mary Street, Brisbane, Qld.<br />
Postal Address: GPO Box 1393 BRISBANE QLD 4001<br />
Telephone 1300 881 665 or (07) 3035 8034; Fascimile: (07) 3221 5387<br />
www.ecq.qld.gov.au<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 19
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> of Employees<br />
Nomination Form<br />
Nominations close at midday Friday, 29 April <strong>2011</strong>.<br />
We the undersigned financial members of the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> of Employees, desire to nominate<br />
Reg No:<br />
Ms/Mr/Other:<br />
Courtesy Title, If any<br />
(Print the full name of the person you are nominating)<br />
as a Candidate for the office of Executive Member-Regional Representative representing Far Northern<br />
Region.<br />
Reg. No. Station Full Name Signature<br />
Consent to Nomination<br />
I, accept nomination and am prepared<br />
(Print your name as you would like it to appear on the ballot paper)<br />
fully to comply with the aims, object and Rules of the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> of Employees and otherwise<br />
faithfully serve the best interest of my members if elected to represent them.<br />
Address:<br />
Postcode<br />
Telephone: (Home)<br />
(Business)<br />
(Mobile)<br />
Facsimile:<br />
E-mail:<br />
Signature:<br />
Date:<br />
ELECTORAL COMMISSION of QUEENSLAND<br />
Level 6 Forestry House, 160 Mary Street, Brisbane, Qld.<br />
Postal Address: GPO Box 1393 BRISBANE QLD 4001<br />
Telephone 1300 881 665 or (07) 3035 8034; Fascimile: (07) 3221 5387<br />
www.ecq.qld.gov.au
EB6 Update<br />
EB6<br />
Update<br />
Enterprise Bargaining Update<br />
Members will be aware that we are preparing for the Full Bench Arbitration in the <strong>Queensland</strong> Industrial Relations<br />
Commission. The parties have attended several preliminary hearings in the <strong>Queensland</strong> Industrial Relations<br />
Commission and have set down dates for inspections and hearings.<br />
Inspections are as follows:<br />
Sunday 27 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong><br />
Monday 28 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong><br />
Tuesday 29 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong><br />
Wednesday 30 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong><br />
Thursday 31 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong><br />
Friday 1 April <strong>2011</strong><br />
Saturday 2 April <strong>2011</strong><br />
Travel to Cairns<br />
Mareeba, Atherton, Yarrabah<br />
Cairns<br />
Mt. Isa, Cloncurry<br />
Academy Westgate, <strong>Police</strong>link<br />
Ferny Grove, Fortitude Valley (11pm)<br />
Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach<br />
Hearings are set down for 14 days between 19 April and 17 May with 12 members giving evidence over the<br />
course of the hearing.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 21
Darling Downs Town Moved With The Flow<br />
Darling Downs Town<br />
Moved With The Flow<br />
By Senior Constable Justin Bower, Miles <strong>Police</strong><br />
The small rural community of Condamine on the western<br />
Darling Downs has never featured so highly in the news as it<br />
did through December and January when the population was<br />
evacuated twice within 13 days due to flooding.<br />
to Dalby. By 9.30pm the town was<br />
devoid of life except for police and<br />
local SES controllers. <strong>Police</strong> secured<br />
a makeshift measuring tape to the<br />
verandah of the Condamine Hotel so<br />
that they could continue to read the<br />
river height as it went beyond the<br />
previous record levels. The existing<br />
river markers simply did not go high<br />
enough. On the first night as the river<br />
continued to rise, police slept in one<br />
of the local teacher’s houses in an<br />
otherwise empty town.<br />
SES Moving a cow onto a hotel’s verandah<br />
Condamine is a small town<br />
37 kilometres south of Miles on the<br />
Leichhardt Highway within the Miles<br />
<strong>Police</strong> Division. The town consists of<br />
about 80 houses, 12 businesses and<br />
a population of around 150 people.<br />
This is a brief précis of how the events<br />
unfolded during the floods.<br />
After experiencing very heavy rainfall<br />
in the preceding days, the town of<br />
Condamine was completely isolated<br />
by the 27th December 2010.<br />
Our home town of Miles was also<br />
cut off by floodwaters at the same<br />
time, but the general opinion was<br />
that houses in Miles would be largely<br />
unaffected. Condamine however was<br />
to be a different story. The Condamine<br />
River continued to rise and indications<br />
were that river levels might exceed<br />
the previous 1942 flood record of<br />
14.25m.<br />
On the morning of 30th December<br />
2010, Sergeant Ben Wiltshire (OIC<br />
Miles) was dropped into Condamine<br />
by helicopter to assess the situation<br />
and meet with the towns people. After<br />
conferring with the DDC at Dalby,<br />
the decision was made to issue an<br />
evacuation order and preparations<br />
were made for residents to be airlifted<br />
from Condamine to an evacuation<br />
centre in Dalby. Sergeant Derek Brady,<br />
Senior Constable Dan O’Hara, and<br />
Senior Constable Scott Pogan were<br />
also airlifted in to assist.<br />
A total of 86 residents were<br />
subsequently evacuated by army<br />
Blackhawk helicopter from Condamine<br />
Upon waking the next day, the scale<br />
of the inundation was evident. <strong>Police</strong><br />
and SES conducted patrols of the<br />
township, using boats and heavy<br />
machinery, and began the job of<br />
assessing the damage to property.<br />
A number of residents from rural<br />
properties on the Condamine River<br />
were also collected in the SES flood<br />
boat and transported to safety.<br />
Most pets had not been allowed on<br />
the aircraft the previous night so<br />
police and SES started feeding the<br />
animals left behind. A large portion of<br />
the work done by police in this initial<br />
phase was done in waist-deep water<br />
under quite adverse conditions. It<br />
was later discovered that people had<br />
been working in water containing the<br />
effluent from local septic tanks.<br />
On New Year’s Day, myself and<br />
Constable Dan O’Brien were flown<br />
in to relieve the others. It was only a<br />
small helicopter so we were unable to<br />
carry swags and had only basic items<br />
22<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
Darling Downs Town Moved With The Flow<br />
Sergeant Ben Wiltshire, Senior Constable<br />
Scott Pogan, Sergeant Derek Brady and Senior<br />
Constable Dan O’Hara<br />
of clothing due to weight restrictions.<br />
Fortunately, the police that we took<br />
over from had to leave their swags<br />
behind for the same reason. After<br />
landing at the football field, we<br />
received a briefing from Sergeant Ben<br />
Wiltshire and took up residence at the<br />
Condamine Cods’ Football Clubhouse<br />
which was to be our command post<br />
and sleeping quarters for the next few<br />
days. The clubhouse was on slightly<br />
higher ground and the whole town to<br />
the west of the clubhouse was now in<br />
the flow of the Condamine River. The<br />
river had peaked at 15.25m.<br />
Conditions were very basic. There<br />
was no clean water apart from<br />
what the SES had stored in drums.<br />
There was no effective telephone<br />
communications as the Telstra tower<br />
backup batteries had run out. Ergon<br />
Energy had switched the power off to<br />
the town. The only food available had<br />
come from the local service station<br />
when it lost power, and was being<br />
stored in a six-metre refrigerated<br />
shipping container that was running<br />
on a generator.<br />
We were very fortunate to have the<br />
local SES controller and a few of his<br />
crew on the ground in Condamine.<br />
Most of these blokes worked for a<br />
local earthworks contractor so their<br />
skills with driving heavy machinery<br />
and using equipment were very<br />
handy. Even though our primary<br />
policing role was to provide security<br />
for the unoccupied homes and<br />
businesses, it soon became clear<br />
that we could be of assistance<br />
performing a number of other jobs<br />
while isolated inside the town. In<br />
between our routine tasks such as<br />
QFRS portable habitat (tent city)<br />
patrolling, gathering river height data<br />
and providing regular reports to the<br />
DDC at Dalby, we assisted the SES<br />
with jobs such as the collection and<br />
burning of rubbish. Many residents<br />
had made contact with the SES and<br />
requested that they enter their homes<br />
and empty the contents of the fridges<br />
so they were not left rotting inside<br />
while the houses were unattended.<br />
After reporting the working conditions<br />
back to the DDMG, arrangements<br />
were made for a QAS paramedic to be<br />
flown in to provide support in case of<br />
illness or injury. There were a number<br />
of things that warranted the need<br />
for an on-site paramedic including<br />
the isolation and the possibility of<br />
an accident or a snake bite. Snakes<br />
were very prevalent where we were<br />
working and sleeping, and had to be<br />
‘dealt’ with on a number of occasions.<br />
Another thing that started to become<br />
a problem for those working in the<br />
water constantly was foot rot or<br />
trench foot, and specialist supplies<br />
were flown in to treat these disorders<br />
as they developed. QAS later placed<br />
two paramedics in Condamine for the<br />
duration of the event, and <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Health also placed nursing staff on the<br />
ground to assist.<br />
The next few days saw numerous<br />
agencies including council and Ergon<br />
enter the town to try and re-establish<br />
basic services of drinking water and<br />
power. Communications were vastly<br />
improved once a portable generator<br />
was set up on the Telstra tower and<br />
mobile phones could be utilised.<br />
While we could keep fuel up to the<br />
portable generator, we had phones.<br />
Aerial photo of the Condamine<br />
We were subsequently replaced after<br />
a few days and returned to Miles. A<br />
number of other police from various<br />
locations including Dalby, Chinchilla,<br />
Toowoomba and Logan were sent to<br />
relieve in Condamine throughout the<br />
course of the two floods and provided<br />
valuable assistance. Miles is only a<br />
small country station and needed<br />
relief from the Roma District during<br />
this time. It is also worthy of note that<br />
there were staff working at times in<br />
both Condamine and Miles that had<br />
friends, family and houses impacted<br />
by the floods in other places, so their<br />
commitment to their duties in our area<br />
was that much more commendable.<br />
By 6th January, the decision was<br />
made to return the evacuees<br />
to Condamine so the clean-up<br />
could commence in earnest. The<br />
evacuees from the Dalby centre<br />
were transported by bus to the Miles<br />
airstrip, and helicopters were used<br />
to ferry them and others who had<br />
sought accommodation locally back<br />
into Condamine. A total of 37 people<br />
were flown in that day, with a number<br />
of others making their way back into<br />
Condamine on the SES flood boat<br />
over the still swollen river.<br />
The community then commenced<br />
the massive job of cleaning up and<br />
returning to their homes. On the first<br />
day that volunteers were allowed<br />
into the town, there were somewhere<br />
between 500 and 800 people who<br />
turned up to assist. A combined<br />
effort with volunteers, council, SES,<br />
QFRS and Rural Fire Brigade saw an<br />
enormous amount of work done in a<br />
short time. It looked like everything<br />
was returning to normal and it was<br />
all over. Everyone had taken a bit of a<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 23
Darling Downs Town Moved With The Flow<br />
breather and we were getting ready to<br />
return to a bit of normality.<br />
We will of course all remember the<br />
afternoon of January 10, <strong>2011</strong> and<br />
the devastating scenes that started to<br />
emerge from the Toowoomba area<br />
in relation to the flash flooding. I was<br />
working that evening 2pm to 10pm,<br />
and we had also experienced severe<br />
weather and storms. Condamine had<br />
received another 75mm of rain and<br />
there was up to 200mm north<br />
of Chinchilla.<br />
The Condamine River had jumped<br />
about two metres in two hours and<br />
the alarm bells started to ring again.<br />
It was not long before we received<br />
information that the water that was<br />
coming down through Chinchilla<br />
during the evening may be similar<br />
to the Toowoomba flooding. The<br />
decision was made for police from<br />
Miles to close the Warrego Highway<br />
west of Chinchilla, and for officers<br />
to wake residents up in Condamine<br />
and start making them aware of the<br />
situation. The people of Condamine<br />
had only been back in their town for<br />
a grand total of four days at this point<br />
in time.<br />
It was, of course, not easy to explain<br />
to people that the river was rising<br />
again, and that they may have to leave<br />
the homes that they had just cleaned<br />
up and moved back into. Between<br />
9pm and 1am we door-knocked the<br />
entire town and advised them of the<br />
situation. People were advised to<br />
place their vehicles on the western<br />
Senior Constable Justin Bower and Constable Erin<br />
Kill being briefed by a Blackhawk crew member<br />
side of the bridge so they would have<br />
transport the next day if they had to<br />
be boated over the river. Some people<br />
chose to leave straight away, while<br />
others worked through the night and<br />
put as much of their gear as high up<br />
as possible ready for the next day. I<br />
left Condamine at about 1am as the<br />
water was lapping at the bridge, and<br />
the police remaining inside the town<br />
closed the road.<br />
By morning, the bridge was again<br />
under water. The first flood had,<br />
however, taught us all a number of<br />
valuable lessons and we were better<br />
prepared. For instance, the council<br />
went into Condamine and removed<br />
all the pumping equipment from the<br />
water treatment plant and placed it<br />
up high so instead of having to repair<br />
them when the water receded, it was<br />
merely a matter of bolting them back<br />
in place and turning them on.<br />
There was no mandatory evacuation<br />
the second time. People left after<br />
consultation with the police. No<br />
need for any airlift this time - the few<br />
residents left were boated over the<br />
river. Those without their own local<br />
arrangements were accommodated at<br />
an evacuation centre in Miles. Some<br />
were accommodated by a local gas<br />
company in their workers camp.<br />
The town of Condamine was again<br />
devoid of life except for SES and<br />
police and it was to remain like<br />
that for some time as we waited for<br />
floodwaters to arrive and peak from as<br />
far away as Warwick. Throughout this<br />
Senior Constable Dan O’Hara<br />
whole period police maintained a 24<br />
hour presence inside the town.<br />
On the 19th January <strong>2011</strong>, myself and<br />
Constable Erin Kill were flown back<br />
into Condamine by Blackhawk. On the<br />
same day the QFRS portable habitat<br />
was flown in by Chinook helicopter.<br />
QFRS set up the tent city to house<br />
any evacuees that could not stay in<br />
their own homes, and all the other<br />
agencies set up in Condamine again.<br />
Late that afternoon the residents were<br />
again brought back into Condamine.<br />
Some residents returned by boat, or<br />
by ADF helicopters. The army also<br />
arrived on the outskirts of town that<br />
afternoon and set up camp at the local<br />
rodeo grounds.<br />
The next morning, the army entered<br />
the town through the floodwaters<br />
to the south in their ASLAV’s along<br />
with numerous QFRS, SES, Rural<br />
Fire Brigade and council staff. The<br />
second clean-up began. The army set<br />
up a portable water treatment plant<br />
to provide clean water until council<br />
was able to establish a drinking<br />
supply. Around 70 soldiers provided<br />
extra manpower for the clean-up<br />
operations. The army also took the<br />
pressure off the local SES who had<br />
been operating the flood boat over the<br />
Condamine River for the last 23 days,<br />
and took over transporting residents<br />
and workers over the swollen river in<br />
the ASLAV vehicles.<br />
The second clean-up did not seem<br />
to take as long. Some people were<br />
better organised, some people simply<br />
did not have anything in their houses<br />
as they had lost everything in the<br />
first flood. <strong>Police</strong> from a number<br />
of stations including Miles, Dalby,<br />
Chinchilla, Toowoomba and Logan<br />
had provided a 24-hour presence in<br />
the town of Condamine for a total of<br />
23 consecutive nights from the 30th<br />
December 2010 to the 22nd January<br />
<strong>2011</strong>. To this date, there has not been<br />
a single report of theft or looting from<br />
the residents of Condamine during<br />
those dates that the town was affected<br />
by flood.<br />
The staff from Miles Station wish to<br />
thank all those who came to assist<br />
during the floods.<br />
24<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
Sciaccas Lawyers and Consultants<br />
Official lawyers for the <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
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Visting <strong>Queensland</strong> Wide.<br />
• Workplace Accidents and Injuries<br />
• Workers’ Compensation Claims<br />
• Workers’ Compensation Appeals<br />
• Workers’ Compensation Reviews<br />
• Motor Vehicle Accidents<br />
• Superannuation Claims<br />
Call toll free 1800 658 525<br />
www.sciaccas.com.au<br />
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For all enquiries, please contact our Partner, Ryan Heath,<br />
directly on 07 3867 8839 or email r.heath@sciaccas.com.au<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 25
Tropical Cyclone Yasi Pounds North <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Tropical Cyclone Yasi<br />
Pounds North <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
By Paula Doneman<br />
As the helicopter flew over the 100km stretch of beach, Sergeant<br />
Rod Stanley could not see a trace of green in any of THE trees that<br />
lineD the coast from Cardwell to Kurramine Beach.<br />
Mission Beach, between Cairns and<br />
Townsville, around midnight.”<br />
Sgt Stanley said Tully had about four<br />
hours warning that the eye of the<br />
cyclone had moved south of Cairns,<br />
and Tully and Cardwell were likely to<br />
bear the brunt.<br />
Tully Heads<br />
The foliage had been decimated<br />
by up to 300km an hour winds<br />
from Cyclone Yasi battering the sugar<br />
town of Tully in the early hours<br />
of February 3.<br />
“There was not a bit of bark or a leaf<br />
left anywhere. There were sheets<br />
of iron, boats and trailers strewn<br />
everywhere. Some of the houses were<br />
flattened and others looked okay,’’<br />
Sgt Stanley said of the damage he<br />
surveyed from the air.<br />
During more than 20 years of being<br />
stationed in north <strong>Queensland</strong>, Sgt<br />
Stanley has now been through five<br />
cyclones.<br />
“One of them was a category four but<br />
this was the first time we’ve reached<br />
a category five. It was pretty intense.<br />
I have been stationed at Tully for a bit<br />
over a year, and prior to that I was in<br />
Cairns.<br />
“This sort of weather does not deter<br />
me from staying here as cyclones are<br />
a part of life in north <strong>Queensland</strong>. At<br />
least there are warnings for cyclones,<br />
unlike the poor people of Christchurch<br />
and Grantham. We can prepare for<br />
it and hopefully (Yasi) is as bad as it<br />
gets,’’ he told the <strong>Journal</strong>.<br />
Cyclone Yasi, which originally<br />
was expected to impact Cairns the<br />
hardest, wreaked havoc across 450km<br />
of north <strong>Queensland</strong> between Cairns<br />
and Ayr. It also travelled inland,<br />
dumping torrential rain on cities as<br />
far west as Mt Isa, to communities in<br />
South Australia.<br />
North <strong>Queensland</strong> had prepared well<br />
for Yasi, setting evacuation centres,<br />
warning residents living in its path to<br />
move to safety, evacuating hospitals<br />
and moving cars from streets.<br />
“The cyclone crossed the coast at<br />
“As the eye of the cyclone passed<br />
over, we had an hour and a quarter<br />
of stillness. We still had power and<br />
phones just prior to the eye reaching<br />
us and were monitoring the BOM<br />
(Bureau of Meterology) site, tracking<br />
the eye as it moved through Mission<br />
Beach and in our direction. There was<br />
a break in the rain and wind as the<br />
eye passed over and we went outside<br />
to evaluate the damage before it hit<br />
again from the other direction. It got<br />
very quiet,” he said.<br />
Winds reached up to 300km an hour,<br />
the rain was horizontal and Tully<br />
residents listened as it smashed<br />
houses, trees and anything in its wake.<br />
“All the preliminary work had been<br />
done. The day before the cyclone,<br />
we had door-knocked people on the<br />
beachfront, advising them to evacuate<br />
due to the danger of a possible fivemetre<br />
storm surge. The vast majority<br />
of residents left but there were a few<br />
who flat-out refused to go. They were<br />
re-visited on the afternoon of the<br />
cyclone, and some reluctantly went<br />
and others were steadfast.<br />
Those who stayed were worried<br />
about the security of their homes,<br />
while others didn’t believe the storm<br />
surge would be an issue. One of the<br />
residents who stayed behind told one<br />
of our officers if it happens again, they<br />
won’t hesitate to leave as they had a<br />
horrible experience,’’ Sgt Stanley said.<br />
26<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
may have lost his home but he was<br />
relieved that he still had his photos<br />
and his car.’’<br />
Tropical Cyclone Yasi Pounds North <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
<strong>Police</strong> and emergency services went<br />
out to at first light to survey the<br />
damage, with the winds still hitting<br />
at around 100km an hour, and were<br />
greeted with scenes of destruction.<br />
Mobil Service Station Tully<br />
On the night of the cyclone, one of the<br />
residents who stayed behind called<br />
police asking to be rescued. However<br />
a decision had been made that all<br />
police were to stop all patrols and<br />
outside duty, and return to the safety<br />
of their stations.<br />
“We were told to remain where we<br />
were. We could not put ourselves in a<br />
position to be leaving the station and<br />
rescuing people,’’ said Sgt Stanley<br />
who was in the Tully police station.<br />
Asked whether police felt helpless<br />
with calls of that nature, Sgt Stanley<br />
said officers find it frustrating when<br />
people are given advice to move to<br />
safety but refuse to do so.<br />
“You think, well, what can you do. The<br />
same thing happened in Cardwell with<br />
people demanding to be rescued but<br />
it was just impossible,’’ he said.<br />
“There was one guy at Tully Heads<br />
who was extremely appreciative<br />
police had advised to evacuate<br />
because it gave him time to prepare<br />
and take his car and valuables. He<br />
Mission Beach<br />
About 30 per cent of the town<br />
sustained structural damage, many<br />
homes lost their roofs and the<br />
region’s banana crops were flattened.<br />
“It looked like a bomb had exploded<br />
- trees were down, signs bent. Andy<br />
Campbell and I went for a drive and<br />
there were four or five house roofs<br />
that had landed on the main street.<br />
We were driving around doing welfare<br />
checks”.<br />
“We were extremely lucky there were<br />
no injuries except for a couple of<br />
residents who hurt themselves during<br />
the clean-up. One in four houses<br />
and businesses sustained significant<br />
damage but the most graphic was the<br />
loss of trees. Tully is usually a lush,<br />
green place,” he said.<br />
On Wednesday night following Yasi,<br />
seven people were evacuated from<br />
Tully Hospital after the township<br />
lost power.<br />
An officer from Cairns’ Water <strong>Police</strong><br />
organised for a helicopter to direct<br />
police to homes and businesses which<br />
had been severely damaged<br />
Tully<br />
or destroyed. “The helicopter would<br />
lead us in to the properties where<br />
we would check to see if there<br />
was anyone injured or dead. It is<br />
absolutely incredible that we had no<br />
loss of life.’’<br />
Sgt Stanley said the community’s<br />
recovery was slow but had been made<br />
easier with the help of the Army<br />
and SES.<br />
“We also have had a lot of assistance<br />
from police all over the state which<br />
was greatly appreciated. A few of us<br />
worked the first week and then were<br />
able to take a break to clean up our<br />
own places as other police came in<br />
and replaced us.<br />
“Everyone at Tully station has<br />
sustained damage. A couple of<br />
officers have rural properties which<br />
will take months to fix. One officer,<br />
who lives at Silkwood, was cut off<br />
by trees that had fallen down around<br />
his property and we visited him by<br />
helicopter and kept in touch by phone.<br />
“All of his furniture was wrecked after<br />
the wind blew out all of his windows.<br />
Another officer has at least $100,000<br />
water damage to his house after he<br />
lost part of his roof.’’<br />
He said there was a long road to<br />
recovery.“I think there are still places<br />
without power, South Mission Beach<br />
is a bit of a ghost town, the caravan<br />
park is still closed and lumps of coral,<br />
car parts and iron have washed up on<br />
the beach.’’<br />
Sgt Stanley said police did a<br />
wonderful job under extremely<br />
adverse circumstances.<br />
“Everyone had damaged houses but<br />
were back at work as soon as they<br />
could be. We had some officers who<br />
couldn’t work because of kids or<br />
families but were washing the clothes<br />
of the visiting officers.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 27
Tropical Cyclone Yasi Pounds North <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Main street, Tully<br />
“There was a lot of selflessness<br />
among colleagues and members of<br />
the public. There was a lady at the<br />
petrol station who was upset…she<br />
had lost everything and had nothing<br />
to cook with, and a lady, who didn’t<br />
even know her, offered her a gas<br />
cooker and her last three butane<br />
cylinders.’’<br />
CAIRNS<br />
THE day the cyclone was due to hit,<br />
Senior Sergeant Denis Fitzpatrick was<br />
called off holidays to run the Comms<br />
centre in Cairns. It was his last shift in<br />
far north <strong>Queensland</strong> for<br />
Sen-Sgt Fitzpatrick, the outgoing<br />
QPU Executive Regional<br />
Representative for Far Northern<br />
Region. He was recently<br />
promoted to Inspector in Brisbane.<br />
Preparations were well in place as<br />
the city braced itself for the force of<br />
Cyclone Yasi. Thousands of residents<br />
fled the city or sought the safety of<br />
evacuation centres.<br />
“We had everything fully secured and<br />
all interceptor positions and all radio<br />
channels fully manned for the entirety<br />
of the cyclone because of the support<br />
we had from Brisbane.<br />
All the staff who were rostered on<br />
during the day stayed on, and those<br />
who couldn’t get in, stayed where<br />
they were.<br />
“Because of the early predictions<br />
that placed Cairns in the eye of the<br />
cyclone, you could not expect every<br />
staff member to work because they<br />
had families and houses to take care<br />
of – that expectation is not placed on<br />
them by the police service,’’ he said.<br />
“Through the course of the day there<br />
was great fear and trepidation as the<br />
predictions were that Cairns, or just<br />
south of it, would take a direct hit<br />
from Cyclone Yasi. If we had been hit<br />
it would have brought a tidal surge<br />
and a severe inundation of Cairns.<br />
“There was a great deal of fear in the<br />
voice of people ringing, fear of the<br />
unknown. This was the biggest and<br />
most powerful cyclone in our history,<br />
a category 5, and it caused a lot of<br />
concern for the public and people<br />
managing the disaster.<br />
“First we opened all the evacuation<br />
centres early in the morning and had<br />
a lot of calls from the public about<br />
where the centres were and what they<br />
should take for the duration of the<br />
cyclone, as in things like food<br />
and bedding.”<br />
“The officer-in-charge of Cairns<br />
organised for police to attend the<br />
centres, to check off names on the<br />
manifest so we could account for<br />
people’s whereabouts.<br />
Tully Station<br />
“One of the major shopping<br />
complexes at Earlville opened around<br />
28<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
Tropical Cyclone Yasi Pounds North <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
8am and within an hour there were<br />
1,600 people there.”<br />
Sen-Sgt Fitzpatrick said police doorknocked<br />
certain areas in the northern<br />
beach suburbs where inundation was<br />
expected and recommended residents<br />
evacuate.<br />
“We went house to house, some<br />
residents chose to stay, and they<br />
completed paperwork saying<br />
they completely understood the<br />
circumstances. Days before the<br />
cyclone, the MIR decided to evacuate<br />
the hospital and patients were sent<br />
south to Mackay and Brisbane.<br />
“Everything was arranged before<br />
Yasi’s arrival at midnight. The other<br />
focus was to bring police off the road.<br />
That decision was made at 7pm,’’ he<br />
said.<br />
“However, the eye of the cyclone<br />
crossed the coast well south of the<br />
city. Cairns dodged a bullet. There<br />
was a great deal of debris and<br />
some damage to old structures, but<br />
overwhelmingly, we dodged a bullet.’’<br />
“What stood out on the night<br />
was the fact that civilian staff and<br />
communication operators willingly<br />
gave up their time to support the QPS<br />
in disaster. We were also grateful<br />
for the support of staff sent from<br />
Brisbane,’’ he said.<br />
Tully Heads<br />
C M Y CM MY CY CMY K<br />
Burdened by<br />
older kids?<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 29
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30<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
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<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 31
What Lies Beneath<br />
What Lies<br />
Beneath<br />
By Paula Doneman<br />
“AT THIS MOMENT THERE ARE 6,470,818,671 PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. SOME ARE RUNNING SCARED,<br />
SOME ARE COMING HOME, SOME TELL LIES TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE DAY,<br />
OTHERS ARE JUST NOT FACING THE TRUTH, SOME ARE EVIL MEN AT WAR WITH GOOD,<br />
AND SOME ARE GOOD STRUGGLING WITH EVIL. SIX BILLION PEOPLE IN THE WORLD,<br />
SIX BILLION SOULS, AND SOMETIMES ALL YOU NEED IS ONE.”<br />
Kathryn Louise Daley’s favourite quote from the American TV series, One Tree Hill.<br />
She painted it onto the t-shirt she was wearing the night she was murdered.<br />
Like all predators, he went to<br />
higher ground to scout for a victim. He<br />
lay in wait in a dark, dead end street<br />
at the top of the hill, sitting in a nondescript<br />
car equipped with a kill-kit of<br />
a large serrated knife, bindings and a<br />
groundsheet. He had been drinking for<br />
several hours, perhaps for some dutch<br />
courage. For years, Grant Westley<br />
Meredith had always kept his distance<br />
from the women and schoolgirls he<br />
stalked and secretly filmed.<br />
His gratification was only achieved<br />
by watching child pornography and<br />
dressing in women’s and children’s<br />
clothing he had stolen from charity<br />
bins. But tonight the 30-year-old was<br />
going to quench his depravity. In the<br />
corner of his eye he saw her - a pretty<br />
young woman, dressed in jeans and<br />
a t-shirt, making her way alone to the<br />
petrol station where locals would get<br />
the greasy food-fix they craved after a<br />
big night out.<br />
She was distracted as she texted her<br />
ex-boyfriend about how much she<br />
missed him. She, like other twentysomethings<br />
in Gladstone, often<br />
walked home from clubbing as it<br />
was safe.<br />
It was a town where basically<br />
everyone knew each other. There<br />
had not been a murder within the<br />
city limits for more than 20 years but<br />
Meredith was about to change that in<br />
the most brutal way.<br />
Hell was about to descend on Kathryn<br />
“Kat” Daley as she walked into the<br />
ambush.<br />
As the temperature soared to the<br />
mid-30s and the humidity thickened<br />
on the afternoon of February 17,<br />
2008, Sue Daley was really worried.<br />
She could not contact her 21-yearold<br />
daughter, the elder of her two<br />
children. It was not unlike Kat to stay<br />
out for the night but she could always<br />
be contacted.<br />
Kat’s mobile phone was switched off<br />
and after calling several of her friends,<br />
Mrs Daley could not track her daughter<br />
down. By mid-afternoon, Mrs Daley<br />
filed a missing persons report at the<br />
Tannum Sands police station.<br />
<strong>Police</strong> began making inquiries and<br />
tracing Kat’s last movements. At<br />
first they thought Kat was fine as<br />
friends said they had received an<br />
MSN message that morning from<br />
her saying she had a great night out.<br />
However, it soon emerged that her<br />
best friend Aimee “Maisy” Butler<br />
had used Kat’s account to send<br />
the message.<br />
Kathryn Louise Daley on her 21st birthday<br />
<strong>Police</strong> established that the last known<br />
contact from Kat was just before<br />
4.30am when she texted her ex-<br />
32<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
What Lies Beneath<br />
Photograph Meredith took of himself in the garage<br />
of his Gladstone rental property in the weeks after<br />
Kat’s murder<br />
boyfriend and then spoke with Ms<br />
Butler to say she was walking to the<br />
Mobil Station and would meet<br />
her there.<br />
On Monday Kat failed to show for<br />
her 6am shift at <strong>Queensland</strong> Alumina<br />
Limited where she worked as a fourthyear<br />
apprentice electrician. It was out<br />
of character for Kat who had recently<br />
been crowned the state’s “apprentice<br />
of the year”. Two hours later Detective<br />
Senior Constable Chris Lindsay and<br />
Plain Clothes Senior Constable Wayne<br />
Butcher were given Kat’s case as they<br />
started their shift at Gladstone CIB.<br />
The detectives began firming up<br />
Kat’s last movements as the popular<br />
21-year-old’s friends, family and work<br />
colleagues called everyone they knew<br />
to find her.<br />
“At first we thought it was a standard<br />
missing persons case but when she<br />
didn’t turn up for work we knew that<br />
something was amiss,’’ Detective<br />
Lindsay told the <strong>Journal</strong>.<br />
At 1pm, Detective Lindsay received<br />
a call through Communications<br />
that Kat’s body had been found in<br />
bushland by two railway workers<br />
inspecting tracks at Callemondah, on<br />
the southwestern outskirts<br />
of Gladstone.<br />
“I had never seen anything like it; it<br />
still sticks in my mind today. We knew<br />
it was Kat, she was dressed in<br />
Meredith photographing himself wearing a dress<br />
a white t-shirt and jeans. I could see<br />
the tattoos on her wrist that her mum<br />
had told us she had done three days<br />
before at midday on Friday, February<br />
15. They were chinese symbols which<br />
meant eternal and forever,’’ he said.<br />
From the crime scene, investigators<br />
learned that her killer carried her<br />
there as there were no drag marks or<br />
injuries to her feet. Her wrists were<br />
tied together, and after repeatedly<br />
and viciously raping her, the killer had<br />
redressed her without her underwear.<br />
She had a blow to the head and<br />
was almost decapitated. She was<br />
killed at the scene but most likely<br />
raped elsewhere. A number of Kat’s<br />
belongings were missing – her driver’s<br />
licence, her silver Nokia mobile<br />
telephone, a credit union keycard, and<br />
a pair of Billabong thongs.<br />
The killer left traces of DNA including<br />
semen which revealed he had a low<br />
sperm count, from either possibly<br />
heavy cannabis use or a vasectomy.<br />
Forensic examination also found<br />
traces of the killer under Kat’s<br />
fingernails, on one of her palms,<br />
her clothing and on the black cotton<br />
ties used to bind her hands behind<br />
her back. The piece of pink bra and<br />
unidentified female DNA found on<br />
the waistband of the victim’s jeans<br />
initially led police to suspect the killer<br />
may have had a woman accomplice.<br />
Their concern was given further<br />
weight when their investigations<br />
uncovered photos taken of Kat earlier<br />
Grant Westley Meredith<br />
in the night at the Players Nightclub<br />
which showed she was wearing a<br />
purple bra.<br />
“On analysis of the crime scene, we<br />
thought there may have been a female<br />
accomplice because of a piece of pink<br />
bra which didn’t belong to the victim.<br />
It was foreign; it had been brought<br />
into the crime scene,’’ said Homicide<br />
Detective Senior Sergeant Glen<br />
Farmer from Operation Golf Alcove.<br />
“When we were looking at the<br />
generation of suspects we had to<br />
consider the motive. We were looking<br />
at a sexual motive as the victim had<br />
been redressed, her underwear was<br />
gone and her fly was left undone.<br />
“For a particularly brutal assault, the<br />
fact that the victim’s clothing was<br />
more or less intact, and had no grass<br />
stains or signs of a struggle, indicated<br />
Photo of Meredith taken at Rockhampton<br />
Watchhouse on January 25 this year after he was<br />
jailed for life for the rape and murder of Kat Daley.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 33
What Lies Beneath<br />
of fear within the community and<br />
because of the severity of the crime,<br />
the community really worked with us.<br />
We kept them engaged, constantly<br />
calling for information, and they did<br />
everything they could to assist us,’’<br />
Detective Farmer said.<br />
Investigations into the final hours of<br />
Kat’s life revealed that on Saturday<br />
February 16, she, Ms Butler and<br />
friends had spent part of the night at<br />
home drinking to save money. She<br />
and Ms Butler had also made t-shirts<br />
for a Valentine’s Day party at Players,<br />
one of Gladstone’s two nightclubs on<br />
the waterfront.<br />
34<br />
Bushland where Meredith dumped the body of Kathryn Louise Daley<br />
the killer had bound her hands prior to<br />
the attack, and that the rape took place<br />
at another location where he used a<br />
protective covering on the ground.<br />
“Obviously there was a sexual motive<br />
and we were looking at a male and/<br />
or female suspect, and that didn’t<br />
resolve until the conclusion of the<br />
job when Meredith was arrested and<br />
we executed a search warrant on his<br />
house where we found garbage bags<br />
of women’s clothing. Then it all made<br />
sense,“ Detective Farmer said.<br />
(The unidentified female’s trace DNA on<br />
the waistband of Kat’s jeans belonged<br />
to a teenage girl who lived in Gladstone<br />
but was unknown to the victim.)<br />
The other concern looming with<br />
the unidentified male DNA was that<br />
Gladstone was an international<br />
port and it was possible the killer<br />
could have been from overseas and<br />
already left.<br />
The location of the crime scene also<br />
indicated that a local resident was not<br />
involved as they were not likely to<br />
dump a body 30 metres off a dirt track<br />
known to be a popular thoroughfare<br />
for fishermen accessing a nearby<br />
river, and QRail employees working<br />
on train engines.<br />
The suspect pool potentially was<br />
enormous. Investigators also pulled<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong><br />
all financial transactions from ATMs<br />
around the time of the murder, and<br />
all records for accommodation, as<br />
anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000<br />
people stay nightly in Gladstone.<br />
They were either “fly-ins” for work or<br />
holiday makers. CCTV footage was<br />
also seized from businesses and city<br />
cameras.<br />
Kat’s mobile phone records were also<br />
pulled to help track her movements.<br />
Detectives said investigators also<br />
checked VICLAS (Violent Crime<br />
Linkage Analysis System) for any<br />
similar crimes. The system produced a<br />
report of three local juveniles who had<br />
held a knife to a girl’s throat as they<br />
forced her to eat a “Warhead” lolly.<br />
“They were still around town and<br />
we had to speak to them because<br />
of the connection of the knife to the<br />
throat– that was the degree and depth<br />
we went to in our investigation,’’<br />
Detective Farmer said.<br />
“We had a daughter who had been<br />
snatched from her parents in a very<br />
violent way and it was extremely<br />
traumatic for them. The previous<br />
murder in the district was domesticrelated,<br />
at Calliope (20 kilometres<br />
southwest of Gladstone) in 1995,<br />
and Kathryn Daley’s murder was a<br />
gruesome crime by a stranger. She<br />
was a well known and respected<br />
girl. There was a heightened sense<br />
CCTV footage showed they arrived<br />
at the club just after midnight. They<br />
danced and socialised for several<br />
hours. Around 4am, patrons were<br />
ushered out at closing time. Kat<br />
chatted with people and friends<br />
outside the club as she waited for<br />
Maisy.<br />
Then she decided to go with a male<br />
friend who then stopped at a kebab<br />
stand. Kat walked on alone along<br />
Flinders Parade.<br />
Witnesses told police that at around<br />
4.15am they saw Kat, dressed in jeans,<br />
a white t-shirt and thongs, walking<br />
by herself along Lord Street and<br />
using her mobile phone. She told two<br />
women she was walking home to New<br />
Auckland, where she rented.<br />
At 4.23am she sent a text to her<br />
ex-boyfriend, with whom she had<br />
recently broken up, about how much<br />
she missed him.<br />
Almost immediately after, she spoke<br />
to Ms Butler on the phone and told<br />
her she needed to go to the toilet and<br />
would meet her at the “24’’ – a local<br />
term for the 24-hour Mobil Service<br />
Station on Dawson Road.<br />
Ms Butler told police she sounded fine<br />
and could not hear anyone in<br />
the background. Kat received a text<br />
from her ex-boyfriend and then sent<br />
one again at 4.26am. She was not<br />
heard from again.
Kathryn Louise Daley<br />
It is around this time that police<br />
believe she was abducted, as she<br />
walked into a cul-de-sac at the top<br />
of a hill and took a shortcut through<br />
bushland to get to the Mobil.<br />
As the investigation progressed and<br />
the community of Gladstone reeled<br />
from the shock of such a gruesome<br />
crime, that shattered their feeling of<br />
safety, Meredith kept up his façade of<br />
a quiet computer technician who kept<br />
to himself.<br />
The day after the murder, he returned<br />
to work for Rio Tinto at the Yarwun<br />
Site, on Gladstone’s outskirts. He<br />
was a loner who rarely smiled as<br />
he was ashamed of his rotten teeth<br />
caused by long-term drug use. He<br />
rarely socialised and had moved<br />
from Sydney to <strong>Queensland</strong> in 2007,<br />
landing a job in Mt Isa mines as a<br />
process technician.<br />
A friend had convinced him to move<br />
to Gladstone and investigators would<br />
discover he fabricated his resume to<br />
land a job for Rio Tinto later that year.<br />
“We also found that while Meredith<br />
was at work and conversations started<br />
up about Kat’s murder, in the tea<br />
room, he would join in the discussion<br />
and comment on how bad the crime<br />
was,’’ Detective Lindsay said.<br />
DNA PROFILE<br />
“We were relieved in the MIR that we<br />
had a DNA profile but at the end of the<br />
day Gladstone is a major port to the<br />
world and the killer could be overseas.<br />
We checked the national DNA<br />
database and it came up negative.<br />
We then discovered that NSW, at that<br />
point in time, did not have an MOU<br />
with the database, and we sent a<br />
request to NSW police to check their<br />
database,” Detective Lindsay said.<br />
Two months into the investigation,<br />
a match with an unknown male was<br />
found on the NSW database. The<br />
profile was taken from blood left at<br />
the crime scene of an unsolved break<br />
and enter in the Sydney suburb of<br />
Bradbury in 2001. A joint taskforce<br />
was established with NSW <strong>Police</strong><br />
Strike Force Dardanelle and Operation<br />
Golf Alcove.<br />
On April 19, a door knock was<br />
organised in the area surrounding<br />
the house that was broken into on St<br />
John’s Road. This strategy was used<br />
to try and identify potential suspects<br />
for the break and enter.<br />
<strong>Police</strong> were looking for any persons<br />
of interest who had lived in the area<br />
around November 2001 and had since<br />
moved or spent time in <strong>Queensland</strong>.<br />
In a twist of luck, relatives of a NSW<br />
detective on the taskforce had lived in<br />
the avenue parallel to St John’s Road<br />
for several years.<br />
One of the relatives immediately<br />
nominated Grant Meredith, whose old<br />
family home backed onto the house<br />
where the break and enter occurred.<br />
The relative described Meredith<br />
as a known cannabis user who<br />
had apparently moved to Mt Isa in<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> to work in the mines.<br />
His criminal history revealed he first<br />
came to NSW police attention in the<br />
early 1990s for street and driving<br />
offences. In 1996, a woman he had<br />
become obsessed with took out a<br />
restraining order against him after he<br />
ran her car off the road. Detectives<br />
from Strike Force Dardanelle spoke<br />
to the woman who told them she had<br />
gone to school with Meredith and they<br />
had kissed once.<br />
He then became obsessive, ringing<br />
her day and night. He stalked her<br />
and tailgated her car. He wanted to<br />
take her to the school formal but she<br />
What Lies Beneath<br />
refused. His obsession ended with<br />
him running her off the road. He tried<br />
to enter her car.<br />
The woman claimed Meredith’s<br />
relatives had warned her he was<br />
taking medication for a “temper<br />
problem”, and that Meredith had told<br />
her he was “playing life and death at<br />
her expense”.<br />
Meredith’s criminal history is<br />
peppered with low level violence and<br />
he was the subject of several street<br />
checks. After being found in a car<br />
with two associates, he was charged<br />
with possess illegal drug (cannabis).<br />
In 1997 and 1998, he was the victim<br />
of assaults, the latter involving a<br />
group of men who chased him to<br />
his front door. In 2002, NSW police<br />
found cannabis and a bong in his<br />
car, along with satchels containing a<br />
white powder, and cannabis seeds in<br />
Meredith’s wallet.<br />
A year later, Meredith’s home in<br />
Cedar Avenue, Bradbury, was broken<br />
into days after the family moved out.<br />
Fittings, airconditioning parts and<br />
garden ornaments were stolen.<br />
In 2004, police investigating a series<br />
of break and enters stopped Meredith<br />
who was driving around in his car in<br />
the early hours of the morning. He told<br />
officers he was out driving because he<br />
had been fighting with his wife.<br />
NSW Roads and Traffic Authority<br />
records showed he moved to<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> in 2006. Subsequent<br />
police inquiries with Meredith’s<br />
family confirmed he had moved to<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong>, where he was working in<br />
a computer room at a mine, and that<br />
he would only ring them.<br />
NSW detectives then contacted<br />
Meredith and told him they were<br />
investigating a serious offence<br />
in <strong>Queensland</strong>, not mentioning<br />
Gladstone, and that it was connected to<br />
a break and enter at Bradbury in 2001.<br />
During the conversation, Meredith<br />
nominated several people he believed<br />
could have been responsible for the<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 35
What Lies Beneath<br />
which was provided through a lease<br />
with his employer, Rio Tinto.<br />
Inquiries in <strong>Queensland</strong> led detectives<br />
to a new Ford XR8 sedan leased<br />
by Meredith, purchased after Kat’s<br />
murder. The car yard where he<br />
purchased the car provided police<br />
with financial papers showing<br />
Meredith lived at a rental property<br />
in Emmadale Drive in New<br />
Auckland, Gladstone.<br />
The cabin at Kin Kora Caravan Park where<br />
Meredith lived at the time of the murder<br />
break-in, and admitted to smoking<br />
pot. He had a general conversation<br />
about his employment with Xstrata<br />
Mines and the long distance between<br />
Rockhampton and Mt Isa.<br />
He told the detective he still lived in<br />
Mt Isa. Detectives then spoke with<br />
a long-time friend of Meredith in<br />
Sydney who confirmed he moved to<br />
Gladstone from Mt Isa.<br />
The friend also told of how they used to<br />
smoke cannabis together but Meredith<br />
had stopped because mining company<br />
employees were subject to regular drug<br />
testing. He said Meredith rented a house<br />
in Gladstone with a female flatmate.<br />
He said Meredith never had a<br />
girlfriend, could be rude and lost<br />
his temper, but would not elaborate<br />
further. To his knowledge, Meredith<br />
owned a Hyundai Excel, a Nissan<br />
Pathfinder and a new model Ford<br />
Meredith<br />
However, the car was registered to his<br />
previous address in Mt Isa as was his<br />
driver’s licence.<br />
The lowset brick veneer home was<br />
placed under surveillance to confirm<br />
Meredith lived there. Investigators<br />
discovered Meredith lived in one<br />
bedroom and the second room was<br />
rented by a woman, further fuelling<br />
police concerns that their suspect had<br />
an accomplice. (She was later ruled<br />
out of any involvement in the murder.)<br />
Detectives Lindsay and Farmer said<br />
a check of the investigation logs for<br />
Meredith’s name showed he was<br />
staying in a cabin at the Kin Kora<br />
Caravan Park at the time of Kat’s<br />
murder. His name was one of several<br />
thousand on accommodation lists of<br />
people staying in the Gladstone area<br />
at the time of Kat’s murder.<br />
“We had his name from around day<br />
three of the investigation. We were<br />
in the process of going through the<br />
accommodation lists. He was living in<br />
a cabin at the caravan park.<br />
“It goes to show the importance of<br />
securing information of who is around<br />
at a location at a particular time.<br />
Regardless of the DNA profile,<br />
Meredith would have been spoken<br />
to,’’ Detective Farmer said.<br />
CLOSING IN<br />
ON April 24, investigators conducted<br />
a covert search of Meredith’s house<br />
to obtain DNA samples to cross-check<br />
against the “unknown male’’ profile<br />
found at the crime scene of Kat’s<br />
murder. Five days later, investigators<br />
<strong>Police</strong> cordon off the crime scene<br />
received the news they wanted to hear<br />
– the DNA belonged to Meredith.<br />
At 5.50am on Saturday May 3rd, 76<br />
days after Kat was brutally raped and<br />
murdered, detectives from Operation<br />
Golf Alcove arrested Meredith as he<br />
left for work.<br />
For the next three days Detective<br />
Lindsay and Homicide Detective<br />
Sergeant Peter Robb interviewed<br />
Meredith, did a walk-through, as well<br />
as searched his house and car.<br />
When they sat down for an interview<br />
on Saturday afternoon, Detective<br />
Lindsay asked if there was anything<br />
Meredith could help them with for<br />
their investigation.<br />
“Yes…I did it,’’ Meredith replied.<br />
When questioned further, he said he<br />
had been drinking and had a limited<br />
memory of the crime.<br />
Meredith said he felt “hollow” while<br />
sitting in his white Hyundai Excel, on<br />
a hill in the cul-de-sac which Kat had<br />
walked through to reach the Mobile<br />
service station.<br />
“I only remember flashbacks,<br />
I don’t remember much at all, I<br />
remember being at a friend’s<br />
house in the morning…<br />
“I remember having her in the car<br />
driving along, um, Hanson Rd out<br />
towards Rockhampton, then coming<br />
back. I remember coming back to a<br />
house near the power station, over<br />
the bridge, um, I remember being<br />
36<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
in town a couple of times but I don’t<br />
remember everything,’’ Meredith told<br />
the detectives.<br />
Detective Lindsay was struck by<br />
Meredith’s cold demeanour that was<br />
devoid of emotion.<br />
Her property was in the same bag<br />
containing the murder weapon,<br />
still covered in her blood, and sex<br />
toys. Parts of a pink and white bra<br />
were also found in his home, which<br />
matched the bra found at the<br />
crime scene.<br />
What Lies Beneath<br />
his colleagues and drove instead,”<br />
Detective Lindsay said.<br />
“He then returned to Gladstone and<br />
at 8.10pm, bank records showed he<br />
bought a bottle of bourbon and a<br />
packet of Winfield Blue cigarettes.<br />
“He was really quiet and he never<br />
smiled because he had a complex<br />
about his teeth which had rotted from<br />
so much drug use,’’ he said. “Even<br />
when he was being sentenced, he<br />
stared straight ahead and didn’t make<br />
a comment when the judge asked if he<br />
wanted to say anything.”<br />
While Meredith confessed to<br />
murdering Kat, he was sketchy and<br />
selective in remembering the details<br />
of the crime.<br />
“He kept that final bit of information<br />
about the rape and murder to himself<br />
- something he could relish. He<br />
certainly had a selective memory,<br />
and part of his defence was that he<br />
must have done it because he had the<br />
gear, the knife and Kat’s property,’’<br />
Detective Lindsay said.<br />
Meredith then accompanied the<br />
detectives to his house at Emmadale<br />
Road. There they found a bag<br />
containing Kat’s underwear – which<br />
were stretched from Meredith wearing<br />
them – and his other “trophies”: her<br />
mobile phone, licence and keycard.<br />
Asked whose blood was on the<br />
large knife protruding from the bag,<br />
Meredith replied: “I can only think of<br />
one person”.<br />
“We also discovered bags and bags<br />
of clothing belonging to women and<br />
children in his bedroom, and the<br />
pink bra then made sense. He was a<br />
cross-dresser and had taken photos<br />
of himself dressed in female clothing,<br />
performing various sex acts on<br />
himself with different instruments,’’<br />
Detective Lindsay said.<br />
Forensic examination of his computer<br />
uncovered thousands of child<br />
pornographic images, mostly of girls<br />
aged between five and 12 years old<br />
being sexually exploited with men<br />
and dogs. <strong>Police</strong> also uncovered<br />
disturbing photographs Meredith had<br />
taken of schoolchildren walking home,<br />
female joggers and women he stalked.<br />
“We learned that during the day,<br />
before the murder, Meredith drove to<br />
Rockhampton for a work function. The<br />
Broncos were playing a pre-season<br />
match. He didn’t go on the bus with<br />
“He drank the bourbon at a friend’s<br />
house until midnight, left there and<br />
went to another friend’s house until<br />
about 2am. Meredith then said one of<br />
his memories was sitting in his car on<br />
a hill looking over at a tall building in<br />
the distance.’’<br />
“He had a desire to kill and it was a<br />
matter of Kat being in the wrong place<br />
at the wrong time. We believed he<br />
selected her at random as she was on<br />
her own. There was no evidence to<br />
suggest he knew her.”<br />
“There is no doubt Meredith was<br />
a sexual deviate. Kat was a strong<br />
woman who worked in a male<br />
dominated blue-collar industry and<br />
she would have fought back if she<br />
could. Our theory is that she was<br />
looking down as she was texting and<br />
he has approached from behind and<br />
hit her in the head.<br />
This either knocked her unconscious<br />
or stunned her enough for him to tie<br />
her hands behind her back and get her<br />
into the car,’’ he said.<br />
“By the time Kat comes to, she would<br />
not have been able to fight back.”<br />
Meredith told police he remembered<br />
driving along Port Curtis Way<br />
and seeing Kat sitting in the front<br />
passenger seat with her eyes open,”<br />
Detective Lindsay said.<br />
Meredith told investigators he<br />
couldn’t remember talking to Kat but<br />
recalled reaching the Bruce Highway<br />
at the Mount Larcom turn-off before<br />
turning his car around. He then<br />
stopped at the NRG Powerhouse in<br />
Gladstone but did not know why he<br />
was there or why Kat was scared.<br />
The street where Kat was last seen alive. Up to the left past the white ute was where she walked into<br />
Meredith’s ambush<br />
Meredith claimed his next memory<br />
was travelling back along Red Rover<br />
Road before arriving at his cabin in<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 37
What Lies Beneath<br />
30cm long. Who knows what he<br />
was going to do with that. Was he<br />
getting ready to kill again?” Detective<br />
Farmer said.<br />
ON January 25 this year, Meredith<br />
appeared before the Rockhampton<br />
Supreme Court where he pleaded<br />
guilty to the murder and rape of<br />
Kathryn Louise Daley.<br />
Justice Duncan McMeekin jailed<br />
Meredith for life on the murder<br />
charge, 12 years for rape, and two<br />
years for possession of<br />
child pornography.<br />
Entrance to the Players Nightclub<br />
Kin Kora Caravan Park. “He couldn’t<br />
remember killing Kat or how she came<br />
to be out of his car,’’ Detective Lindsay<br />
said.<br />
When he woke up the next day,<br />
Meredith told detectives, he knew<br />
he had done something wrong but<br />
didn’t know the details.<br />
Then while cleaning his Hyundai a<br />
few days later, he found a Just Jeans<br />
plastic bag containing a bloodied knife<br />
and Kat’s keycard and mobile phone.<br />
It was as this point Meredith thought<br />
he had murdered Kat.<br />
Using Meredith’s version of events<br />
surrounding Kat’s murder as a guide,<br />
investigators began to review CCTV<br />
footage obtained from local<br />
Gladstone businesses.<br />
They constructed a timeline and also<br />
compared it to Kat’s location using<br />
her mobile telephone records. The<br />
analysis of her phone records helped<br />
investigators with the time of death<br />
and shows she was walking where<br />
Meredith said he was sitting in his car.<br />
His electronic card showed he was<br />
absent for 25 minutes around the time<br />
Kat’s body was found.<br />
“Meredith never spoke about specifics<br />
so we had to fill in the blanks. He kept<br />
the intimate details of the offence<br />
to himself and they will remain his<br />
secret. They are his moments to<br />
treasure, in his mind,’’ Detective<br />
Farmer said.<br />
The footage first captured Meredith’s<br />
car at about 4.33am when he driving<br />
outbound along Hanson Road, past<br />
the Mobil fuel Depot. It was then<br />
recorded at around 5.30am, when<br />
his car was travelling along Red<br />
Rover Road.<br />
The investigators’ timeline established<br />
it took 28 minutes for Meredith to<br />
travel between the Mt Larcom turnoff<br />
at the Bruce Highway and return.<br />
This left 30 minutes unaccounted<br />
for prior to him heading back towards<br />
the crime scene where Kat’s body<br />
was found.<br />
Another record showed her phone<br />
was giving off a signal at the Mt<br />
Maurice telephone tower which was<br />
near the crime scene.<br />
At the time of his arrest, Meredith had<br />
not only moved house but bought a<br />
new car, leaving the Hyundai parked<br />
at the back of his residence.<br />
Meredith’s work records show he was<br />
on days off between February 13 and<br />
17, returning the day after the murder.<br />
“In his new car we found a ground<br />
sheet and two knives, one in the door<br />
and one in the central console, about<br />
Kathryn Louise Daley<br />
38<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
What Lies Beneath<br />
OVERVIEW<br />
Jon Wacker, who was the central<br />
region’s crime coordinator at the<br />
time, said Operation Golf Alcove was<br />
an example of a perfect investigation<br />
where the efforts of all those<br />
involved, particularly the scientific<br />
and forensic officers at the crime<br />
scene, were an integral part of<br />
the investigation.<br />
“From the time her body was located,<br />
the preservation and examination of<br />
the crime scene, which was in very<br />
harsh bushland and hot conditions,<br />
was crucial. The forensic and<br />
scientific officers were very thorough,<br />
including fingerprinting trees,’’ said<br />
Superintendent Wacker, who is now<br />
with the Ethical Standards Command.<br />
“This investigation ran for 76<br />
days and relied heavily on a close<br />
working relationship between Central<br />
Region police, the State Homicide<br />
Investigation Group and NSW <strong>Police</strong><br />
Strike Force Dardanelle.<br />
“This murder really hit the Gladstone<br />
community hard, and the victim was<br />
a local girl who was very well known<br />
and liked. She came from a good<br />
family and had a good upbringing.<br />
She was a female making ground in<br />
a male, blue-collar industry and had<br />
recently won apprentice of the year.<br />
“We knew we were in for a long haul<br />
but we were always confident of<br />
catching the killer as we had a DNA<br />
profile of an unknown male (taken<br />
from the victim),’’ he said.<br />
Inspector Artie Van Panhuis, North<br />
Coast Regional Forensic Services<br />
Co-ordinator, said the Kat Daley<br />
investigation was an exceptional<br />
example of overall team work between<br />
investigators, the intelligence team<br />
and forensic examiners over two<br />
states, resulting in Meredith’s arrest.<br />
Left to Right: Sgt Matthew Russell, OIC at Gladstone Intelligence; Det Sgt Allan Cook and Det Snr Const Chris<br />
Lindsay of the Gladstone CIB who, along with the team from Operation Golf Alcove, were awarded the Silver<br />
Award for Operational Excellence.<br />
“The success of Kat’s investigation<br />
ultimately was solved through<br />
Meredith’s DNA being located on<br />
her clothes. However, all forensic<br />
options were considered, including<br />
fingerprinting trees and sampling<br />
foliage for pollen analysis. Forensic<br />
officers worked tirelessly, in stifling<br />
conditions, in protective suits, for two<br />
days to examine the primary scene.<br />
“The DNA profile obtained from the<br />
body was (eventually) linked to a<br />
volume crime sample collected by<br />
a NSW forensic officer examining<br />
a burglary scene. (At the time)<br />
NSW was not yet involved in<br />
cross-boundary release of DNA<br />
information and legal procedures<br />
were entered into to obtain the<br />
relevant information.<br />
“Investigators and forensic officers<br />
obtained covert samples from<br />
Meredith’s residence to compare<br />
against the scene profiles. A mass<br />
screening from interviewed persons<br />
was also conducted resulting in<br />
178 FTA reference samples being<br />
collected and profiled. In total, 762<br />
examinations were conducted on<br />
814 forensic exhibits by 42 forensic<br />
officers, ‘’ Inspector Van Panhuis said.<br />
He said the investigation established<br />
case precedents in numerous ways,<br />
however reflected on the ultimate<br />
success of the NATA accreditation<br />
process and the forensic procedural<br />
direction in which the QPS has<br />
progressed.<br />
“Our mobile data technology,<br />
sampling techniques, forensic scene<br />
management and review process<br />
leads the nation in forensic capability<br />
and capacity. It further reflects the<br />
need to fully investigate volume<br />
crime reports, taking into account the<br />
propensity for offenders to progress<br />
to more serious crimes in the future,’’<br />
he said.<br />
DNA samples had to be collected from<br />
males and females as Kat had been in<br />
the nightclub dancing and socialising.<br />
“We (investigators) had to test<br />
friends and anyone who came into<br />
contact with her,’’ Insp. Van Panhuis<br />
said. “This (case) was really solved<br />
with the help of the touch DNA that<br />
forensic officers collected. We knew<br />
someone like this would not have<br />
started with murder and most likely<br />
had committed other crimes.’’<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 39
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use its discretion for loan terms and, as a result, repayment amounts may differ. Bill of Sale is to be taken over the vehicle as security for the loan. Normal lending criteria applies. The comparison<br />
rate displayed <strong>Queensland</strong> is calculated <strong>Police</strong> based <strong>Union</strong> a loan <strong>Journal</strong> amount of <strong>March</strong> $25,000 over <strong>2011</strong> a 5 year term. WARNING: This comparison rate applies only to the example above. Different amounts and terms will result in<br />
different comparison rates. Comparison rates are available at our branches or online at www.qpcu.com.au Interest rate is current as at 10 December 2010 and is subject to change without notice.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> Credit <strong>Union</strong> ABN 79 087 651 036. AFSL No. 241413.<br />
CAR0311
y Mr Mark Burgess - Chief Executive Officer of the <strong>Police</strong> Federation of Australia<br />
National <strong>Police</strong> Service Medal<br />
The National <strong>Police</strong> Service Medal:<br />
Just Recognition for Australia’s <strong>Police</strong><br />
On 2 <strong>March</strong>, the Australian Government announced that the Queen signed Letters Patent<br />
instituting a new award within the Australian honours and awards system to accord<br />
“recognition for the unique contribution and significant commitment of those persons who<br />
have given ethical and diligent service as a sworn member of an Australian police service”.<br />
This new award is to be known as the National <strong>Police</strong> Service Medal (NPSM).<br />
The operable date for the new<br />
medal is 30 October 2008, as that is the<br />
date on which the Queen initially gave<br />
in-principle approval for the award.<br />
The medal is only awarded once,<br />
and there are no clasps awarded for<br />
additional periods of service.<br />
The NPSM will be awarded to any<br />
sworn member of Australia’s police<br />
forces who is or was a member on<br />
or after 30 October 2008; and in the<br />
opinion of that person’s Commissioner,<br />
gave ethical and diligent service; and<br />
has given full-time or part-time service<br />
as a member of one or more Australian<br />
police forces for a period of at least<br />
15 years or periods totalling at least<br />
15 years.<br />
A Commissioner may waive the<br />
minimum duration of service necessary<br />
to qualify for the NPSM if a member<br />
was unable to continue serving<br />
because of death, injury or disability<br />
which occurred as a result of their<br />
police service. But the other conditions<br />
must still be met - service must have<br />
been “ethical and diligent”, and must<br />
include at least one day on or after 30<br />
October 2008.<br />
Whilst the NPSM is not an award<br />
to recognise long service, it does<br />
recognise the unique contribution<br />
given to the community by sworn<br />
members of Australia’s police forces.<br />
Long and diligent service has been<br />
recognised since 1975 by the National<br />
Medal. The National Medal and<br />
clasps will continue to be awarded to<br />
recognise eligible long and diligent<br />
service.<br />
In the government’s press release<br />
announcing the medal, they recognised<br />
the PFA as the key proponent of the<br />
creation of the award.<br />
THE MOVEMENT BEHIND THE<br />
NEW AWARD<br />
Almost since the <strong>Police</strong> Long Service<br />
and Good Conduct Medal was replaced<br />
by the National Medal in 1975, police<br />
associations and unions have been<br />
advocating the reintroduction of a<br />
police-specific service award.<br />
The PFA made submissions to both<br />
the 2006 and 2008 Australasian<br />
<strong>Police</strong> Commissioners’ Conferences<br />
proposing the new medal. As a<br />
result we received the support of all<br />
Commissioners, with <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Commissioner Bob Atkinson being<br />
given specific responsibility to<br />
liaise with the PFA on behalf of<br />
Commissioners.<br />
After having also received support<br />
from the current government in<br />
the lead up to the 2007 election, we<br />
prepared a submission to the then<br />
Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, which<br />
he endorsed. He then approached<br />
the Queen to have the new award<br />
established. The concept received<br />
in-principle support from Her Majesty<br />
Queen Elizabeth II on 30 October 2008.<br />
Since that date there has been a<br />
series of meetings between the<br />
parties to further develop the concept,<br />
the introduction and transitional<br />
arrangements, as well as the final<br />
design of the new award. These<br />
meetings have included the PFA<br />
representing state, territory and<br />
federal police associations and unions;<br />
officials from the Department of Prime<br />
Minister and Cabinet; the Office of the<br />
Special Minister of State and Cabinet<br />
Secretary; their Ministerial Advisors;<br />
<strong>Police</strong> Commissioners Bob Atkinson<br />
(QLD) and Andrew Scipione (NSW);<br />
Detective Sergeant Vince Pannell<br />
(AFP) and Federal Agent James<br />
Cheshire (AFP).<br />
The meetings, and more significant<br />
out of session discussions, saw the<br />
production of many reviews and<br />
position papers by the PFA for the<br />
consideration of both government<br />
and the Commissioners. It was during<br />
these meetings that it was agreed that<br />
the Prime Minister would again go<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 41
National <strong>Police</strong> Service Medal<br />
to Her Majesty to seek approval for a<br />
variation of the original in-principle<br />
agreement. It was also agreed that<br />
the new award be the National <strong>Police</strong><br />
Service Medal and that it would<br />
not to be a service medal but rather<br />
that it recognise the commitment of<br />
individuals to policing in Australia.<br />
This would also mean that the NPSM<br />
would be awarded in addition to<br />
the National Medal to Australian<br />
police. This approval was received<br />
and formally announced by the<br />
government on 19 May 2010.<br />
Two Federal Ministers who deserve<br />
special recognition for their support<br />
during this process are the Minister for<br />
Home Affairs, Brendan O’Connor and<br />
the former Special Minister of State<br />
and Cabinet Secretary, Senator Joe<br />
Ludwig and their respective staff. As<br />
the process bogged down in red tape<br />
and Honours protocols during this<br />
period, these two Ministers ensured<br />
that negotiations were maintained,<br />
and that a final outcome acceptable<br />
to all parties was achieved. All police<br />
officers are indebted to their efforts<br />
and persistence.<br />
THE DESIGN AND ORDER OF WEAR<br />
During this process I was contacted by<br />
Inspector Rick Steinborn of the New<br />
South Wales <strong>Police</strong> Force who had, in<br />
his own time and at his own expense,<br />
designed a proposed medal for our<br />
consideration. As discussion with the<br />
various interested parties continued,<br />
and various changes were made,<br />
Inspector Steinborn incorporated those<br />
changes at every step.<br />
Rick’s design (attached) has now been<br />
formally endorsed by the Queen as the<br />
NPSM’s design. It will be finished in<br />
cupro-nickel. The St Edward’s Crown,<br />
representing the Sovereign whom all<br />
Australian police officers ultimately<br />
serve, is located on the suspender<br />
bar. The front (obverse) of the medal<br />
features the Federation Star located<br />
inside an unbroken circular chequered<br />
band, known as ‘Sillitoe Tartan’. The<br />
Federation Star represents the national<br />
scope of the medal, while the Sillitoe<br />
Tartan is the internationally recognised<br />
symbol of policing. The unbroken<br />
band surrounds the star, signifying the<br />
unity and cooperation between each<br />
of the individual state, federal and<br />
territory police forces who together<br />
protect the entire Commonwealth.<br />
The back (reverse) of the medal<br />
has two sprays of golden wattle,<br />
the national floral symbol, located<br />
immediately below a raised horizontal<br />
panel on which the recipient’s details<br />
can be engraved. The words ‘FOR<br />
SERVICE AS AN AUSTRALIAN POLICE<br />
OFFICER’ appear in capital letters<br />
around the inside of the outer rim.<br />
The ribbon, like the medal device, was<br />
also further developed as a result of<br />
discussions between the parties after<br />
the in-principle approval was received.<br />
The final ribbon design accepted is that<br />
developed by Federal Agent James<br />
Cheshire of the AFP. The medal ribbon<br />
draws inspiration from police awards<br />
under both the Imperial and Australian<br />
awards systems.<br />
The ribbon has a central panel of three<br />
stripes of dark blue, gold and dark blue.<br />
The central panel is flanked by white<br />
panels, each bisected by a thin red<br />
stripe. Blue and gold are Australia’s<br />
heraldic colours, commonly used in<br />
the ribbons of Australian medals,<br />
while the blue and white are colours<br />
traditionally associated with police and<br />
police awards. The thin red stripes<br />
represent the ever-present hazards<br />
experienced in service as an Australian<br />
police officer.<br />
Both Inspector Steinborn and Federal<br />
Agent Cheshire will be formally<br />
recognised as the Medal and Ribbon<br />
designers and should be congratulated<br />
for their efforts.<br />
The NPSM is an official award in<br />
the Australian honours and awards<br />
system and as such, is worn on the<br />
left breast when in uniform or civilian<br />
attire. In the order of wear, the NPSM<br />
is positioned before all long service<br />
awards and immediately after the<br />
Civilian Service Medal 1939-1945. This<br />
is in recognition that the award is not<br />
a long service award and is made only<br />
to sworn police officers who have<br />
provided ethical and diligent service for<br />
the entirety of their police career.<br />
CONCLUSION<br />
The National <strong>Police</strong> Service Medal is<br />
a tangible acknowledgement by the<br />
Australian government of the unique<br />
role that police officers play in the<br />
preservation of peace, the protection of<br />
life and property, and the maintenance<br />
of law and order throughout Australia.<br />
The new medal demonstrates<br />
community support for the work done<br />
by the 55,000 police members who<br />
place their own safety at risk to protect<br />
the quality of life, security and freedom<br />
of all Australians.<br />
The PFA will continue to work with<br />
Government and the Opposition<br />
parties in relation to just and equitable<br />
recognition for Australian police.<br />
We will continue to advocate for the<br />
introduction of meritorious service<br />
awards, an equivalent to the defence<br />
conspicuous service awards, for the<br />
establishment of an Honours and<br />
Awards Tribunal to be a standing<br />
advisory and assessment group in<br />
relation to police and emergency<br />
services awards, and to have National<br />
<strong>Police</strong> Remembrance Day declared a<br />
national day of significance.<br />
The creation of the National <strong>Police</strong><br />
Service Medal comes about after<br />
many years of hard work by a great<br />
number of people, but I think that it is<br />
particularly noteworthy that the medal<br />
was achieved principally through<br />
the efforts of the PFA, the ‘National<br />
Voice of Policing’ representing<br />
55,000 Australian <strong>Police</strong> Officers,<br />
and was developed and designed<br />
by operational police officers from<br />
different jurisdictions working together<br />
for a common purpose - a principle<br />
which is at the very heart of policing in<br />
Australia today.<br />
For further details on the NPSM go to<br />
the PFA web site www.pfa.org.au<br />
42<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
National <strong>Police</strong> Service Medal<br />
NATIONAL POLICE SERVICE MEDAL (NPSM)<br />
Obverse<br />
Reverse<br />
Medal Design;<br />
The medal will be finished in cupro-nickel. The St Edward’s Crown, representing the Sovereign whom all Australian police<br />
officers ultimately serve, is located on the suspender bar. The front (obverse) of the medal features the Federation Star located<br />
inside an unbroken circular chequered band, known as ‘Sillitoe Tartan’. The Federation Star represents the national scope of<br />
the medal, while the Sillitoe Tartan is the internationally recognised symbol of policing. The unbroken band surrounds the<br />
star, signifying the unity and cooperation between each of the individual state, federal and territory police forces who together<br />
protect the entire Commonwealth. The back (reverse) of the medal has two sprays of golden wattle, the national floral<br />
symbol, located immediately below a raised horizontal panel on which the recipient’s details can be engraved. The words<br />
‘FOR SERVICE AS AN AUSTRALIAN POLICE OFFICER’ appear in capital letters around the inside of the outer rim.<br />
Medal Ribbon;<br />
The ribbon has a central panel of three stripes of dark blue, gold and dark blue. The central panel is flanked by white panels,<br />
each bisected by a thin red stripe. Blue and gold are Australia’s heraldic colours, commonly used in the ribbons of Australian<br />
medals, while the blue and white are colours traditionally associated with police and police awards. The thin red stripes<br />
represent the ever-present hazards experienced in service as an Australian police officer.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 43
Skirmishing the Youth<br />
Skirmishing the<br />
Youth<br />
By Paula Doneman<br />
“Considering that over 20 events have been run on a budget of just $5500, which<br />
has had a targeted audience pool of about 1,350 attending youth, the value for<br />
money coupled with strategic message delivery has proved the Skirmishing the<br />
Youth project a success in the Charleville District,’’ Sen-Const Maguire said.<br />
to the problem of youth boredom<br />
and inactivity in Charleville and<br />
the increasing number of crimes<br />
committed by youths under 17<br />
years of age, such as trespass and<br />
underage alcohol consumption. It<br />
is proving to be an exceptionally<br />
effective diversionary activity with the<br />
number of youth crimes committed in<br />
Charleville falling from 126 in 2008-<br />
2009 to 56 in 2009-2010,’’ Sen-Const<br />
Maguire said.<br />
JUVENILE crime has almost<br />
halved in the Charleville district under<br />
an initiative by two <strong>Queensland</strong> police<br />
officers. The Skirmishing the Youth<br />
program has reduced offences in the<br />
district by 56%, and has provided a<br />
platform for police to identify at risk<br />
youth aged between 13 and 16 years<br />
of age. Charleville police officers<br />
Senior Constable Mick Maguire and<br />
Sergeant Clint Ryan are the architects<br />
of the program, which launched<br />
in September 2009 in response to<br />
juvenile crime.<br />
“Myself and Sgt Ryan had to come<br />
up with a project to showcase as<br />
part of the QPS Positive Practices<br />
Management Program, and we<br />
wanted to start a vehicle in Charleville<br />
to get a message across to all<br />
juveniles,’’ Sen-Const Maguire said.<br />
“Charleville is the largest town in<br />
South West <strong>Queensland</strong> with a<br />
population of 3,300 servicing a rich<br />
pastoral area. The recent years<br />
of drought have been difficult for<br />
the town, bringing a decrease in<br />
population and the withdrawal of<br />
many youth services and activities,<br />
including the skating rink, movies<br />
and discos. “This has left Charleville<br />
youth bored and despondent, and in<br />
turn has led to an increase in youth<br />
offences. The police station has also<br />
experienced change with many of<br />
the personnel moving and new staff<br />
being appointed. A number of the<br />
new officers, under the leadership of<br />
Sgt Ryan and myself, wanted to not<br />
only become part of the community<br />
but also assist with the youth problem<br />
and increase positive police/youth<br />
interaction,“<br />
Sen-Const Maguire told the <strong>Journal</strong>.<br />
“It was developed in direct response<br />
Traditional <strong>Police</strong> Blue Light discos no<br />
longer interested youth as they once<br />
did, given the ready availability of<br />
music online, so the officers involved<br />
searched for an activity they believed<br />
would be attractive to the local<br />
young people.<br />
They identified laser skirmish as<br />
a likely activity, as it is safe and<br />
physically active. They encouraged<br />
the establishment of Charleville Laser<br />
Skirmish and once it was established,<br />
they entered into a partnership with<br />
the business owner. (This company<br />
has also received recognition as the<br />
first ‘Laser Skirmish’ owned and<br />
operated by an Indigenous business<br />
woman.)The game design has been<br />
created in such a way that it forces<br />
the youth participants to utilise team<br />
work, communication and physical<br />
fitness. The development of these<br />
core skills is an additional major<br />
benefit. So far the project has been a<br />
conduit for police and stakeholders<br />
to reach juveniles on issues such as<br />
healthy eating, protective behaviours,<br />
44<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
Skirmishing the Youth<br />
Sgt Clint Ryan and Snr-Const Michael Maguire were highly commended in the State Government’s awards for Fair Communities. The award is for initiatives which<br />
promote safe and caring communities.<br />
healthy lifestyle, fitness, effective<br />
communication and team work.<br />
“It is the start of a whole mentoring<br />
program in Charleville with at risk<br />
youth, and at the moment we are<br />
moving into the second phase<br />
where we are taking youth away on<br />
heritage walks. These youths have<br />
been identified through the skirmish<br />
program as people we need to target,’’<br />
Sen-Const Maguire said.<br />
“Youth boredom in Charleville is a<br />
major factor in juvenile crime – there<br />
are no malls, cinemas or Time Zones.<br />
There is really nowhere for them to<br />
hang out.’’ Skirmish is held on Friday<br />
and Saturday nights which police<br />
found were key times of juvenile<br />
offending during which crimes<br />
such as trespass, willful damage<br />
and alcohol-related offences were<br />
being committed. “We tire them out<br />
rather than them hanging around the<br />
streets,’’ he told the <strong>Journal</strong>.<br />
“What we mainly do is police-run<br />
events under our rules and we<br />
supervise. We ask all service providers<br />
to come along and bring an article<br />
or brochure and chat to the kids to<br />
see what they are about and for the<br />
kids to talk to youth services. We had<br />
one prolific offender who would walk<br />
away from us. We thought we were<br />
annoying him but he had hearing<br />
difficulties,’’ he said.<br />
Sen-Const Maguire said partnerships<br />
with the local community and service<br />
providers, including Charleville Laser<br />
Skirmish, the Department of Child<br />
Safety, local schools, the Murweh<br />
Shire Council and businesses, were<br />
central to the success of the project.<br />
Local youth are able to play free<br />
of charge as a result of grants and<br />
sponsorships from local businesses<br />
obtained by Sgt Ryan and Sen-Const<br />
Maguire. The Charleville team have<br />
been able to use the popularity of<br />
Skirmishing the Youth to modify the<br />
behaviour of the at risk youth. Anyone<br />
involved in criminal or anti-social<br />
behaviour is not able to participate in<br />
the game.<br />
Sen-Const Maguire said this was<br />
having a major deterrent effect. In<br />
one case, a prolific offender who<br />
came to the attention of police on<br />
almost a weekly basis was initially<br />
banned from attending Skirmishing<br />
the Youth events as he was not able to<br />
comply with the rules. The strict rules,<br />
which are spelled out at the beginning<br />
of each event, include no hats, no<br />
swearing and no bullying.The youth<br />
has not re-offended since December<br />
2009, following his initial banning.<br />
Sen-Const Maguire said children are<br />
encouraged to support each other as<br />
a way of fostering an environment<br />
of good sportsmanship. The activity<br />
also serves to break down the<br />
barriers between the police and the<br />
community. At the end of each event,<br />
police compete with teams that the<br />
children put together. The team that<br />
tags the police the most wins a prize.<br />
These prizes have been supplied by<br />
local businesses including South<br />
West Healthy Living, Civic Video<br />
and most of the organisations that<br />
support Skirmishing the Youth on that<br />
day. Sen-Const Maguire and Sgt Ryan<br />
have been approached by the AFL in<br />
north <strong>Queensland</strong> to take the project<br />
around communities in Cape York,<br />
and the Skirmish events are being run<br />
in Cunnamulla. A continuation of the<br />
project is commencing in August 2010<br />
which involves the at risk, disengaged<br />
indigenous youth. The project will<br />
take the youths to traditional lands<br />
and provide instruction on Aboriginal<br />
art, history and land conservation.<br />
This will be targeting youth year 6 to<br />
year 10. This emerging project is a<br />
follow on and whole of community<br />
action plan which was facilitated by<br />
the Skirmishing the Youth project.<br />
The program has also triggered a<br />
boost in public confidence in police<br />
at Charleville with a recent survey<br />
showing an overall increase in<br />
residents’ satisfaction jumping from<br />
69% in 2008-2009 to 76% in 2009-2010.<br />
Stakeholders such as officers from<br />
Child Safety have indicated to police<br />
the project is providing them with<br />
opportunities to interact with the<br />
clients in a fun, social setting, which<br />
allows them to do the preventative<br />
aspects of their job in much more<br />
effective way.<br />
Sen-Const Maguire said that since<br />
2009, that they have held several<br />
events which attracted around 100<br />
kids each time including skirmishing<br />
provided for youth at the Charleville<br />
State High School while their parents<br />
attended an information evening<br />
about cyber bullying.<br />
By linking the activity with the<br />
presentation, parents, who would not<br />
have normally attended, were able<br />
to do so knowing that an activity had<br />
been organised for their child.<br />
This is an activity that is well<br />
supported by the youth, and is both<br />
professionally operated, and highly<br />
sought after project for community<br />
events. “Considering that over 20<br />
events have been run on a budget<br />
of just $5,500, which has had a<br />
targeted audience pool of about 1,350<br />
attending youth, the value for money<br />
coupled with strategic message<br />
delivery has proved the Skirmishing<br />
the Youth project a success in the<br />
Charleville District,’’ Sen-Const<br />
Maguire said.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 45
Climbing for a cause<br />
Climbing for<br />
a Cause<br />
by Detective Sergeant Allan Cohrs<br />
A former <strong>Queensland</strong> police officer is determined to become the<br />
world’s first breast cancer survivor to conquer Mt Everest. Sharon<br />
Cohrs, along with her husband, a Cairns detective, Mrs Cohrs wants to<br />
raise awareness and $250,000 for breast cancer.<br />
View of Cho Oyu (8200m) from Base Camp<br />
I am a Detective Sergeant in the<br />
Cairns Drug Squad and have been a<br />
serving <strong>Police</strong> officer for more than 20<br />
years. My wife, Sharon Cohrs, was<br />
also a police officer for more than 10<br />
years until she resigned in 2002.<br />
In 2007, at the age of 36, six<br />
aggressive tumours were found in<br />
Sharon’s left breast and she was<br />
diagnosed with invasive breast<br />
cancer. Since this time Sharon has<br />
had a double mastectomy, removal<br />
of her lymph nodes, chemotherapy<br />
and is currently undergoing breast<br />
reconstruction.<br />
Sharon is now an Ambassador<br />
for the National Breast Cancer<br />
Fund, a committee member for the<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> Cancer Council as well as<br />
a member of the Face of Relay for Life<br />
2009 (Cairns). Sharon is also the Relay<br />
for Life Face of Hope International<br />
Representative and is inviting the<br />
people of Australia to follow her story<br />
and support her journey.<br />
Sharon is a young breast cancer<br />
survivor who plans on being the first<br />
breast cancer survivor in the world to<br />
summit Mount Everest in <strong>2011</strong>, and in<br />
doing so, raise awareness and $250,000<br />
towards breast cancer research.<br />
Climbing<br />
Sharon and I have always had an<br />
inherent fascination with the sheer<br />
beauty and remoteness of the<br />
Himalayas. It was its ruggedness<br />
and simplicity that attracted us in the<br />
first place. We were so drawn by the<br />
people and breath-taking scenery, we<br />
have taken a number of expeditions,<br />
and climbed several stunning 6000<br />
metre-plus peaks.<br />
Life in the mountains is so basic<br />
– there are no everyday luxuries,<br />
but you are presented with the<br />
opportunity to discover yourself,<br />
identify your strengths and<br />
46<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
Climbing for a cause<br />
Retreating From Cho Oyu After 2nd Avalanche Walking Into Ama Dablam Base Camp Summit Of Ama Dablam<br />
weaknesses and evaluate what is<br />
important in your life.<br />
In 2007, we were about to embark<br />
on another adventure, this time to<br />
South America to climb Aconcagua,<br />
being the highest mountain outside<br />
of Asia. It was during this time, while<br />
Sharon was in bed writing a letter,<br />
that she discovered a small lump<br />
in her left breast. We got an urgent<br />
mammogram, which actually did not<br />
detect the lump, followed by an ultrasound<br />
and needle biopsy. Sharon and<br />
I fearfully awaited the results.<br />
A few days later, Sharon received<br />
the dreaded call: “You have breast<br />
cancer.” What now? We had no idea<br />
what to do, who to speak to or what<br />
was involved. We were fortunate<br />
enough to find a brilliant surgeon who<br />
clearly told us exactly what Sharon<br />
had ahead of her, and whose manner<br />
was so calming that it almost put you<br />
at ease.<br />
Before we could comprehend the<br />
true extent of what was happening,<br />
Sharon underwent a lumpectomy of<br />
her left breast and auxiliary lymph<br />
node removal, which discovered three<br />
invasive tumours. On the upside, her<br />
lymph nodes were clear. A few days<br />
later, Sharon was back in hospital<br />
to have her left breast removed,<br />
during which a further three invasive<br />
tumours were found.<br />
Sharon showed amazing strength<br />
during her treatment, and was<br />
determined to beat cancer. Nothing<br />
was going to get in her way; there<br />
were posters of mountains plastered<br />
throughout the house, and she was<br />
more determined than ever to get<br />
back to climbing. We had no idea at<br />
this stage of her prognosis or future,<br />
but setting a goal was her way of<br />
staying positive and focused on what<br />
was important in life.<br />
Each chemotherapy treatment was a<br />
major set-back. Sharon would rebuild,<br />
eventually walking for up to an hour,<br />
before the dreaded chemicals were<br />
pumped through her body, setting<br />
her back to square one. The obvious<br />
physical pain was difficult to witness,<br />
and the thought of a needle being<br />
inserted via the port-a-cath in her<br />
chest was a horrible memory that I<br />
will never forget. Sharon is now in<br />
remission, and her life is measured in<br />
five-year periods.<br />
Returning to the Hills<br />
In April-May 2009, some four months<br />
after Sharon’s last surgery, we were<br />
able to head back to the mountains<br />
on a small expedition to Baruntse<br />
(7129m) and Mera Peak (6450m) in a<br />
remote area of Nepal. This was an<br />
important test as there were a number<br />
of hurdles to overcome.<br />
Predominantly, the heightened risk<br />
of lymphodoema, combined with<br />
the weakness in the arm from the<br />
lymph node removal, how her breast<br />
implants would respond to altitude<br />
and whether other aspects of cancer<br />
treatment would affect Sharon’s<br />
performance, were all elements<br />
we had to consider. We spent over<br />
a month in the mountains, and<br />
successfully summitted Mera Peak<br />
and the south summit of Baruntse.<br />
Our Proudest Moment – Ama<br />
Dablam<br />
In November 2009, we travelled<br />
back to Nepal to climb Ama Dablam<br />
(6812m), a technically challenging<br />
mountain close to Mt Everest. This<br />
mountain was chosen primarily to<br />
fine-tune all of our climbing skills,<br />
while at the same time putting us in<br />
good stead for the Everest climb<br />
It was minus 20 degrees while we<br />
were lying inside our tent, having tried<br />
to sleep at Camp 3 on Ama Dablam, at<br />
an altitude of 6300m.<br />
The most difficult challenge at this<br />
time was not so much taking on the<br />
arduous summit push, but finding the<br />
motivation to get out of the sleeping<br />
bag.<br />
After an epic tussle to get our boots<br />
and harness on in the confines of a<br />
small dome tent, we finally crawled<br />
out of the vestibule to greet the bitter<br />
cold morning. This was certainly not<br />
the first time we had been at altitude,<br />
but it certainly felt the coldest.<br />
After six hours, we finally reached the<br />
summit on the morning of the 5th of<br />
November, 2009. Sharon had proven<br />
that not only was she back to good<br />
health but that she was also capable<br />
of tackling the technical, demanding<br />
mountains, and succeeding.<br />
I could never have envisaged that<br />
after a tough and emotional battle<br />
fighting cancer, Sharon would be<br />
standing on top of one of the most<br />
beautiful mountains in the world.<br />
Cho Oyu Expedition <strong>2011</strong><br />
My wife and I recently returned from<br />
another climbing expedition, this<br />
time attempting to summit Cho Oyu<br />
(8200m) in Tibet, which is the sixth<br />
highest mountain in the world.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 47
Climbing for a cause<br />
Sharon And Allan In Tibet<br />
We were unable to achieve our goal<br />
due to adverse weather conditions,<br />
including high winds and far too<br />
much snow. On our final push for the<br />
summit, after having reached around<br />
7000m, we received information<br />
that another avalanche had struck<br />
at around 8000m, resulting in six<br />
climbing Sherpas, who were setting<br />
the route for the summit, being swept<br />
off the mountain.<br />
At first it was all bad news, and<br />
information circulating down the<br />
mountain was that fatalities had<br />
occurred. After an extensive search,<br />
all climbers were found alive, albeit<br />
suffering broken bones and bruising.<br />
This was our third push up the<br />
mountain, with similar results to the<br />
previous attempt, where we were able<br />
to spend the night at 7400m. Although<br />
another avalanche had taken nine<br />
Tibetan Mountain guides higher up on<br />
the mountain. Again, miraculously,<br />
no lives were lost, and rescuers<br />
managed to get everyone safely off<br />
the mountain.<br />
After weighing up the conditions, we<br />
decided that the best option now was<br />
to retreat, as the conditions were far<br />
too dangerous, and the likelihood of<br />
serious injury or death was too high.<br />
There was little or no chance that<br />
another team of Sherpas would risk<br />
their lives by crossing the unstable<br />
snowfield and summit plateau, nor<br />
would we expect anyone to do so.<br />
This was our final preparatory<br />
climb before taking on Mt Everest<br />
in <strong>2011</strong>. Although we did not reach<br />
the summit, the expedition was still<br />
a success. We were able to test our<br />
physical capability and ability to<br />
acclimatise and comfortably function<br />
at high altitude, particularly without<br />
the use of supplementary oxygen.<br />
Sharon’s Challenge<br />
Sharon aims to summit Mt Everest<br />
this year, and in doing so, becomes<br />
the first breast cancer survivor in the<br />
world to do so. Sharon is a focused<br />
woman, who possesses incredible<br />
determination and strength, and<br />
hopes to give inspiration to ordinary<br />
people as well as those who are still<br />
fighting their battle with cancer.<br />
Having gone through Sharon’s battle<br />
with breast cancer every step of the<br />
way, life certainly takes on a new<br />
perspective, and highlights what is<br />
important in life. Since Sharon’s<br />
remission, it has been full steam<br />
ahead, leaving nothing to chance,<br />
making the most of life and taking<br />
advantage of every moment. Life is<br />
precious.<br />
We depart for Everest this month<br />
and will be on the mountain for 67<br />
days. This will allow us sufficient<br />
time to acclimatise while gradually<br />
gaining altitude on the mountain.<br />
We plan on making the final summit<br />
push in mid to late May, depending<br />
on the weather, the timing of the<br />
jet stream winds and of course our<br />
health. There will definitely be<br />
some extremely painful days ahead,<br />
struggling with the intense cold,<br />
uncomfortable conditions, fatigue,<br />
hunger and illness. But on the<br />
upside, being in the company of our<br />
Nepalese Sherpas, who have been<br />
climbing with us for some time, we<br />
will witness one of the most stunning<br />
panoramas in the world. It makes it all<br />
worthwhile.<br />
The <strong>Police</strong> Family<br />
Apart from the support from family<br />
and friends, the QPS has provided<br />
us with unbelievable assistance,<br />
both in relation to ongoing work<br />
commitments, and time spent<br />
at home caring for Sharon. This<br />
support extended from upper<br />
management, including Assistant<br />
Commissioner Andy Henderson,<br />
Assistant Commissioner Katarina<br />
Carroll, to retired Detective Inspector<br />
John Harris, Detective Inspector Mick<br />
Dowie, Detective Senior Sergeant Kev<br />
Goan and Detective Sergeant<br />
Gary Hunter.<br />
Det-Sgt Hunter also arranged a<br />
fundraiser, and we were treated to a<br />
week at the Sheraton on the Park in<br />
Sydney, with fine dining at the Aria<br />
restaurant and a Harbour Bridge<br />
climb. It was a special time, and a<br />
wonderful gesture all made possible<br />
by police from the Far North Region.<br />
I would also like to thank all the<br />
wonderful people of the QPS who<br />
have offered kind words and support<br />
over the last few years. It really does<br />
make a difference and we will always<br />
be thankful for this during what was a<br />
difficult and emotional time.<br />
Recovering<br />
Recovering<br />
You can follow our climb at<br />
www.climbingforacause.com.au and<br />
www.himalayan-ascent.com where<br />
we will be posting a daily blog from<br />
the 27th of <strong>March</strong> through to June<br />
<strong>2011</strong>. You can also post your words of<br />
encouragement and support, which we<br />
will certainly need and appreciate.<br />
48<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
Don’t break<br />
the safety<br />
chain<br />
Report all health<br />
and safety hazards<br />
If you identify a work-related hazard – report it in the<br />
on-line Health and Safety Hazard Management System<br />
Safety & Wellbeing<br />
Safety & Wellbeing<br />
Workplace Health and Safety Representative<br />
Name<br />
Safety & Wellbeing<br />
Alcohol & Drug Awareness Unit<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> union of emPloyees<br />
Phone number<br />
Safety & Wellbeing<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 49<br />
Alcohol & Drug Awareness Unit
Health and safety<br />
reporting is easy<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> Intranet<br />
Incident/injury Notification and Reporting System<br />
Health and Safety Hazard Management System<br />
To report an incident<br />
Click on<br />
‘Incident/injury Notification<br />
and Reporting System’<br />
An incident is an unplanned event resulting<br />
in, or having the potential for, death,<br />
injury, illness, damage or other loss.<br />
To report a hazard<br />
Click on<br />
‘Health and Safety Hazard<br />
Management System’<br />
A hazard is a source or situation<br />
with the potential for harm, in terms<br />
of human injury or ill health.<br />
Safety & Wellbeing<br />
Safety & Wellbeing<br />
Workplace Health and Safety Representative<br />
Name<br />
50<br />
Safety & Wellbeing<br />
Alcohol & Drug Awareness Unit<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> union <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> of emPloyees<br />
Phone number<br />
Safety & Wellbeing<br />
Alcohol & Drug Awareness Unit
PUBLIC HEALTH<br />
Division of the Chief Health Officer<br />
PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY EMERGENCY RESPONSE WORKERS<br />
The main physical health risks for emergency responders are injury<br />
(including from falls and snake bites), superficial skin infections,<br />
sunburn and, in following weeks, mosquito born infections.<br />
All responders should avoid:<br />
• unnecessary direct contact with floodwater<br />
• wear appropriate personal protection including sturdy enclosed<br />
footwear, loose long<br />
• sleeved shirts and trousers, sunscreen, hat and sunglasses, and<br />
• practice high levels of personal hygiene, washing or sanitising<br />
hands frequently and<br />
• especially prior to eating (or smoking, should they smoke).<br />
If any personnel sustain an injury, first aid should be applied and<br />
medical attention sought as usual.<br />
TETANUS VACCINATION<br />
It is important for everyone to know their tetanus vaccine history and<br />
to stay up to date. Due to high rates of vaccination and good wound<br />
management, tetanus is rare in Australia and historically, has not<br />
been a problem after floods or other natural disasters.<br />
Vaccination against tetanus is part of the National Immunisation<br />
Program, involving a primary course of three doses of vaccine<br />
(usually given at 2, 4 and 6 months of age) and boosters at 4 years,<br />
15 years and 50 years of age. Boosters used to be given every 10<br />
years, so some adults will have had many doses of vaccine. Some<br />
adults will also have received a tetanus booster if they have had the<br />
booster for pertussis (whooping cough), which also contains tetanus<br />
vaccine.<br />
The public health advisory on tetanus<br />
http://www.health.qld.gov.au/cho/documents/phadvisorytetanus.pdf<br />
provided for SES personnel applies to all responding agencies.<br />
It contains detailed advice about assessing each individual’s level of<br />
protection against tetanus and identifies who might need a booster.<br />
Generally, most members of the community will have had three doses<br />
of tetanus-containing vaccine in childhood, and most adults will have<br />
had one or two doses of tetanus vaccine, either as a routine booster<br />
or following an injury. It is anticipated that most personnel should not<br />
need a booster. Some adults are unsure of their vaccination status.<br />
They should consult with their health care provider for vaccination<br />
histories. Alternatively, the emergency response workers can contact<br />
13 Health, who will assist the individual determine if they need<br />
tetanus vaccination.<br />
Adults who sustain injuries deemed to be tetanus prone should<br />
receive a booster dose of tetanus vaccine if it is more than 5 years<br />
since they had their last dose. Wounds that favour the growth of<br />
tetanus include open fractures, deep penetrating wounds, bites,<br />
splinters and wounds contaminated with soil, dust or manure.<br />
If any volunteer has not completed a three dose primary course of<br />
tetanus vaccination, they will not be made immune by a single dose<br />
of tetanus vaccine. In this situation, the volunteer should consult their<br />
usual health practitioner to be brought up to date and discuss this<br />
matter with their deployment agency. A full three dose course takes a<br />
minimum of two months.<br />
If other staff or volunteers have had a three dose primary course of<br />
tetanus vaccination but have not had an adult booster, then a booster<br />
is recommended prior to deployment.<br />
HEPATITIS A<br />
Hepatitis A is not a risk for emergency responders, even if they do<br />
come into contact with sewage-contaminated floodwaters. Hepatitis A<br />
virus is only present in sewage if hepatitis A is circulating in the<br />
community – and it is not.<br />
Hepatitis A is rare in <strong>Queensland</strong> (39 cases reported in 2010 for the<br />
whole state) and most cases are acquired overseas by unvaccinated<br />
travelers. The National Health and Medical Research Council do<br />
recommend hepatitis A vaccination for sewage workers, as a<br />
precautionary measure, as these workers have long term regular<br />
exposure to concentrated sewage. This is not the case with<br />
emergency workers and thus does not negate the advice above.<br />
MOSQUITOES<br />
Mosquito-borne infections may emerge as a problem once mosquito<br />
breeding escalates. Ross River virus and Barmah Forest virus<br />
infections both cause inflammation and pain in multiple joints, fever<br />
and rash. Personnel who become unwell with such symptoms should<br />
seek medical attention, although there is no specific treatment.<br />
A number of different mosquitoes that transmit these viruses and<br />
breeding sites include salt marshes, permanent bodies of fresh water,<br />
and containers close to homes and human activity. To prevent<br />
mosquito bites, <strong>Queensland</strong> Health recommends tropical strength<br />
repellent containing the chemical DEET (diethyltoluamide or<br />
diethylmethylbenzamide) or repellents containing the chemical<br />
picaridin. Users should always read the label and follow the<br />
manufacturer’s guidelines regarding re-application and use.<br />
Personnel should also sleep in screened areas or use mosquito nets;<br />
wear long, loose clothing outdoors, use cockroach surface sprays<br />
indoors in dark places such as behind cupboards and under beds;<br />
and use other mosquito control products such as coils. Dengue will<br />
not occur unless a person acquires it in an area affected by dengue<br />
(currently Townsville and tropical countries overseas). <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Health conducts surveillance for dengue and will advise response<br />
agencies and communities if there is a risk of dengue in flood<br />
affected areas of central and south-west <strong>Queensland</strong>. At this time,<br />
there is not.<br />
FOOT CARE<br />
In the event of prolonged contact with water, the most likely foot<br />
conditions are macerated skin (softening and whitening) and<br />
infections, including fungal infections. The following advice will help<br />
prevent and treat foot problems:<br />
• when possible, air-dry and elevate your feet as often as possible<br />
• exchange wet shoes and socks (non-cotton socks are best) for dry<br />
ones as often as possible and at least daily<br />
• thoroughly clean and dry feet after showering<br />
• don’t wear socks when resting or sleeping<br />
• don’t wear overly restrictive footwear<br />
• check feet at least once a day for infections or other symptoms<br />
• obtain medical advice if there is evidence of infection or other<br />
concerning symptoms<br />
There have been queries about the occurrence of ‘trench foot’.<br />
Immersion foot occurs when the feet are constantly wet for long<br />
periods of time. The most well known and severe type of immersion<br />
foot is trench foot. Symptoms include tingling, pain and swelling.<br />
The development of trench foot typically requires both wet and cold<br />
conditions and is unlikely at water temperatures 18 0 C and above. A<br />
warm water version of trench foot can occur and is known as Paddy’s<br />
foot. The development of Paddy’s foot usually requires constant foot<br />
immersion in water for 2 days or more. Immersion foot is unlikley in<br />
Emergency Responders if the above advice is followed.<br />
MANAGEMENT OF ABRASIONS AND SIMPLE CUTS<br />
Rinse the abrasion or wound under flowing clean water; remove any<br />
debris using clean or sterile gauze (should be some in first aid kits).<br />
Use an antiseptic such as Betadine. If there is embedded dirt, Savlon<br />
may be used as it contains an antiseptic and a surfactant to help<br />
remove debris.<br />
Don’t scrub at embedded dirt – if there is a lot, seek medical advice.<br />
Cover the cleaned wound with an appropriate non-stick sterile<br />
dressing. Change the dressing according to the manufacturer’s<br />
instructions.<br />
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION<br />
A range of useful fact sheets on preparing for and recovering from<br />
disasters is available at:<br />
http://www.health.qld.gov.au/healthieryou/disaster<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 51
High Profile Crimes That Reshaped The Law In <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
High Profile Crimes<br />
That Reshaped<br />
The Law<br />
In <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
PART 2<br />
Part 2 of an 11-part series of articles by QPUE Solicitor Calvin Gnech on our state’s high profile crimes that have<br />
become landmark legal decisions and shaped the manner in which <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> conduct investigations and<br />
the way courts interpret the law.<br />
GABE WATSON AND DIONNE LACEY<br />
The Gabe Watson case has obviously triggered a lot of<br />
interest amongst police in regard to the prosecution’s<br />
position at sentence when considering an appeal.<br />
<strong>Police</strong> become frustrated when a Magistrate makes<br />
what are believed to be inappropriate sentences and/<br />
or findings of guilt and there is no support by the QPS<br />
to pursue an appeal. Decisions by a Magistrate are<br />
appealed via section 222 Justices Act 1886, so it must<br />
be remembered anything appealed from the District<br />
Court, like the cases of Gabe Watson’s and Dionne<br />
Lacey, does not operate under section 222.<br />
Facts surrounding THE Gabe Watson case<br />
Watson and his wife Tina were married on 11 October<br />
2003 and honeymooned in Australia. Watson was a highly<br />
experienced scuba diver however his wife was not. On 22<br />
October 2003, they participated in a dive at Townsville that<br />
others had advised against Mrs Watson doing, as she had<br />
not done an orientation lesson. Watson agreed to be her<br />
‘diving buddy’ and look after her.<br />
Some six minutes into the dive, Mrs Watson indicated<br />
she was in trouble whilst some 15 metres down, on the<br />
sea bed. Watson’s mask was dislodged along with his<br />
deregulator at this time, he decided to surface and Mrs<br />
Watson sank away from him. It took Watson one to three<br />
minutes to ascend.<br />
After a coronial inquiry in November 2007, Watson was<br />
committed to stand trial for the murder of his wife. Watson<br />
was charged that on 22 October 2003 at the Yongala<br />
shipwreck near Townsville he murdered Christina Mae<br />
Watson. Later, through what has been readily described<br />
as a plea bargain, the Crown Prosecutor informed the<br />
learned primary Judge that the Crown accepted the plea to<br />
manslaughter in full discharge of the indictment.<br />
Gabe Watson<br />
The basis of that plea was criminal negligence under s<br />
290 of the Criminal Code, which provides:<br />
“When a person undertakes to do any act the omission to<br />
do which is or may be dangerous to human life or health,<br />
it is the person’s duty to do that act, and the person is<br />
held to have caused any consequences which result to the<br />
life or health of any person by reason of any omission to<br />
perform that duty.”<br />
The applicable maximum penalty was life imprisonment.<br />
Section 290 arose because the respondent, an<br />
experienced diver, had undertaken to act as the “buddy”<br />
of his wife, who was inexperienced: he failed to perform<br />
his duty towards her and thereby contributed to her death.<br />
His Honour, the sentencing Justice, then set out<br />
particulars of the criminal negligence based on his plea<br />
and conviction:<br />
“The Crown alleges against you that you failed to<br />
carry out your duty to her in a number of significant<br />
ways. I accept that you failed to do so in the following<br />
respects: you failed to ensure that when the deceased<br />
had encountered difficulties she had a supply of oxygen<br />
available to her, and, in particular you failed to share your<br />
52<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
High Profile Crimes That Reshaped The Law In <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
The Attorney-General Appeal<br />
On Appeal the Crown now submitted that the sentence<br />
should be varied by imposing a seven year head sentence<br />
with eligibility for parole after two to two and a half<br />
years. The Attorney-General urged the Court of Appeal<br />
to approach the determination of the appeal on the basis<br />
of the unfettered discretion provided for by s 669A of the<br />
Criminal Code, as follows:<br />
“(1) The Attorney-General may appeal to the court against<br />
any sentence pronounced by –<br />
(a) the Court of trial; …<br />
Tina Watson’s body in the background with Gabe and<br />
Tina Watson (inset)<br />
oxygen supply with her; having released the deceased to<br />
recover your face mask and oxygen supply, you did not<br />
then take hold of her again or stay with her, or follow her<br />
as she sank; you did not attempt at any time to inflate her<br />
buoyancy control device or remove the weights which<br />
divers often carry to assist them to descend. … you failed<br />
to make any reasonable attempt to take the deceased to<br />
the surface. I therefore accept that you are guilty of the<br />
very serious departure from the standard of care which<br />
was incumbent upon you with the result that your conduct<br />
is deserving of criminal punishment.”<br />
The Prosecutor submitted that a head sentence of six<br />
years imprisonment would be appropriate, before<br />
mitigating factors were taken into account. It was<br />
conceded after mitigation this head sentence may be<br />
reduced to five years. The Crown therefore submitted the<br />
sentence should not be less than five years suspended<br />
after serving 18 months.<br />
Watson was sentenced on 5 June 2009 to four and a half<br />
years imprisonment, suspended after one year (for an<br />
operational period of four and a half years). There was<br />
community outrage and the Attorney-General appealed<br />
under s669A(1) of the Criminal Code.<br />
and the Court may in its unfettered discretion vary the<br />
sentence and impose such sentence as to the Court seems<br />
proper.”<br />
That provision was amended in 1975 to add the word<br />
“unfettered”. The court nevertheless continued to<br />
construe the section on the basis that to succeed in such<br />
an appeal, the Attorney-General must show error in the<br />
exercise of discretion by the sentencing court, as covered<br />
in House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 499, and that should<br />
an appeal be allowed, the court would be constrained<br />
to impose a sentence towards the lower end of the<br />
appropriate range (cf. R v Dinsdale (2000) 202 CLR 321,<br />
341).[1]<br />
Ultimately the Court of Appeal found unanimously that<br />
they were not restrained by the prosecutor’s submission<br />
before the trial justice and there was no need to establish<br />
error on behalf of the trial justice. The authority for this<br />
came from R V Lacey; ex parte A-G (Qld.)[2]<br />
Facts surrounding THE Dionne Lacey Case<br />
On the evening of 6 May 2007, in a home unit in Nerang,<br />
the appellant, Dionne Lacey, shot and killed another<br />
young man, Kevin Palmer. Seconds before the killing, the<br />
appellant’s elder brother, Jade Lacey, used the gun he was<br />
carrying to shoot Mr Palmer in the thigh. The victim was<br />
within two or three metres of Jade Lacey when he fired<br />
and was within a few metres of the appellant when the<br />
fatal shot was fired.<br />
Dionne & Jade Lacey<br />
Gabe and Tina Watson<br />
After a 14-day trial, the appellant was found not guilty<br />
of murder but guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 53
High Profile Crimes That Reshaped The Law In <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
ten years imprisonment. In determining the sentence,<br />
the primary judge reduced the 12- year term which he<br />
regarded as appropriate, by taking into account 733 days<br />
served by the appellant in pre-sentence custody in respect<br />
of another offence.<br />
The Attorney-General Appeal<br />
to establish an error by the trial justice as the Court of<br />
Appeal must act in conformity with the principles relevant<br />
to the exercise of judicial power.<br />
It must be remembered that section 222 appeals under<br />
the Justices Act are somewhat different and the above<br />
authorities do not strictly apply.<br />
There were a number of grounds for appeal in this matter<br />
but here we are strictly considering the issue surrounding<br />
Attorney-General appeals.<br />
The Court of Appeal, four justices to one, concluded the<br />
previously accepted approach (that there must be an<br />
error by the trial judge[3]) was opposed to the undoubted<br />
intention of the Parliament as enacted” in s 669A in its<br />
current form.<br />
In these circumstances, the Court should not adhere<br />
to that erroneous approach but must apply the law as<br />
enacted by Parliament.<br />
The Court in exercising its discretion must have regard to<br />
the sentence imposed below, but come to its own view as<br />
to the proper sentence to be imposed.<br />
Therefore, the Attorney-General appeals do not need<br />
Kevin Palmer’s funeral<br />
54<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
award<br />
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Different amounts and terms will result in different comparison rates. Costs such as redraw fees or early repayment fees, and cost savings such as fee waivers, are not included in the comparison rate<br />
but may influence the cost of the loan. Comparison rate schedules are available at all our branches or online at www.qpcu.com.au Terms and conditions are available on request. Fees and charges are<br />
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<strong>Queensland</strong><br />
a 25 year term.<br />
<strong>Police</strong><br />
Interest rate<br />
<strong>Union</strong><br />
current<br />
<strong>Journal</strong><br />
at 10 December<br />
<strong>March</strong><br />
2010<br />
<strong>2011</strong><br />
and subject<br />
to change without notice. <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> Credit <strong>Union</strong> Limited ABN 79 087 651 036 AFSL No. 241413.<br />
55<br />
CLASSIC0311
Letters To The Editor<br />
Letters<br />
to the Editor<br />
Letters to the Editor should be no longer than 400 words if possible and sent to: (Letters may be edited for length and clarity.)<br />
PO Box 13008 George Street, Brisbane Qld 4003 Fax: 07 3259 1996 or Email: pdoneman@qpu.asn.au<br />
Dear Editor,<br />
I am writing to let you know the<br />
outcome of the QPU’s 2008 referral<br />
to use lawyer and partner Ryan<br />
Heath from Sciaccas Lawyers and<br />
Consultants. Mr Heath and his team<br />
were outstanding.<br />
Mr Heath was consistent, efficient<br />
and very professional. I lodged a<br />
Common Law Claim against Work<br />
cover with his assistance. My case<br />
was far from straightforward and had<br />
a number of obstacles to overcome<br />
but as I lost my career and a job<br />
I loved because of a work-related<br />
incident, I felt I had nothing to lose.<br />
Mr Heath was able to think outside<br />
the box and because of his ability, we<br />
had a successful outcome that was<br />
reached before going to the Supreme<br />
Court.<br />
Mr Heath communicates well, he<br />
is extremely knowledgeable, and<br />
I found his manner comforting,<br />
especially during difficult times. He<br />
can be relied upon and I would highly<br />
recommend him as a lawyer and<br />
Sciaccas as a law firm. Mr Heath, his<br />
personal assistant Emily Baker, and<br />
Counsel Dominic Murphy (barrister),<br />
did a brilliant job. As a team they<br />
are quite impressive and I am very<br />
confident that the same outcome<br />
would not have been reached if it<br />
wasn’t for the calibre of their ability<br />
and determination to look after their<br />
client.<br />
I would also like to thank the QPU<br />
for their support. It made a huge<br />
difference to the outcome I received. I<br />
am now able to move on with my life.<br />
Thanks again.<br />
Your Sincerely,<br />
Angie Buhk<br />
Previously Senior Constable Angie<br />
Buhk, 9142<br />
Noosa Heads <strong>Police</strong>, Sunshine Coast<br />
District Intelligence Office<br />
Dear Editor,<br />
I read with interest the first ‘Letter<br />
to the Editor’ and the ‘Profile on<br />
Mark Love’ in the November 2010<br />
edition. Unfortunately, this is a<br />
story you hear from police all the<br />
time. Bob Atkinson talks about a lack<br />
of supervision, or a problem with<br />
recruiting, but fails to mention other<br />
things that have been destroying the<br />
QPS during his reign, that emanate<br />
from the top, not the bottom. It<br />
seems like a top priority in the QPS<br />
is to cover-up issues, in any way<br />
possible that may embarrass higher<br />
management, even at the expense<br />
of operational police. As long as<br />
embarrassing issues are shelved<br />
for upper management, they do as<br />
they are told no matter what and<br />
emulate their masters, word for<br />
word, they will get promoted up. In<br />
the end of course, you have a culture<br />
of woeful management, leadership,<br />
supervision and accountability. This<br />
is how like-minded types, who have<br />
no focus for operational policing,<br />
rise to the top. It must be frustrating<br />
for police who have been promoted<br />
up by hard work. Paying homage<br />
to, and knowing the right people<br />
and handshake, is everything.<br />
Unfortunately, their focus is not on<br />
operational policing or the people<br />
that do the most difficult job in our<br />
organisation.<br />
Funny how words like transparency,<br />
accountability and empowerment<br />
are part of the curriculum for the<br />
lower ranks but only throw-away<br />
lines for some senior police. This<br />
type of hypocrisy is driving many<br />
experienced and good, honest police<br />
to seek employment outside the<br />
QPS. Do they care?...No, no, no, as<br />
long as they can get a bigger slice<br />
of the superannuation pie and think<br />
they are better than the lower ranks.<br />
Egotism rules. A lack of proper<br />
resources and support for operational<br />
police is not on their radar. But most<br />
coppers with a bit of service know<br />
how the QPS really runs anyhow,<br />
who am I kidding? ‘Stepping up’<br />
and addressing these issues is what<br />
is needed, otherwise the future will<br />
be the same for the rest of us. Let’s<br />
just hope the next commissioner will<br />
endorse an approach that focuses on<br />
policing, that is not centred on public<br />
perception and archaic traditions, but<br />
on operational needs and operational<br />
police. Pretending to, and setting up<br />
systems to justify such an approach<br />
when the reality is quite different, will<br />
be nothing short of an insult to the<br />
men and women who do the most<br />
difficult job, their support staff, and<br />
the people of <strong>Queensland</strong>.<br />
Ken Carroll<br />
Sergeant, 9771<br />
MDP<br />
Dear Editor,<br />
After 23 years of being a cop I’ve pulled<br />
the pin and resigned. Please accept this<br />
letter as advice that I am no longer a<br />
member of the QPUE. I don’t intend<br />
to have a long rant. I’m sure by now<br />
everyone knows the shortcomings<br />
of the “job” or rather those precious<br />
managers who won’t listen to those<br />
with more experience but less MDP.<br />
Thankfully the mates, true mates that<br />
I’ve made for life and the mates who’ve<br />
saved my life are gifts that far outweigh<br />
any negatives of the last few years of<br />
my 23 years of policing.<br />
Some advice to the rank and file,<br />
support this union. Get involved. If<br />
you don’t have a branch at your station<br />
or workplace find out why and get<br />
represented. I often heard the phrase,<br />
“The union doesn’t do anything for<br />
me”. If you truly believe that, then<br />
it’s your fault, not the union’s. If you<br />
56<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
don’t like the way things are working<br />
get off your butt and create change.<br />
Complaining and whinging won’t<br />
improve your working day, active<br />
unionism will.<br />
For members considering leaving the<br />
QPS and are worried about what sort<br />
of work is out there, especially if you<br />
have no other trade other than “being<br />
a cop”, don’t fret. I was offered a range<br />
of jobs (some crap but some good)<br />
since leaving, with a common thread<br />
being, “You’re an ex-cop, this job will<br />
be easy for you”. I left the job as a<br />
Sergeant Supervisor on OSA with the<br />
resulting disrupted family and social<br />
life. My new position in corporate<br />
training pays me a nice salary, not as<br />
much as OSA but more than Sergeant<br />
3.5 base wage, however, I no longer<br />
work nights, evenings, weekends and<br />
public holidays. I don’t have to put up<br />
with abuse and threats anymore from<br />
grubs or management. I have a mobile<br />
phone with unlimited private use, fuel<br />
card and flexible work hours. Heck, I<br />
even get bonuses!<br />
Now for a shameless plug. If you’re<br />
thinking about retiring and want to pick<br />
up a few civilian qualifications before<br />
you go have a look at my employer’s<br />
website www.conwalassociates.edu.<br />
au or email me at stephen.thomson@<br />
conwalassociates.com.au for a chat.<br />
You’d be surprised at what you can do<br />
in life after the job.<br />
Stay safe and don’t dog on your mates,<br />
you might need them to save your life<br />
one day.<br />
Stephen “thommo” Thomson<br />
Dear Editor,<br />
After the walls of water had torn<br />
through Murphy’s Creek, some<br />
residents pooled their food as most<br />
were not stocked or prepared for<br />
this disaster. On Friday, the 14th<br />
of January, I spoke to my mother<br />
who lives in Murphy’s Creek. She<br />
informed me that the food situation<br />
was a matter of concern which upset<br />
me greatly.<br />
I spoke to Gail and Bill Feldman<br />
about the situation and they informed<br />
me that their son, Constable Luke<br />
Feldman, would be on duty in that<br />
area for a few days. Gail and Bill<br />
organised Luke to take a food parcel<br />
up to Grantham which was gratefully<br />
picked up by my mother.<br />
It’s little stories like this that are<br />
uplifting and I hope many more are<br />
told. I feel proud of the civilians,<br />
armed forces and in particular,<br />
the police, who encounter difficult<br />
situations in these trying times.<br />
Yours Faithfully<br />
Deborah Ridge<br />
Scottsdale, Tasmania<br />
Dear Editor,<br />
I was unfortunate enough to become<br />
involved in an attempted intercept of<br />
a motorcycle in April 2009. The rider<br />
who failed to stop for that intercept<br />
went on to tragically kill himself on<br />
a bad corner shortly after. I am now<br />
writing to the <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> to<br />
express my thanks and appreciation<br />
for the support of the union through<br />
what has been a difficult time,<br />
approaching two years. In that time I<br />
was investigated by Ethical Standards<br />
Command and required to provide<br />
evidence at a recent coronial inquest.<br />
The findings of that Inquest have<br />
at last provided me some closure.<br />
Those results can be found at<br />
http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/<br />
collinson-cm-<strong>2011</strong>0216.pdf<br />
This incident really demonstrated to<br />
me how our split-second decisions<br />
on the road are analysed at great<br />
length by others. At the time of the<br />
event, I immediately made contact<br />
with my local union rep from the<br />
Sunshine Coast, Des Hansson. I<br />
can’t thank him enough for the<br />
thorough and immediate support<br />
and response. He arranged legal<br />
representation to attend the Ethical<br />
Standards Command interview<br />
shortly after the incident. The officers<br />
from ESC were decent and thorough,<br />
and although I am yet to hear the<br />
result of their investigation, I feel the<br />
Coroner’s findings have exonerated<br />
me. The legal support continued with<br />
representation at the inquest and<br />
Letters To The Editor<br />
I thank my legal team for their top<br />
quality advice and support.<br />
My condolences go out the family<br />
of Clay Collinson, his father was<br />
decent enough to shake my hand at<br />
the conclusion of the inquest, and for<br />
that I am very appreciative.<br />
To officers contemplating pursuits,<br />
I must say I have to agree with the<br />
union’s policy of advising against<br />
pursuits. It is so easy for it to all go<br />
bad and we are provided very little<br />
protection for any errors made in our<br />
split-second decision-making.<br />
John Latham<br />
Senior Constable<br />
Whitsunday Water <strong>Police</strong><br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 57
<strong>Police</strong> Health<br />
<strong>Police</strong> Health<br />
by Peter Shanahan, <strong>Police</strong> Health Chairman<br />
When forgetting becomes more<br />
frequent…….<br />
Dementia essentially is the<br />
progressive deterioration in a<br />
person’s functioning, with a loss<br />
of mental ability severe enough to<br />
interfere with normal activities of<br />
daily living, lasting more than six<br />
months, not present since birth,<br />
and not associated with a loss of<br />
consciousness.<br />
Dementia can happen to anybody<br />
Most people with dementia are older,<br />
but it is important to remember<br />
that most older people do not get<br />
dementia.<br />
Dementia is not a normal part<br />
of ageing.<br />
Dementia can happen to anybody,<br />
but it is more common after the age<br />
of 65 years. People in their 40s and<br />
50s can also have dementia.<br />
The most common early symptoms<br />
Early symptoms of dementia are<br />
subtle and may not be immediately<br />
obvious. Common symptoms of<br />
dementia include:<br />
• Progressive and frequent<br />
memory loss<br />
• Confusion or impaired<br />
orientation<br />
• Personality and behaviour<br />
changes<br />
• Apathy and withdrawal<br />
• Loss of ability to perform<br />
everyday tasks.<br />
• Decreased attention & increased<br />
restlessness<br />
Types and causes<br />
Dementia is a group of symptoms<br />
caused by gradual death of brain<br />
cells, by specific brain diseases.<br />
There are different types of Dementia<br />
these include;<br />
• Alzheimer’s disease<br />
• Vascular dementia<br />
• Dementia with Lewy bodies<br />
• Fronto Temporal Lobar<br />
Degeneration (FTLD)<br />
• Parkinson’s disease<br />
• Alcohol related dementia<br />
• AIDS related dementia<br />
• Huntington’s disease<br />
Diagnosis is important<br />
If you suspect a family member or a<br />
friend may be showing early signs of<br />
dementia, it is important to confirm<br />
dementia with a doctor.<br />
A diagnosis of dementia may rule<br />
out other conditions that can be<br />
mistaken for dementia.<br />
It will also enable treatments<br />
and planning for the future to be<br />
discussed whilst allowing support to<br />
be arranged to assist both the person<br />
with dementia and their family.<br />
However if the family member or<br />
friend will not go to a doctor or<br />
the doctor is unwilling to take your<br />
concerns seriously, seek advice on<br />
how to deal with this from<br />
Alzheimer’s Australia.<br />
Is it dementia?<br />
There are a number of conditions<br />
that have symptoms similar to<br />
those of dementia. By treating these<br />
conditions, the symptoms will often<br />
disappear.<br />
These include:<br />
• Some vitamin deficiencies and<br />
hormone disorders<br />
• Depression<br />
• Medication clashes or<br />
overmedication<br />
• Infections<br />
• Brain tumor<br />
Can dementia be inherited?<br />
This will depend on the cause of the<br />
dementia, so it is important to have<br />
a firm medical diagnosis. Most cases<br />
of dementia are not inherited.<br />
What can be done to help?<br />
At present, there is no prevention<br />
or cure for most forms of dementia.<br />
However, some medications and<br />
alternative treatments have been<br />
found to reduce some symptoms.<br />
Support is vital for people with<br />
dementia and the help of families,<br />
friends and carers can make a<br />
positive difference to managing the<br />
condition.<br />
What to do after diagnosis<br />
Plan ahead – while the person can<br />
still legally sign documents, get<br />
enduring powers of attorney to<br />
manage financial affairs and medical<br />
decisions, and for guardianship.<br />
Get information – find out about<br />
dementia and what lies ahead. Being<br />
informed will give you more sense of<br />
control.<br />
58<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
<strong>Police</strong> Health<br />
<strong>Police</strong> Health<br />
Seek support – Many people find<br />
it helpful to talk through what a<br />
diagnosis of dementia means and<br />
how they can make adjustments.<br />
Practical help – organise help in the<br />
home, respite care, day trips and<br />
stays at day centres, which can all<br />
make a positive difference.<br />
Caring for someone with dementia<br />
can be very rewarding. It can also be<br />
difficult, exhausting, lonely and – at<br />
times – overwhelming. Carers may<br />
have to deal with many different<br />
feelings as the needs of the person<br />
with dementia change over time.<br />
Support groups<br />
There are a large number of local<br />
support groups throughout Australia.<br />
Many people find enormous<br />
comfort and practical assistance<br />
from attending these meetings with<br />
others who know what it is like to<br />
care for, and live with, a person with<br />
dementia.<br />
Carer support groups bring together<br />
carers, relatives and friends of<br />
people with dementia, under the<br />
guidance of a group facilitator. This<br />
is usually a health care professional<br />
or someone with first-hand<br />
experience of caring for a family<br />
member.<br />
For tips on reducing the risk of<br />
dementia visit Mind your Mind<br />
website.<br />
http://mindyourmind.org.au<br />
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<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 59
Use it or Lose it ... not with <strong>Police</strong> Health<br />
Not all is lost!<br />
With <strong>Police</strong> Health<br />
if you don’t use all<br />
your annual maximum<br />
benefits, the amount<br />
you didn’t use is<br />
available to you the<br />
following year. We<br />
call this our Rollover<br />
Benefit and it applies<br />
in most service types.<br />
For full details refer to our website<br />
How much does your fund pay?<br />
Service description<br />
<strong>Police</strong><br />
Health<br />
Benefit<br />
80% of cost<br />
up to<br />
Your<br />
current<br />
Fund<br />
Chiropractic<br />
subsequent consult $39.80 ?<br />
Physiotherapy<br />
subsequent consult $53.20 ?<br />
Dental 3 surface<br />
amalgam filling $134.40 ?<br />
Dental full crown<br />
veneered - indirect $1,219.20* ?<br />
Spectacles - frames $90.00<br />
Progressive lenses $258.20*<br />
* Subject to annual maximums and Rollover Benefit<br />
?<br />
Call <strong>Police</strong> Health now and<br />
find out how you too can<br />
… enjoy the benefits.<br />
Call 1800 603 603<br />
www.policehealth.com.au<br />
Insurance provided by <strong>Police</strong> Health Limited ABN 86 135 221 519<br />
Premiums may be paid through QPS payroll, direct debit or by renewal notice.
QRPA<br />
QRPA News – MARCH <strong>2011</strong><br />
Website: www.qrpa.asn.au<br />
Email: queenslandretiredpolice@gmail.com<br />
MESSAGE FROM<br />
THE Q.R.P.A. STATE PRESIDENT<br />
M.J. (MICK) O’BRIEN<br />
The roll-out of the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> Service Medal continues<br />
apace. On two occasions at meetings in <strong>Police</strong> Headquarters,<br />
Assistant Commissioner Paul Doyle has presented medals to<br />
our retirees. I am concerned that there are still a good number<br />
of retirees, members of the QRPA and otherwise, who have<br />
not yet made application for the medal. Please do so as soon<br />
as possible and encourage others to do the same. It is your<br />
medal from the state that says thanks for your lifetime of<br />
police work for the people of <strong>Queensland</strong>.<br />
We have again renewed our agreement with QPCU who<br />
continue their generous sponsorship of QRPA. One small<br />
change is that branches will now apply to the State Treasurer for<br />
their funds for the annual luncheons/dinners to be transferred<br />
to the branch account. QPCU will still arrange the supply of<br />
promotional items that help to swell the raffle money raised<br />
for <strong>Police</strong> Legacy. QPCU will also provide each branch with a<br />
roll-up banner which will be more convenient and portable<br />
and allow the banner to be displayed at branch functions. The<br />
Marketing Manager, Ms Karyn Kelly is working with Stephen<br />
Coulter and State Secretary Jillian Steinkamp to produce our<br />
quarterly newsletters in a colour format at no extra expense<br />
to the Association. The Board and Management of QPCU are<br />
very supportive of QRPA and value their association with<br />
our members. Whilst some already do, I would like to see<br />
all Branches acknowledge the generosity of QPCU through a<br />
letter to their Board as a matter of courtesy.<br />
The annual luncheons have already started with the Redland<br />
Bay Branch heading the field. This year unfortunately we will<br />
be without the leadership of their founding President, the<br />
late Terry Walker. The Van Diemen’s Land Branch will hold<br />
their function in June. President Andy Beasant tells us that<br />
many <strong>Queensland</strong> members are calling in to visit on their trips<br />
through Tasmania. They are all made very welcome.<br />
We have lost a few more of our members, and family<br />
members, this year already as they are called to their reward.<br />
One of my workmates, Bob “Biggles” Doneman passed<br />
away quietly in February following a long illness. Many will<br />
remember Bob as one of the men who kicked off the <strong>Police</strong><br />
Air wing. Bob also worked as a Duty Inspector at <strong>Police</strong><br />
Communications in Brisbane for a few years. I am sure all<br />
of us who had the opportunity to fly with Bob or Ron Rooke<br />
in the Cessna 180 still have strong memories of those trips,<br />
some of which were very exciting for one reason or another.<br />
Those blokes certainly knew their art and at times I am<br />
sure they delighted in seeing the looks on our grey faces as<br />
they piloted those small aircraft over such long distances.<br />
President Bob Hayes of Bundaberg Branch is again<br />
planning the annual <strong>Police</strong> Legacy Bowls Day at Bargara.<br />
Check with Bob or Secretary Grannie Pearce, and see<br />
if you can muster up a team to take them on. Don’t forget<br />
the very successful Legacy Bowls Day at Wavell Heights<br />
Club in Brisbane, as this huge fundraiser for Legacy<br />
will once again be looking for your continued support.<br />
There have been some changes in the branch executives as<br />
the year progresses. I would like to repeat here my thanks<br />
and appreciation to Darryl Murtha who has stepped down<br />
as Secretary of the Logan Beenleigh Branch owing to the<br />
pressure of his business commitments. Darryl and President<br />
Max Maloney were single-minded in their determination to<br />
create the new branch for the association. The branch has<br />
continued to grow and find more retirees to come and join<br />
them. The success the branch is enjoying is a fine reward for<br />
Max and Darryl for the commitment they have shown that has<br />
now cemented the branch into the association and into their<br />
own communities. Darryl will remain a member whose many<br />
talents I am sure will be called upon as the branch continues<br />
to expand.<br />
Take care and please remember to keep in touch with your<br />
colleagues who are not enjoying the best of health. Give<br />
them a call or even a visit. I am sure they will appreciate<br />
your thoughtfulness.<br />
God Bless<br />
M.J. (Mick) O’Brien, State President QRPA Inc.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 61
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IT’S NOT TOO LATE<br />
The Leukaemia Foundation World’s Greatest Shave is on<br />
between <strong>March</strong> 10 and 12 ,<strong>2011</strong> and it’s not too late to show<br />
your support for Redlands Branch member, Dave Stannard<br />
who will be parting with his hair for charity.<br />
Dave took the opportunity to discuss his intention to shave<br />
for the cause with the late Terry Walker, and is hoping QRPA<br />
members will sponsor him either in memory of Terry or some<br />
other person who is suffering or has been struck down by<br />
these diseases.<br />
The World’s Greatest Shave will not only see Dave lose his<br />
lovely locks for the cause but also the great bushy beard he<br />
currently sports. Dave’s 16- year-old granddaughter is joining<br />
him in the venture to raise funds.<br />
You can still support Dave and this very worthy cause by<br />
making a donation online at https://my.leukaemiafoundation.<br />
org.au/davestannard?langPref=en-CA or post a cheque to Dave<br />
Stannard at 4 Ashwood Circuit, Birkdale 4159. Remember to<br />
include your name as all donations over $2 are tax deductible.<br />
Former Assistant Commissioner Bill Anderson, former Sergeant Ted Bones,<br />
Assistant Commissioner Paul Doyle, former Inspector Les Schulz and former<br />
Constable Peter Wise<br />
FLOODS & YASI TAKE THEIR TOLL<br />
Much has been published in the media about the havoc wreaked<br />
by the <strong>Queensland</strong> Floods and Cyclone Yasi. QRPA members<br />
have not been entirely immune to the effects of these events.<br />
Members of Ipswich Branch answered a call to arms on<br />
20 January when they attended the North Booval home<br />
of John and Joy Raatz which suffered major structural<br />
damage from the surging waters of the Bremer River.<br />
Although reasonably unscathed, Wendy and Gordon<br />
Thomas spent a frightening night at home in Townsville<br />
when Yasi unleashed her ferocious winds. Articles from<br />
the Ipswich event and from Wendy & Gordon Thomas<br />
will appear in the <strong>March</strong> edition of the QRPA Newsletter.<br />
MORE MEDAL AWARDS<br />
Assistant Commissioner Paul Doyle of Ethical Standards<br />
Command made presentations of the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong><br />
Service Medal (QPSM) to four QRPA members before<br />
the start of the meeting at <strong>Police</strong> Headquarters held on<br />
Monday 7 February <strong>2011</strong>. Recipients were former Assistant<br />
Commissioner William George Anderson, former Inspector<br />
Leslie Lloyd Schultz, former Sergeant Edward Patrick<br />
Bones and former Senior Constable Peter Frederick Wise.<br />
Another medal presentation took place at the Redlands Branch<br />
Annual Luncheon on 22 February <strong>2011</strong>. Assistant Commissioner<br />
Ann Lewis of Metropolitan South Region presented former<br />
Sergeant Les Wilson with his QPSM with a 25-year clasp.<br />
Members who have not yet made application for the<br />
QPSM can access an information pack and an application<br />
form from the QRPA website at www.qrpa.asn.au.<br />
You can also make enquiries with your local Branch Secretary.<br />
Former Sergeant Les Wilson and Assistant Commissioner Ann Lewis<br />
CHANGE TO BRANCH EXECUTIVE MEMBER<br />
Logan/Beenleigh Branch advise they have a new Secretary:<br />
Terry Ahearn, 0404 494 877, tjahearn@bigpond.com<br />
A big THANK YOU goes to the outgoing and Foundation<br />
Secretary, Darryl Murtha, for his contribution to the Logan/<br />
Beenleigh Branch. [See further on this in Branch News,<br />
Logan/Beenleigh and the State President’s Message]<br />
BRANCH NEWS<br />
Bundaberg<br />
QPSMs are on hand in Bundaberg for Darcy Joyce, Dave<br />
Costello, Bob Elliott and Grannie Pearce for presentation at<br />
ceremonies this year. The new District Officer, Rowan Bond,<br />
has taken up duty and the Bundaberg Branch hope to meet<br />
with him soon. Rowan was a strong supporter of QRPA in<br />
his former district, Mackay.<br />
The retired <strong>Police</strong> Bowls team got off to an early start in <strong>2011</strong><br />
to compete in the President’s Day at East Bundaberg Bowls<br />
Club in early February. The team will doubtless bring their<br />
skills to the fore when the Branch holds its <strong>Police</strong> Legacy<br />
Bowls Day at the Bargara Bowls Club on 9 May <strong>2011</strong>.<br />
Golden wedding anniversaries were celebrated by Gordon<br />
and Heather Storer and by Geraldine and Graham Caesar.<br />
Congratulations to both couples on this milestone and to John<br />
Francis who celebrated three score years and ten in February.<br />
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<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
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It seems John may be able to claim the pension.<br />
On the welfare front, President Bob Hayes has consulted a<br />
Brisbane specialist; Mary Waugh has undergone surgery on<br />
her right eye and is slowly recovering; Col Kellermeier has<br />
been returned to the Bundaberg Base Hospital but recovery<br />
is not going too well. Other members experiencing a few<br />
problems include Clarrie Kelly, Ron Rooke and Elwyn Jones.<br />
Darling Downs<br />
The Branch held its first meeting for <strong>2011</strong> on 10 February at<br />
the West Toowoomba Bowls Club. Attendees included Howie<br />
Connors from Townsville Branch. Three prospective new<br />
members, Louis Geist, Fred Gillam and David Lynch were<br />
welcomed to the meeting as guests.<br />
Members were advised that Bob Grey will attend a future<br />
meeting when his strength is better. The Branch Secretary<br />
was in contact with family members for Taylor Lavery-Wilson<br />
and John Keightly. In both cases, recovery is progressing.<br />
The Darling Downs Branch has QRPA shirts for sale for its<br />
members. Contact should be made with Roger Deshon,<br />
Branch Secretary.<br />
The branch plans to meet at the Stock Exchange Hotel on 10<br />
<strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>.<br />
Far North <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Eight members and a guest attended the quarterly meeting/<br />
lunch held at the Brothers Leagues Club on Friday 28<br />
January. Dell Stubbins was the lucky winner of a $25 Coles<br />
voucher which netted $18 for <strong>Police</strong> Legacy. The passing of<br />
Life Member Jack Ferguson was observed. The next Branch<br />
meeting was held in the Graziers Restaurant, Balaclava Hotel,<br />
Mulgrave Road Cairns on Friday 25 February <strong>2011</strong>.<br />
Gladstone<br />
Branch President, Mal Nichols, left the following greetings<br />
for all (before he went on holidays): ‘To all of you who wait<br />
to see what your retired former Gladstone colleagues have<br />
been up to we apologise for our non-appearance in the last<br />
journal. It gets so busy in retirement that we missed the<br />
COB deadline by “that” much.<br />
The Gladstone Branch met for the last time in 2010 on 7 th<br />
December with our Christmas break-up meeting held at the<br />
Calliope Central Bowls Club. We had 31 members, associates<br />
and visitors attend with 20 apologies. Some members were<br />
flood bound on their properties following the recent rain.<br />
After some smooth talking we managed to get member<br />
Arnold Mossman a day release from the Mater Hospital<br />
where he is currently receiving chemotherapy. Arnold<br />
thoroughly enjoyed his day with us and thanked members<br />
for their concern and visits throughout his illness. Arnold also<br />
picked up a couple of the multi-draw prizes including a large<br />
bowl of chocolates which would have made him a favourite<br />
with the nurses on his return to the Mater that afternoon.<br />
A well laid out table of goodies with morning tea followed the<br />
meeting and after that a seriously contested ‘Bare Foot Bowls<br />
Tournament’ was held. Skipper Mike Fox’s team were narrow<br />
winners - allegedly - although an appeal may be lodged by the<br />
Vales’ team. A great social day was had by all with many tales<br />
being told with the Calliope Central Bowls Club being a great<br />
meeting venue.<br />
The President’s Award for Dedication went to member Athol<br />
Snelling. Athol is a resident of Monto and due to recent rains<br />
his normal shortcut through the Boyne Valley Road was<br />
impassable. Determined to get to the luncheon, Athol drove<br />
to Biloela and then to Calliope. The journey took him over<br />
three hours and he arrived as the last of the dinner plates<br />
were being collected up. Sharon gave him a box of Christmas<br />
goodies for his troubles.<br />
Our next meeting being our A.G.M. is on 1 st February at<br />
Yaralla Sports Club at 11.30am.<br />
Gold Coast<br />
Branch Secretary, Des Sorensen reports: It is pleasing to<br />
report our annual Christmas buffet held at the Twin Towns<br />
Services Club was an outstanding success. Fifty guests<br />
attended compared with sixty three in 2009. Two police<br />
widows attended as our guests, and two QPCU Board<br />
members also attended.<br />
Assistant Commissioner Paul Wilson attended and presented<br />
the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> Service Medal to two members, Boyd<br />
Barrett and Alan Barnes. The <strong>Police</strong> Chaplain and Vilma<br />
Makin (Simplicity Funerals) were also our guests.<br />
John Meskell, John Fox, Hayden Stokes and Neil Raward<br />
were responsible for the door and raffle ticket sales and<br />
Neil Raward chaired the proceedings for the day with our<br />
President welcoming all present. Thanks go to Dave Stonely<br />
who was our resident Santa Claus.<br />
Sadly I have to report the death of one of most respected<br />
members, former Assistant Commissioner for Crime, Tony<br />
Murphy, who passed away on the 21 st December 2010. Tony<br />
will be remembered as one of the most brilliant detectives<br />
ever produced by the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> Force. I know<br />
you all join with me in extending our deepest sympathy to<br />
Maureen and family.<br />
John Clarke has been re-admitted to the John Flynn<br />
Hospital for an indefinite period. It appears that the<br />
medical profession is baffled by his condition and that<br />
he requires constant hospitalisation. I’m told that he still<br />
has his sense of humour and would like to hear from<br />
old work mates. Ross Rigney is still battling ill health.<br />
Guest speaker for February was <strong>Police</strong> Chaplain, Father<br />
Columba McBeth-Green who told of his career and other<br />
exploits including playing the bagpipes at the Edinburgh Tattoo.<br />
I was recently contacted by our old mate Senior Sergeant<br />
Murray Underwood,the officer-in-charge of Runaway<br />
Bay, to set a date for our annual pilgrimage to that station.<br />
Our last meeting at Runaway Bay was in lieu of our May<br />
meeting. On behalf of our branch I have submitted an<br />
application to Head Office suggesting that the QPRA<br />
adopt a uniform name tag similar to that used by the<br />
police. At different functions that I have attended I have<br />
noticed that every branch has a different badge, some<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 63
QRPA<br />
round, some square and some ‘Mickey Mouse’ lookalike<br />
badges. We all belong to the one association and I<br />
believe that we would look much more professional if we<br />
adopted a standard design. I have received feedback that<br />
my application is receiving “favourable consideration”.<br />
Gympie<br />
The Gympie Branch has welcomed three new members<br />
recently. They are (former Sergeant) Del Sprenger,<br />
(former Inspector) Bill Sprenger and (former Senior<br />
Sergeant) Arthur Jamieson.<br />
Hervey Bay<br />
Members of Hervey Bay Branch met early in the year with<br />
a branch meeting held on Tuesday 18 January <strong>2011</strong> at the<br />
Hervey Bay RSL. It was noted travellers Neil and Dorrel<br />
Healey had returned from their trip around Australia, Geoff<br />
and Robyn Cartner had returned from a trip to Ireland where<br />
they visited family and Denver <strong>March</strong>ant and Marilyn are still<br />
on their six-month trip to England.<br />
Weather events washed out two attempts for the branch to<br />
hold a BBQ at Ron Beaton Park on the Esplanade; the branch<br />
was to make a further attempt on 18 February at 11am.<br />
Welfare news noted June Close had a fall while walking<br />
the dog; Bev Sprenger broke both arms in a very bad fall<br />
at home; Cynthia Guteridge is still having health problems<br />
and undergoing further tests in hospital; Joy Newman is<br />
recovering from an illness; Vic Burgess had stomach surgery;<br />
Dot Barlow has muscular problems; Roger Barlow has<br />
undergone tests; Margaret Bradshaw had a lung infection.<br />
HBB extended special congratulations to Gordon and June<br />
Close who celebrated their 60 th<br />
wedding anniversary on<br />
January 20. The branch will meet on Tuesday 15 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>,<br />
11am at the Hervey Bay RSL.<br />
Ipswich<br />
Extreme weather conditions did not deter two Ipswich Branch<br />
members from attending the January 12 meeting. Better<br />
weather improved attendances at their meeting on 9 February<br />
<strong>2011</strong>. John Raatz addressed the meeting on the devastation<br />
caused to his residence during the recent floods and expressed<br />
his sincere thanks for the work of the volunteers. Ipswich<br />
Branch will invite the volunteers from ‘Manpower’ to a future<br />
meeting where the thanks of the branch can be extended.<br />
Jack Paff reported on the proposed QRPA memorial for<br />
Browns Park in North Ipswich. Architectural plans have<br />
been drawn.<br />
Logan/Beenleigh<br />
Our February 17th meeting again had a big roll out with<br />
another new face, John Lyttle who applied to join our<br />
branch. We welcomed John and hope to see him at<br />
many future meetings. On a sad note it was announced<br />
by President Max Moloney that Secretary Darryl Murtha<br />
had tendered his resignation owing to his work load in his<br />
private business venture. After nominations were called,<br />
Terry Ahearn was elected as Secretary and new member,<br />
Brian Button, elected as Vice-President.<br />
We take this opportunity to thank Darryl for his work within<br />
the branch over the past 12 months, and prior to that, as a<br />
driving force when he and Max worked tirelessly to form our<br />
branch and to make it the success that it is today. Darryl will<br />
remain an active member and continue to contribute to our<br />
branch. Thank you again Foundation Secretary.<br />
Our membership continues to grow with 42 members and<br />
seven social members. Not bad considering the branch was<br />
only formed officially on 11th February 2010. This is causing<br />
our name tag supplier Frank Blake some extra work. He is<br />
busier that an elf at Christmas, but he is the wrong stature to<br />
be confused with an elf. We are looking forward to a successful<br />
second year of operation with plans underway for more<br />
functions and interesting outings for the benefit of members.<br />
Near North Coast<br />
Members of the Near North Coast Branch also got an early<br />
start to the year with a meeting held on 17 January <strong>2011</strong> at<br />
the Bribie Island RSL. There were 18 members in attendance.<br />
Welfare news noted that Glenda Campbell was in a nursing<br />
home in St George that was evacuated during recent<br />
flooding. Glenda’s daughter was able to move her to a Roma<br />
nursing home in plenty of time.<br />
Des Kelly is now good; Warren Smithers is progressing<br />
okay; Meryl Maier had a stroke and was in Redcliffe Hospital;<br />
Bernie Lewis is not keeping the best of health; Lexi Waterfield<br />
is healing nicely after a fall; Jack Gibbison is on the improve<br />
after a fall on green moss due to bad weather; Wal Taylor is<br />
making a good recovery after surgery.<br />
Jack Gibbison received his Veteran Certificate from Branch<br />
President Col Guy for 10 years membership with the Near<br />
North Coast Branch. The Branch will meet at Suttons Beach<br />
on 21 February and again at the Caboolture Sports Club in<br />
<strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>.<br />
Redlands<br />
The Redlands Branch meeting on Tuesday 25 January<br />
<strong>2011</strong> was held at the Redlands Sporting Club. It was<br />
noted Alan Manteit had another bout of surgery on his<br />
face and is progressing well although sadly he lost an<br />
eye; Don McLeod is undergoing surgery in the Wesley;<br />
John Maher has recovered from a bout of kidney stones—<br />
John reckons he had so many the Brisbane City Council<br />
rang him for a load to help stem the recent floods.<br />
January birthdays were celebrated by Len Reidlingner,<br />
Elton Mitchelson, Barbara Petie, Linda Maher and Phil<br />
Weightman. Planning for the Annual Luncheon on 22<br />
February was underway. John Maher, Dave Stannard, Peter<br />
Hewitt and Ron Ehlers regaled members with a round of<br />
jokes while the raffle draws produced many happy winners.<br />
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Rockhampton<br />
February 2 saw members of the Rockhampton Branch meet<br />
for the first time in <strong>2011</strong> at the Cambridge Hotel. President<br />
Barry Self presented Norm Tomlin with his <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
<strong>Police</strong> Service Medal. A Senior Member’s Certificate has been<br />
received and framed for presentation to Laurie Meyer at his<br />
home in the near future.<br />
A Certificate of Appreciation for presentation to <strong>Police</strong><br />
Chaplain Horst Sauer had been received for presentation<br />
to him at a Social BBQ to be held at Dennis and Pat Smith’s<br />
residence on Sunday 6 February. The branch decided to<br />
hold their annual dinner on Monday 14 November <strong>2011</strong><br />
and to advise members and other branches.<br />
Welfare items include Life Member Max Watson still having<br />
blood tests; Norm Tomlin had four days in hospital suffering<br />
dizziness; Athol Jordan has suffered several mini strokes<br />
(seizures) from a chest infection; Pat Lawton had a fall and<br />
was hospitalised – he suffers bouts of vertigo and is still under<br />
treatment; Stan Lean is receiving treatment for ulcerated<br />
cancers; Barry Self, Kev Cocks and ex- mayor Lee Taylor<br />
visited Kel Weeks, who enjoyed meeting up with old friends<br />
but he is not physically well. A beautiful flowering orchid<br />
donated by fancier Terry Connolly as a raffle prize was won<br />
by Noel Boardman.<br />
Sunshine Coast<br />
Arrangements have been made for Deputy Commissioner<br />
Ian Stewart to present QPSMs to several Sunshine Coast<br />
members on 26 April <strong>2011</strong>. This presentation is in addition<br />
to the ceremony planned at the Maroochydore RSL in <strong>March</strong>.<br />
Charmaine Blissner has a badly broken ankle and spent a while<br />
in the Toowoomba hospital. Clarrie and Charmaine were at<br />
Murphy’s Creek helping their son Shane when the accident<br />
occurred. They had just put their house on the market so the<br />
injuryhas come at a very inconvenient time for them.<br />
Joan and Roly Dargusch are enjoying a trip to the ‘Shaky<br />
Isles’. They will be back later in the month. It is hoped they<br />
have an enjoyable time. Julie and John Walker have arrived<br />
in Wollongong in their travels around Australia. Shortly<br />
after they left, Julie’s brother died and they had to return to<br />
Kilcoy. Condolences go out to her on this sad occasion.<br />
Townsville<br />
It seems Townsville Branch members have uncovered an<br />
interesting coincidence. The branch meeting scheduled<br />
for February had to be cancelled because the RSL was<br />
undergoing a refurbishment. It seems the day the meeting<br />
would have taken place was the day Yasi decided to visit<br />
Townsville, wrecking everyone’s plans.<br />
Like many people in Townsville at the time, Secretary John<br />
Urquhart was without power from the Wednesday to Sunday<br />
night and, of course, without television or computer. It is<br />
rumoured he exhibited withdrawal symptoms!<br />
Mackay/Whitsunday<br />
Branch members finished the 2010 year with a meeting<br />
on December 18 with good attendance. Nearly all stayed<br />
to share Christmas lunch and a few drinks including their<br />
newest member, Craig Joy, and oldest member, Tom<br />
Butcher. Thoughts went out to Dennis Doring who spent<br />
the festive season battling cancer up in Townsville.<br />
Dennis Hansen is planning a few ‘away’ meetings in <strong>2011</strong><br />
and has also started an investment club (lotto) for the<br />
branch. There was a good roll up to the first meeting in<br />
<strong>2011</strong> where a membership application was received from<br />
Kym Boxall (former SA Superintendent). The branch is<br />
becoming quite cosmopolitan with representatives from<br />
four states. Although receiving lots of rain, Mackay has<br />
avoided the worst of the cyclones with no flooding to speak<br />
of. The next Branch meeting is at 11am on 19 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong><br />
at the Sarina RSL.<br />
Van Diemen’s Land<br />
Members of the VDL Branch were joined by <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
members Alan and Rosie Nicol at their meeting on Sunday<br />
20 February <strong>2011</strong>. President, Andy Beasant, advised he<br />
met with Tasmanian <strong>Police</strong> Commissioner, Darren Hine,<br />
and presented him with his QRPA Honorary Membership<br />
Certificate.<br />
Andy advised that Mick O’Brien was planning on attending<br />
the Annual General Meeting which will be held on Saturday<br />
18 th and Sunday 19 th June <strong>2011</strong> at the Great Lake Hotel.<br />
Arrangements regarding breakfast in the guests’ kitchen<br />
of the hotel were discussed. Anyone planning on attending<br />
should advise Andy.<br />
The branch plans to next meet at the SES Building, 128<br />
Mornington Road, Mornington on Sunday 17 April <strong>2011</strong><br />
at 11am.<br />
MEMBERSHIP<br />
1 New Members -Approved February <strong>2011</strong>:<br />
Former Inspector Brian Dinte; former Senior Constable<br />
Brian Button; former Senior Sergeant Jim Wagner, former<br />
Inspector Bill Sprenger; former Sergeant Del Sprenger;<br />
former Senior Sergeant Arthur Jamieson; former Sergeant<br />
Ted Dale.<br />
2 New Associates -Approved February <strong>2011</strong>:<br />
Noelene Ladlay, spouse of member Russell Ladlay; Muriel<br />
Robb, widow of police officer S/Sgt Leigh Robb; Chona Dinte,<br />
spouse of new member Brian Dinte; Marilyn Button, spouse of<br />
new member Brian Button.<br />
Certificates Awarded (Feb 11)<br />
Veteran Certificate:<br />
3 Douglas William Jones<br />
4 Leonard Roy Bracken<br />
Over 90s<br />
5 Albert Ernest Maier—93 years on 13/1/11<br />
6 Frederick Stanley Hass—93 years on 14/1/11<br />
7 John William Ferguson—91 years on 26/1/11<br />
8 Joseph Mackel—90 years on 5/2/11.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 65
QRPA<br />
Welfare Reports (from Brisbane meetings)<br />
1 Terry Channells had a medical procedure shortly<br />
before Christmas to assist with his heart condition.<br />
2 John Keightley underwent surgery on 30/12/10 in the<br />
PAH for fusion of three vertebrae. The surgery went well.<br />
3 Darling Downs Branch reports that Mick Ring was<br />
safe floodwise.<br />
4 Boyd Wilson’s grandson, Taylor Lavery-Wilson<br />
(son of Senior Sergeant Craig Wilson) received serious<br />
injuries in a road accident but is now well on the road<br />
to recovery.<br />
5 Nev Bulley recently underwent surgery for a blood clot.<br />
6 John Boyle presently in hospital under treatment.<br />
7 Janet & Tony Brady were affected in the Brisbane floods<br />
but are back living in their house.<br />
8 John Raatz suffered major structural damage to his home<br />
in the recent floods.<br />
9 TC Yasi—Les Campbell Mackay/Whitsunday advises they<br />
are all ok.<br />
10 Bill McGrath has experienced problems with his<br />
‘sugar’ condition.<br />
11 It was noted that Jim McKenna has moved into a home<br />
since his wife died.<br />
12 Roger Lund has recently undergone major surgery.<br />
13 Tom Noonan has undergone bypass surgery<br />
Members — Life Member and former Constable Roy Leslie<br />
Schultz, 11/12/12; Life Member and former Assistant<br />
Commissioner (Crime) Anthony Murphy, 20/12/10; Life<br />
Member and former Sergeant 2/C Victor Francis Bott,<br />
21/12/10; Life Member and former Senior Sergeant Vivian<br />
James Andrew Neilsen, 23/1/11; Senior Member and former<br />
N.T. Superintendent Anthony Charles Peberdy Sillman,<br />
7/12/12; Member and former Sergeant 2/C Walter Ernest<br />
Fraser, 18/1/11.<br />
Non-members — Former Senior Constable James Joseph<br />
Hanlon, 26.11.10; former <strong>Police</strong> Officer Bryan Maxwell<br />
McKenzie; former <strong>Police</strong> Officer Colin Edward Ward; former<br />
Senior Constable George Ronald (Ron) Walker, 18/12/10;<br />
former Sergeant 2/C William Frederick Douglas 9/1/11;<br />
former police officer Reynolds Melvold, 28/1/11; former<br />
Inspector Leonard Robert Albert (Bob) Doneman, 2/2/11.<br />
Family — Joan McKenna, 2/1/11, wife of former Life Member<br />
and former Inspector Jim McKenna; Hazel Grant, widow of the<br />
late life member and former Inspector Gordon Grant; Karen<br />
Lee Post, 8/1/11, daughter of former member Thomas Barrett<br />
(Barry) Williamson (dec’d); Bernice Cheers, 16/01/11, wife<br />
of former police officer Les Cheers; Barbara Maud Costello,<br />
18/1/11, widow of former Constable 1/C Vince Costello.<br />
Obituaries – May They Rest In Peace<br />
Observed at the February <strong>2011</strong> SMC meeting<br />
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<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Union</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>March</strong> <strong>2011</strong>
Salary Packaging a Car?<br />
How did we save one <strong>Police</strong> Officer<br />
in lease<br />
$9,972* payments?<br />
LOOKING<br />
AFTER<br />
QUEENSLAND<br />
GOVERNMENT<br />
EMPLOYEES<br />
FOR<br />
10 YEARS<br />
Statewide specialises in<br />
supplying car packages with<br />
real choice and maximum value.<br />
✓ Experienced & Independent Financial Advice<br />
✓ National Fleet discounts passed to clients<br />
✓ No High Profit, High Commission Insurance<br />
✓ Car Pricing Service<br />
✓ No over-priced or unnecessary inclusions<br />
Statewide<br />
Call for a no-obligation consultation<br />
with a licenced adviser to discuss<br />
your options.<br />
HOW TO CONTACT US<br />
1300 76 1114<br />
carpak@state-wide.net.au<br />
www.statewide.net.au<br />
Statewide - The Really Smart Choice in Salary Packaging<br />
*Savings compared to competitor quote, same income, same kilometres, same lease term and same purchase price of the car as<br />
at date of purchase June 2010. Statewide Novated Leasing Pty Ltd is an ASIC registered provider of credit services.<br />
Credit Registration Number 354682.