POLICE AMENDMENT
(COMPENSATION SCHEME) BILL 2021
646. Mr M.J. FOLKARD to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's record in supporting our medically retired police
officers. Can the minister outline to the house what this government's
legislation to introduce police compensation will mean to the medically retired officers who suffer work-related
illness and injury, and can the minister advise how this government has
come to introduce this landmark legislation?
Mr P.
PAPALIA replied:
I
thank the member for his question, and also for his strident advocacy for his
fellow police officers. Understandably, he is a loud voice in favour of
more support for police.
This is, indeed, a historic day. It
was a landmark announcement in 2016, when, from opposition, we committed to improving the lot of our police officers in Western
Australia. Madam Speaker, throughout the last term, you and the Premier
led that improvement with a number of initiatives, and this finally finishes
the delivery of our commitment to enhancing support for police officers who are
medically retired as a consequence of injuries sustained during their service.
Others have ignored or tried but failed to address these issues.
The Western Australian Police Union
attended this morning as I read into the Parliament the amendments to the act that
will create a police compensation scheme. It has been specifically tailored for
police and ensures there is no reduction to existing in-service entitlements,
and that was critical. That was used by previous governments to claim that it
was an impossible achievement. Under the scheme, medically retired officers
will be eligible for lump sum payments capped at $239 179. In certain
circumstances, the cap could increase by $179 384 to a total of $418 563. There will also be a payment of $16 743
for vocational support and training to enable people to transition. I just want to take a moment to acknowledge you,
Madam Speaker, and the Premier for his commitment at that time, back in
opposition, but I also want to—she does not know I am going to do this—acknowledge
your then, and my now, chief of staff,
Rachel Sackville-Minchin, for the extraordinary amount of work and leadership
she demonstrated. As the partner of a former police officer, she had a lot
of skin in the game. She cares deeply about police officers and has done a tremendous job. The scheme provides
certainty and support to our officers and their families so that they
can take care of themselves, transition out of the force and continue their
lives.
I am going to conclude by quoting
from an extraordinary police union media release from today, the likes of which
we will not see very often, I do not think. I will quote only a few paragraphs.
The media release states —
The WA Police Union are celebrating
one of the most significant days in their 109 years of fighting for the rights of Western Australia's cops
after the McGowan Government introduced its police compensation scheme
bill into parliament.
The media release continues —
''It's a landmark
moment for the health and safety of WA's police officers and their
families. The scheme, coupled with the McGowan Government's changes to
the medical retirement process, will give financial and educational support to
police officers who are injured in the line of duty and consequently are unable
to continue serving our community,'' said Mick Kelly, Acting President
of WAPU.
Finally, I will conclude with the
last quote from that media release, which states —
''We
commend the McGowan Government for recognising the plight of our members,
acting with compassion and righting the wrongs of years of neglect.''