December 2023 Dispatch

Greetings everyone,

I would like to begin by acknowledging the death of South Australia Police (SAPOL) Brevet Sergeant Jason Doig. AFPA General Manager Paul McCue represented the Association at a state funeral for Brevet Sergeant Doig in Adelaide on Monday, December 4.

I take some solace from the progress of the recent talks about a national firearms registry, and hope that Australia is continuing to move closer to a reality of fewer firearms-related crimes and assaults.

I would also like to express my condolences to SAPOL Commissioner Grant Stevens and his family on the loss of his son Charlie.

We are close to wrapping up our series of Canberra musters, with only PSO and DPU locations remaining. I have been extremely grateful to have been able to get out to all of the ACT Policing stations, ACTP HQ, EBB, and AFP support facilities such as the Mitchell Exhibit Centre. I would like to thank ACTP Traffic Operations members who took the time to make it to one of the station musters. Thanks must also go to the AFPA Membership team for manning the barbecues and their tireless organisation of the events (with many early starts and last-minute dashes to the supermarket!).

To build on the invaluable feedback gained from these musters, we’ve rolled out an all-member EA survey. It is imperative that we get as many of our members to complete the survey as possible. If you haven’t already, please go here to complete the survey. The data gained from this survey will significantly inform our upcoming campaigns to have the AFP exempted from bargaining restrictions and the 11.2% salary cap. So far, approximately 1700 members have completed the survey, and we would like to see this number increase even further.

In other news, I am extremely happy to reiterate the commencement of our new partnership with NRMA. AFPA members will now be able to benefit from heavily discounted roadside assistance rates. The Membership report will go into further detail about how to take advantage of this exciting new deal. The AFPA-NRMA partnership represents the happy fruition of a long-term aim of mine to further directly lower household costs for my members while increasing their access to a service that shouldn’t be considered a discretionary cost.

Coming up to Christmas, please take any time you do get to spend with loved ones and family to recharge and rejuvenate. Your well-being is crucial during this busy time.

Below you can find a summary of the media appearances I have made over November and December.

Thank you for your steadfast dedication, and please stay safe.

In unity,

Alex