Thursday, 11 September 2025

 Brad BATTIN (Berwick – Leader of the Opposition) (17:07): (1320) My adjournment is to the Premier. The action I seek is for the Premier to make a formal apology to Victoria Police members, especially those who have served for a short period of time. Yesterday the Premier said across the bench to me about my service as a police officer, ‘What would he know? He only served for two years,’ a comment that can only be described as ignorant. First, for the record, I served from 2001 to 2007, and I was proud of those years. Second, many police officers leave the job for reasons that the Premier may never understand.

The Premier has never known the pain of knocking on a door to tell a family they have lost a loved one. The Premier has never known the sinking feeling of walking into a garage for a welfare check and finding a person hanging from the rafters. The Premier has never known the feeling of helplessness when attending a car accident and seeing a person die when there is nothing you can do other than comfort them. The Premier has never felt the anxiety of sitting with parents in a hospital after their child has died of a vicious assault. The Premier has never known what it is like to attend a protest and have a water balloon thrown at you and find out it is urine. The Premier has never known what it feels like to go to a domestic violence incident where the victim attacks you – the one you are there to protect. The Premier has never gone home with the blood of another person on her uniform. The Premier has never known the fear of having a knife pulled on you in the middle of a fight – and after all that, when you are walking down the street, only having some idiot call you a pig.

Premier, I have worn the badge with pride. The badge looks light until you wear it. Please, every day, criticise my politics and call out my decisions that you do not agree with, but please do not insult my time when I proudly wore the uniform to protect the communities I live in and protect the communities I worked in. To all serving, past and future police, we thank you. If you wear a badge for a day or a year or go on to be a 50-year veteran, I and the Liberals and Nationals will be forever thankful for your service and respect you for the time that you have committed to protecting us.