Wednesday, 1 April 2026

 Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (10:36): Yesterday the Premier used Parliament again to attempt to degrade my service as a Victoria Police officer. The claim was that two years of service amounts to nothing. It was insulting, not to me but to the many police officers who have reached out afterwards. My years of service are irrelevant. What matters is what can happen in two years of wearing the Victoria Police uniform. It was my dream to join the police. My uncle Tony and my aunty Michelle served proudly as coppers. At school I researched the tragic events of Walsh Street in 1988, when constables Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre gave their lives protecting the community. They were 22 and 20 years old respectively. They had served two years and nine months and only six months. This is what can happen in two years. Last week the police and community members gathered to honour Angela Rose Taylor, killed at 21 in the Russell Street bombing, only two years into her career. She was the first female officer killed in the line of duty. Premier, the list goes on: Constable Humphris, Constable Prestney and many others gave their lives protecting the community, and some within the first two years. There is also the silent list: members who leave after weeks, months or a couple of years because of what they have seen. Premier, I will forgive you once for degrading my opportunity to be a police officer in Victoria and maybe twice, but three times is a habit, and it has to stop.