Thursday, 31 October 2019

 Mr HODGETT (Croydon) (09:50:500:): Vale, Jeff ‘Joffa’ Haines. It was with great sadness that I attended the funeral of Jeff Haines on Monday, 14 October, at Yering to pay my respects and farewell a ripper of a bloke. A policeman of 46 years, Mooroolbark police station had been Senior Sergeant Haines’s home base for 14 years. Joffa had worked across the division at Maroondah, Knox and Yarra Ranges. He was the former officer in charge at Ringwood, and he was on the ground during the Black Saturday bushfires. Joffa was a well-respected leader. He served the community with distinction, he would do anything for you and he always stood up for his troops. He would give you fair, frank and honest advice, tell it as he saw it and stand by what he did. He loved to get out and about in the community to provide on-the-ground policing. It was fitting that such a decent, dedicated man was farewelled with a police honours funeral. Senior Sergeant Jeffery ‘Joffa’ Haines, you will be sorely missed.