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He was first and foremost a Canberra copper. He started his service with the then ACT Police. He was a beat police officer in the then small city of Canberra. He advanced through the ranks of the ACT Police and then there was the merger with the then Commonwealth Police to create the Australian Federal Police. He continued up the ranks, serving in a number of senior positions in the national structure. I know that he was delighted to accept the challenge and the responsibilities of being Chief Police Officer for the ACT and saw that very much as a culmination of his career, which, as I say, was very much that of a Canberra copper. He really had a great commitment to this town, and he still has.

I found Peter Dawson, for the entire period that I was working closely with him, to be a man of the greatest integrity and commitment to the best ideals of policing. He provided true leadership to the ACT region of the Australian Federal Police. Two initiatives, in particular, will, I am sure, always be associated with Peter Dawson. I believe that they are initiatives that will well and truly outlast the period for which he was Chief Police Officer or for which I was involved, or will be involved, in issues of policing. They were, first and foremost, the diversionary conferencing concept, and, secondly, but just as importantly, the country town policing concept. Diversionary conferencing is an idea that Peter Dawson really developed, having picked it up from some innovative work done in New Zealand. He got it to the point where what is happening here in Canberra is seen to be a model for police forces around Australia and, indeed, around the world. I was delighted to learn that Peter, in his retirement, will be doing some travelling and some lecturing, and will be taking part in instructing police forces around the world on what has been developed here in Canberra as a local initiative in dealing with the difficult problem of juvenile crime. Diversionary conferencing really offers the one new opportunity of dealing with juvenile crime and getting kids back onto a straight path. It may not be the cure-all for every problem, but it is a very significant initiative and one for which Peter Dawson deserves enormous credit.

Country town policing was another initiative of Peter Dawson's. We are all delighted to see Dave Rugendyke here. He received, very deservedly, a community service award just recently for his community service and also because of the profile he has developed as one of the first two country town police officers. We have this concept operating in Ainslie and Kaleen. Again it was an initiative of Peter Dawson's that was exciting. It is a model for the rest of Australia and one that I am confident will well and truly outlast the time that Peter was leader of the force here.

I thought it was appropriate to place on record my enormous respect and admiration for Peter Dawson. He announced his retirement shortly after the change of government, so Mr Humphries had the privilege of working with him for a shorter time than I did. I know that members of the Opposition and Independents who were in the last Assembly also shared an enormous degree of respect for Peter Dawson. I am sure that we all wish him, his wife and his family the best in a long, fruitful and enjoyable retirement.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

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