Tasmania Branch
International Police Association

www.ipa-australiapolice.com.au

Email pdcwhiteley@bigpond.com

Five minute silence

February 2012

Chairman’s message

Already the first month of 2012 has gone it is amazing how quickly the time passes. As my mother used to say “Procrastination is the thief of time.” So those who have been procrastinating about attending one of our functions February is the chance to take action. The next social evening is to be held at Red Bridge Motel restaurant, Woombye on Monday the 27^th February. I hope to see some new faces at this event.

January was also a very wet month and I wish to remind members that we are here to help should you experience damage or loss as a result of bad weather (or any other cause). Should you find yourself in need please contact Paul or one of the other members of the committee.

Sorry to hear that our Secretary, Paul, is suffering with pneumonia. He has continued to monitor messages and distribute them during his illness.  We wish you a speedy recovery Paul.

In March we shall have a visitor from England on the coast and I am pleased that one of our members was able to offer him accommodation. I have hosted several visitors in the past and I am still in contact with most of them. It is a good way to make new friends.

Take care out there,

Mike Needham

Next Function,

On Monday the 27^th February 2012 we will gather at the Red Bridge Motor Inn restaurant, 380 Nambour Connection Road, Woombye, for a meal.  A Recently Retired Commissioner a friend of the proprietor of the Motel, Alan Honor, has been invited to attend.  We will gather, as usual, at 6.30 pm and order meals from the menu once every one has arrived.

We would dearly like to see some of our newer members attend, as well as the long time members.

For catering purposes, please advise me if you are attending by Friday the 24^th February.

Visitor to Sunshine Coast:

Between the 12^th and 16^th March, a Retired British Police Officer, Nick Lipscomb and wife will be visiting the area:  He is being hosted by Steve Maney during his visit.  Bruce has arranged with the Water Police to take Nick on a tour of the area.  At this stage we have not planned anything else, but will advise if something is organized.

February Birthdays

We wish the following members of the Sub Region a happy birthday on their special Day

Klaus Hempfing on the 10^th,  Warren Dougherty on the 18^th, Murray Lyons on the 24^th,  Jock Alcock on the 27^th and Sue Ede on the 28^th.

Maybe if Jock turns up at the Red Bridge we can help him celebrate ?

The regular IPA Branch meetings will recommence on Tuesday 7th February 2012 at the Cairns RSL, The Esplanade (cnr Florence Street) Cairns City. The formal meeting starts at 7:30pm, but regular attendees generally meet up earlier – about 6:30pm, for a meal in the restaurant where most of the social aspects of the meeting takes place. Depending on the number of members attending, and their official bed time, the meeting may be continued with a drink and a chat in the public bar area, but as the RSL closes at 10:00pm it is never a late night.

This year it is intended to hold a number of BBQs in local parks on Friday nights or over a weekend to give members who can’t attend during the week a chance to catch up with a few like minded friends. Also, it is planned that a couple of social excursions to other parts of the region will take place, the first one possibly in April after the worst of the cyclone/wet season, possibly to Mission Beach where the tourist industry is still doing it tough after Cyclone Yasi in February 2011. If any member has any ideas or special places of interest, please let any of the office bearers know.   Keep an eye on the FNQ Branch website page for information on social events coming up.

The FNQ Branch has relatively few members, who are generally spread out over a very large police region and most are unable to attend regular meetings, so the involvement of all members on the coastal area is needed to keep some life in the Branch and be able to help and assist any IPA visitors to the region. If you are interested in helping to host or just meet up with IPA visitors, whether from other parts of Australia or internationally, contact any of the office bearers with your details.

Hope to see you at the monthly meetings.

The Christmas party has been and was a great success with sixty five (65) attendees! The story is told in the photos available on the Website (left hand side of page under Social Photos) . Thank you to all for making the event such a great night!

Sharing life stories and experiences, and spending some quality time with fellows who understand the life of a police officer is the aim of our IPA events!

Thank you to all members who have supported our events throughout the year and I look forward to meeting all again next year.

We also acknowledge all the members from near and far who would have liked to attend our functions, but due to work commitments could not attend.  We hope to meet as many of you as possible at next year’s events. Our first 2012 IPA function will be in early February, exact date and venue to be advised soon.

As you probably know by now, Queensland IPA is to host next year’s IPA National AGM between 19 and 21 October, so our our committee is hard at work as we speak to organise a successful event.

The AGM will follow immediately after the International Friendship Week organised by the NSW IPA in Sydney so we are hoping to have some international IPAers attending our AGM function. Great fun to look forward to!

On behalf of the IPA Qld Region committee we wish all IPA members and their families a Merry Christmas and a 2012 with sound health and good fortune!

Best Regards,

Dana Rusu

Social Secretary | Queensland Region | Australian Section | International Police Association
PO Box 16025 | City East QLD 4002 | Australia
Mb +61 420 982 420
E-mail: ipaqldsocialsecretary@gmail.com | danamrusu69@gmail.com

Hi all,

Well, what a fantastic weekend.  Well done Mick, Andy, Ray, Dave and members of ACT Region.  Everything was so well planned and executed perfectly.  If there was anything that didn’t go exactly to plan, if most definitely wasn’t noticeable.

From all reports, the Serving Police Officer Day was very well received and the members from almost every State and Territory enjoyed the hospitality and sharing of information from the AFP.

Great to see our New Zealand colleagues represented and, for the first time, a member from the Northern Territory Police.  CHOGM prevented any member from WA attending so the WA Region assisted in sending a NT member along by paying the airfares. (Qantas unfortunately).  Hope you managed to thumb a lift home Meagan.

Our NEB meeting went very well, as did the AGM on the Friday night.  The Triennial Election of National office bearers was held this year and the positions of President, Vice President and Assistant Secretary General were uncontested and the previous incumbents regained their positions. The position of Secretary General was contested and resulted in an election with two nominees – Val Doherty (WA Region) and Tareq (Rick) Faizy (NSW Region).  The result of the election was in favour of Rick Faizy, congratulations Rick.

This unfortunately meant that Val Doherty has ended a long and dedicated term of office to the Australian Section National Executive.  Val served as the National President from 1981 to 1987, Immediate Past President from 1987 to 1990 and as the Secretary General from 1999 to 2011.  But don’t think that Val was holidaying between 1990 and1999…. Val was the inaugural Secretary of the WA Region when it commenced in 1969 and WA has only ever had one Secretary, yes, 42 years as the Region Secretary.  Do not fear, Val will still be around and I am sure she will look forward to being able to enjoy the social activities arranged for future National AGM Weekends.  From us all Val, THANK YOU.

Great supper  after the AGM on Friday night……….

The NEC Meeting held on Saturday went along smoothly and your Region Chairs will no doubt send out a group email to you all advising of several issues raised and dealt with during the day. I was pleasantly surprised (seems a bit strange to say) when I was asked to remove myself from the meeting and upon returning was informed that I had been nominated by the Western Australia Region for Honorary Life Membership of the Australian Section and that is had been passed unanimously….  Thank you, it is a wonderful and very much appreciated honour to join the list of members previously awarded this award. Time to relax after the meeting NO, NOT ON YOUR LIFE……… Breaking News….. all Qantas flights cancelled and planes grounded…… There were phone calls going in all directions…. lap tops dragged out whilst everybody scrambled to try and find out what was happening………. We all know the story so we won’t go there….. At the time of my putting this onto the Website, we are all home or on the way home….. Thank you Virgin……

Other appointments for the next twelve months were for our National Editor Ray Newman (great job on the magazine Ray); National Travel Coordinator Jason Brewer (thanks for all the work Jason); and the Hobbies Bureau Secretary Mark Kibbler.  Mark has been working hard on the Hobbies area and is finding it a little frustrating that our members are holding back with their registering of hobbies interests.  It doesn’t matter what your interest is, comics, cycling, police memorabilia collecting, old books etc…. there are sure to be other members out there who are interested in what you do…..  easy to contact Mark… click on his email on either the National Officers page or the WA Region page and send him an email. Welcome to the two new Associate Secretaries – Dave Wells (Qld Region) now responsible for Hong Kong and Macau and, Brian Hansen (Qld Region) responsible for the Scandinavian and a couple of neighbouring countries (see list in PDU next month or on the Website).  Welcome Dave and Brian….. hope you enjoy the experience.

The Conference dinner at the Brassey was absolutely fantastic. Well presented – many members sent their appreciation messages to the chef.  The music provided was very apt for all age groups and we were also treated to a few songs from the very talented Ann Newman (Ray’s – National Editor – better half). It was beautiful Ann.  What an emcee our Mick Richardson makes, great job Mick, do you hire yourself out for weddings?

Sunday morning and off we went to the National Police Memorial for a service. Very personal and sole touching.  Doesn’t matter how many times you go there, it means a little more each time. The recruits reading out the names of departed colleagues was very touching.  Following the service, the Police Volunteers put on a brilliant breakfast for us and the display of Police vehicles went over very well.  Much appreciated and thank you to all who provided their time.

What more can I say….. amazing weekend…. hard to top…….  So, for our next National AGM Weekend, Queensland have taken up the offer to host 2012, South Australia in 2013, NSW in 2014 and, we are hoping to welcome Tasmania back into the rotation for 2015.  Our midyear NEB meeting in April next year will be held on Tasmania to give Fiona support in trying to rebuild the Tasmania Branch and bring it back to its previous Region status.  More details later.

Make sure you have a look at the booking area for the two IPA houses we now enjoy….  Melbourne and Miami on the Gold Coast.  The information and booking forms can be found at the top right of the website page under the link for Houses.  The other area you should be visiting regularly and providing input is the Forum – link same place at the top or the website.

Finally, thank you to all of the Region, Sub-Region and Branch executive members, Associate Secretaries and other members who have assisted along the way…. we couldn’t do it without the input each have made along the way…..

In friendship

Ross Pengilly
Assistant Secretary General

The Reception Committee does a great job in handling most requests from our visitors, but we need your help to maintain the current level of service.

We want to start a “pool” of IPA members, either serving on non, and draw on that pool when necessary to show visitors around. We are not concentrating on Sydney members – we need people all over the State to put their hand up.  We realise everyone is pretty busy these days, but we are only asking for whatever time you can spare.

As well as showing visitors around, if you would like to host an overseas guest, we would like to know that too.  Do you have a spare room or granny flat ??  Most of our visitors are serving or just retired police officers – so you may rest assured that they would trat you and your home with the utmost respect at all times.

If you are interested or have some spare time, please contact our Reception Officer Marcus Backway via email at (W) back1mar@police.nsw.gov.au  or (H) backers35@hotmail.com

The November 2011 Victoria Region Newsletter is now on the Website, left hand side of page in green area under Newsletters

Please note that the Region Meeting Minutes in future will be available on the Victoria Region Web Page, left hand side green area under Meeting Minutes…

October Minutes are available there now.

Bright is interested in corresponding with IPA Pen Pals from Australia. His hobbies include; hosting of IPA members, exchange of gifts, letter writing and travelling. 

Bright’s email –           brisack2003@yahoo.co.uk

Bright’s contact details –

Sgt Bright Sackitey

37 Police Barracks GH

P O BOX CT 3028

CANTONMENTS ACCRA

GHANA

MOB+233-244-746984

Res +233-302-767111

TIME: 1800 – 2000hrs
LOCATION: Tasmania Police Headquarters, Major Incident Room, Bathurst Street, Hobart.

Three presentations have been planned.

It is expected that the meeting will conclude at approximately 8pm. Dinner will follow at a local restaurant (location TBA).

Please note that the presentations and dinner are open to members, their partners and also any prospective members.

Please RSVP to Colin Riley (Deputy Chairperson) by the 1^st November 2011. Colin’s contact details are available on the Tasmania Branch Home Page.

Allan is a collector of police patches and badges. He is interested in making contact with other collectors who share this interest.

Email address - 

ajnilon@aanet.com.au