What is an AFP Close Personal Protection member’s life worth?

Like many around the world, I was shocked by the recent assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump.

I do not care what side of the political sphere you sit on, the attempted murder of anyone is heinous and needs to be called out. This type of action has no place in our democracies.

As I watched the footage, I immediately thought of my very own members within the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Close Personal Protection teams. It reminded me, yet again, that I have members who would do the same actions in guarding someone under their care and protection.

In fact, every one of my sworn members, police and protective service officers, would do exactly that. They would protect that person with their life, and being blunt and brutal, they are potentially ‘sitting ducks’ and ‘human shields’ waiting for that bullet or shrapnel to enter their body and spill their life while they save the person they are paid to protect.

Yes, I am looking at you and your political colleagues, Mr Albanese.

In reflection of recent events, I am even more astonished by media reports regarding politicians and their safety. It was only a few weeks ago that we experienced four protesters breaching and getting onto the roof of Parliament House in Canberra.

Let us change the scenario. What would have happened if those four protesters were armed with high-powered firearms and started shooting? How quickly would the AFP, including ACT Policing, have been able to respond?

It ultimately comes down to a resourcing issue, and is not a criticism of anyone, it is a simple question.

Just because it has not happened to date does not mean it could not happen in the future. We live in uncertain times. There are a large number of questions that need to be answered about that incident, and resourcing of the AFP is one of those, along with the budget.

Politicians from all sides of politics, from both the Senate and House of Representatives, are concerned about their security, and given recent events, they should be. At the recent Senate Estimates, the AFP Commissioner is on record stating that reports involving safety concerns against politicians are ever-increasing.

We have recently seen several electorate offices maliciously damaged in Melbourne. It is probably going to get worse before it gets better. I have personally spoken to a number of politicians about security concerns, and I have even lambasted a few for not reporting incidents or concerns to the AFP.

I am now asking myself the question, what is an AFP Close Personal Protection member’s life worth?

Personally, you cannot put a price on a life, and these are the same officers that protect the Prime Minister, his political colleagues, and at times, their families, with their lives. They are the same police officers who will be accompanying politicians around the country and stand between them and danger.

Yet these politicians seem content to think it is okay that their protectors are the lowest base-paid police officers in the country.

I do not like using the term, but my AFP Close Personal Protection members are ‘human shields’, and I don’t believe that politicians understand this.

Luckily for them, my members are highly professional and maintain the oath or affirmation they took when being sworn in. It matters for them, and what are their thanks and rewards from the AFP and the government? It is to be the lowest base-paid police officers in the country.

Looking at the bigger picture, police officers across Australia start a shift, and there is a chance they could never come home. I do not think politicians understand this. The politicians do not understand and recognise the sacrifice many of my members make. If they did, my members would not be the lowest bas-paid police officers in the country, and they would have support for life as military personnel get.

We have heard many times during recent enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations that the AFP cannot afford to pay members more. Our solution is to exempt the AFP from the efficiency dividend and general public sector wage policy and use that money to fund pay rises. It is ridiculous that the government asks the AFP to comply with an efficiency dividend in the first place. Do you think that organised crime and drug cartels have their hands tied by an efficiency dividend?

Police officers are society’s ‘band-aids’, yet they are often despised by the same people who call them when things turn bad. You do not call the police when you or someone else is having a good day. They are tasked to go in and sort out dangerous situations ranging from family violence, fatal traffic collisions, homicides, suicides, child exploitation and sexual assault, just to name a few. If you think policing is an easy job, you are kidding yourself.

I am asking the government and all politicians to step up, give some consideration, and reflect on what the AFP and its members do. It should be a personal thing for politicians, and they should want the people who protect them and are willing to lay their lives on the line for them to be looked after and paid well.

If you don’t want to take that step, then next time one of our members makes the ultimate sacrifice in the protection of our community, country, or in the protection of your life, look yourself in the mirror, and ask yourself the hard question, did I really have their backs?

Alex Caruana, president of the Australian Federal Police Association.