Life membership for association trio

Few would ever think of Police Association president, Peter Alexander, struggling to get his words out at a packed union conference. Most know him as a tough but measured union boss, solicitor and former detective sergeant, who stops at nothing to advantage working cops.

But the award of life membership to his beloved union was enough to crack the normally emotion-resistant exterior of this giant of Australian police unionism.

From more than 70 association committee members, delegates and members came a standing ovation, after they voted at their October AGM to bestow the award on the leader they had so long revered.

PASA treasurer, Mick Standing, receives his life membership badge from Secretary Andy Dunn.

Association vice-president, Trevor Haskell, who brought a motion for the award, spoke of Mr Alexander as invaluable to the local, national and international police communities.

“Peter has fostered good relations with all political parties and created a positive public image for the policing profession and police unionism,” he said. “He has used his skills of negotiation to improve the working conditions of all police officers.”

Overwhelmed after the delegates’ passed the motion unanimously, Mr Alexander, 57, strained to utter just a few words between long pauses in which he tried to contain his emotion.

“I get somewhat emotional about that,” he said, as his voice quavered. “The association has been very good to me...”

Politicians and union leaders from across the nation and around the world were quick to pay tribute and offer congratulations to Mr Alexander, who also serves as president of the Police Federation of Australia.

State Opposition leader, Rob Kerin, said Mr Alexander - an APM recipient - had been an outstanding advocate for SA police officers. “His dedication, professionalism and engaging manner have gained him enormous respect from not only both sides of politics, but also the wider community,” he said.

CLEAT (Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas) president, Ron DeLord, said Mr Alexander had led the PFA to “national recognition and respect by the government”.

“Peter was a uniting force that rallied other police union leaders to believe the PFA was the right idea at the right time,” he said from Austin, Texas. “He has blended street experience as a detective sergeant with being PASA president, and has guided the union through four enterprise agreements.”

PFA chief executive officer, Mark Burgess, insisted that “there’s no ego in Peter Alexander”, whom he described as the elder statesman of Australian police unionism.

“As a police advocate, he is very well-recognized and -respected - from the Prime Minister down,” he said. “And none of what he does is about Peter Alexander. It’s all about getting a better deal for our 50,000 members.”

Mr Burgess also credited Mr Alexander with establishing the PFA in Canberra, and making it the “voice of policing in Australia”.

Mr Alexander, awarded life membership for “special, long and distinguished service” to the Police Association, spoke after the AGM of his extreme pride in receiving the award.

“It’s very significant to me personally,” he said. “I’ll absolutely treasure it - like no other award I’ve ever received. The association has, outside my family, been the closest thing to me.”

Known for his self-effacing manner, Mr Alexander insisted that the association had given him “far more than I’ve given it”.

“The association has given me a wonderful opportunity to be involved in something that is important to police officers and their families,” he said. “I’ve been pleased to be part of a team that has brought significant improvement in police wages and conditions, and to the services the association provides.”

Mr Alexander, who joined SAPOL in 1967, served two terms as an association delegate in the 1980s, before his election to office as a committee member in 1987. He became vice-president in 1989 and the first full-time president in 1991.

Also awarded life membership at the AGM were Police Association deputy president, Nick Pippos, and treasurer, Mick Standing. Mr Alexander described both officials as loyal association men with great concern for “the street cop”.

He said their willingness to play the devil’s advocate on every issue before the committee, and make hard decisions, had helped set up the association for the future.

“Nick’s long term as my deputy has given the organization stability,” he said. “He’s outcome-driven, and has had the capacity to deal with issues without being emotionally involved. So issues have never fazed him.”

Humbled by the honour, Mr Pippos, 56, said he felt an unworthy recipient compared to those life members who, in the early 1900s, struggled to found the association. He said his proudest achievement was to have helped bring the association out of troubled financial times in the early 1990s.

“In those days, we had a deficit of something like $400,000,” he explained. “It was a hell of a worry.

“With the good work of not just me but all of us back at that time, we built it up to a positive account. Now, we’re well and truly in the black and a very financial organization.”

Mr Pippos, a detective senior sergeant and officer-in-charge of the Technical Support Section, joined SAPOL in 1967.

He won election to the association committee in 1988 and served a two-year term as treasurer to 1996, when he became deputy president. He has also served the Police Club since 1986 - first as a committee member and, from 1988, as its president.

Guests at the conference dinner toast the award recipients.

Mr Standing, 57, came in for high praise from Mr Alexander, who said his treasurer had had a great passion for the association “all of his working life”.

“He’s got a heart of gold and is a genuinely caring person,” he said. “And he has had a strong interest in maintaining all of the entities that the association originally set up, from the Police Health Fund to the Police Credit Union.”

Mr Standing said that, as a union official, his aim had always been to improve the lot of his fellow officers, rather than seek awards. But, deeply moved by the honour, he described life membership as “the best thing that has happened to me in 40 years in the police”.

He said that, as a committee member, he had delighted in the association’s success - without the loss of any working conditions - in all of its enterprise agreements. Also a source of pride to him was the association’s march on Parliament House in the pay campaign of 1991.

“That was a mighty achievement,” he said. “To be part of that, and to show the politicians that the Police Association was a meaningful body to its membership, was just a huge effort.

“The association has given me the courage to carry on, because you see results for your efforts. When you see a group of people who can sit around the boardroom table, discuss an issue, and get a result that’s positive for the membership... that’s great.”

Mr Standing, a Major Crime detective sergeant, joined SAPOL in 1964. He served as an association delegate in Port Augusta from 1975 to ‘78, and won election to the committee in 1990. He has served as treasurer since 1996.

Mr Alexander presented his co-award recipients with life membership badges and framed certificates at the association’s annual conference dinner on October 19. Vice-president, Trevor Haskell, presented the same tokens to Mr Alexander, who received a second standing ovation.

Before the three men received their awards, the association had granted life membership to only 35 members since 1911. The last to receive it were long-time delegate, Senior Sergeant Ken Garvie (ret), and former vice-president, the now late David Neale, in 1999.

Messrs Alexander, Pippos and Standing all intend to stand for re-election to their respective offices early next year.