NHWQ 2013 State Rally

From the NHWQ State Office – 2013 NHW State Rally

November 11, 2013 at 10:23 am


More than 200 delegates gathered at the Ipswich Civic Centre on Saturday 2 November for the 2013 Neighbourhood Watch State Rally. The conference focussed on three key themes:

  1. Celebrating 25 years of NHW in Queensland;
  2. Implementation of the NHW renewal in line with the Government’s commitment; and
  3. Acknowledgement of the outstanding achievements of NHW volunteers and NHW police liaison officers.
Key speakers at the conference included Assistant Minister for Emergency Volunteers Ted Malone, Police Commissioner Ian Stewart and Ipswich City Mayor Paul Pisasale, who all reiterated the importance of NHW in the community and why it needs to continue into the future.
The conference was MC’d by Ash Mack of River 94.9fm who had the audience laughing throughout the day. On a more serious note, the 2013 NHW community volunteer and police liaison officer of the year awards were announced and this year’s winners are:
  • Kelly Barnes – Mount Isa NHW. Kelly embraced social media to reach more than 10,000 people on a weekly basis through the Mt Isa NHW facebook page. Kelly also features stories in the “Isa Watch” so everyone knows what is going on in and around “The Isa”.
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  • Senior Constable Amanda Dohrman – Wide Bay Burnett District. Amanda is a humble, but highly respected police officer who has been a NHW police liaison officer since December 2005. She has held different committee positions and has also organised regional conferences and initiated several training sessions, awards and family days.
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Both winners joined the Assistant Minister and Police Commissioner in the official cutting of the 25 year anniversary cake, which I must say was delicious. 
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Aspects of the renewed NHW model were presented by Superintendent Matthew Vanderbyl (Google Ad words and social media implementation status), Inspector Les Bulluss (Google Ad words), Senior Digital Officer James Kliemt (embracing social media) and yours truly (New NHW model explained).
The day culminated in a motivational speech by Paralympian Blake Cochrane. He inspired me and he showed us that even though the chips may be down, you can always fight back and make things better, for yourself and for those around you.
Congratulations to all the award nominees and recipients. IMG_0453  IMG_0432
Thank you to all the people who attended the conference from far and wide, to the organising committee and to those that provided in kind support to make it a successful day.
We here at NHWQ State Office appreciate the effort and resolve of so many volunteers who have given their time and energy to make Neighbourhood Watch a long term worthwhile program.
State Coordinator NHWQ