Hon. Tony Abbott, Leader of the Opposition.
Ministerial colleagues Robert McClelland, Joe Ludwig and Brendan O'Connor, my Parliamentary Secretary, Kate Lundy.
Representatives of the Australian Parliamentary Friends of Police Group, Chris Hayes MP and Senator Stephen Parry.
Federal Police Commissioner Tony Negus and all your fellow State and Territory police leaders.
Vince Kelly, President and Mark Burgess, CEO of the Police Federation of Australia, and your union colleagues from around the nation.
Most importantly - to our National Police Service Medal recipients and your families
It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to Parliament House.
I welcome you today as Prime Minister.
But I also welcome you as the proud daughter of parents who were both police officers.
And I approach today's ceremony knowing this is our opportunity to pay the highest respect for who you are and what you do for our nation's safety and security.
Our opportunity to pay this respect anew with the first National Police Service Medals.
Friends, everyone who wears the uniform in any of our military, police or emergency services does so because they are honoured to serve.
They do not seek recognition.
But a grateful nation must be always ready to provide recognition.
Friends, this award has its origins in a long-held belief among our police community that officers should be recognised for the quality of their work, not just the length of their tenure.
It is a belief that this Government shares.
We embodied that belief in an election commitment four years ago.
And it has finally come to fruition today.
It has admittedly been a long journey.
Deciding the criteria and rules for any award is never as easy as it first appears.
The Police Federation of Australia have been making submissions to Government to establish this medal since 2004 and I pay tribute to their persistence and resolve.
You have succeeded in your mission, and the nation owes you its thanks.
I also express my gratitude to current and former colleagues John Faulkner, Joe Ludwig, Kate Lundy, Brendan O'Connor and Bob Debus for helping to see this commitment through.
Most importantly, I honour Rick Steinborn and James Cheshire for their work on designing the medal and ribbons.
Both serving officers.
A medal designed by police for police.
A fact that makes this award all the more significant as it assumes its rightful place in the Australian Honours system.
Friends, this is not a medal to measure the length of service alone.
This medal is also a measure of the quality of that service.
Of the many thousands of police officers whose service and commitment warrant this recognition, today we recognise 16 officers who set the benchmark for ethical and diligent service.
Sixteen police officers who have dedicated their lives to serving their community.
But more than an award for service past, the National Police Service Medal is also a commitment to the future, because this medal also commits the recipients to maintaining the standards they have set in order to retain the medal.
The National Police Service Medal sends a strong message of support to the 50,000 men and women who serve across this country.
They are the men and women who keep our communities safe and allow fellow Australians to go about our lives with the freedom we cherish.
It is true that we sometimes take for granted the responsibility that goes with putting on the uniform.
We can forget that it means sacrifice and you only have to look at the memorial across the lake and ponder the 749 names inscribed there to understand the depth of that sacrifice.
We can also forget the strains and demands that are the daily obligation of every police officer.
Being called out in the middle of the night to witness families torn apart by violence and discord.
Knocking on the door of a family home to tell parents a son or daughter has died in a car accident.
Working, sometimes for years, to crack cases so that victims of crime can see justice done.
Police officers rarely know what each working day will bring.
They see the best of human nature and also the darkest.
They investigate.
They counsel.
They console.
And then, after all they see and all they experience, they go home to their own families and contribute more to our society as partners, parents, friends and community members.
It is not so much a career as a vocation.
A call to service that requires commitment and demands excellence.
The medal recipients we honour here this morning represent the best of Australian policing.
These officers have given their nation the ethical and diligent service that befits the uniform they wear.
I thank you all for setting an example for other officers to follow and for living up to the trust your community places in you.
Today we award the first, honouring 16 outstanding Australia police officers and beginning a tradition that will last for decades and perhaps even centuries to come.
I know our nation will never be short of worthy recipients.
And our police will always have our gratitude and our respect.