Hundreds of federal police officers have formed a guard of honour to farewell Commissioner Reece Kershaw on his final day as Australia’s top cop.
Accompanied by his wife Michelle, Mr Kershaw used his marching out ceremony on Friday to warn of “diabolical” threats to the nation and reflect on his time as an officer.
He was appointed to the commissioner’s role in 2019 by then home affairs minister Peter Dutton, and Mr Kershaw still had a year left on his contract when he resigned to spend more time with his family.
At one point during his farewell speech, he read out the same paragraph twice.
“How nervous am I?” Mr Kershaw joked, to chuckles from the crowd.
Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett now takes over the AFP’s top job.
A piper played John Farnham’s You’re the Voice as Mr Kershaw left the force’s headquarters in Canberra for the final time, and staff formed a guard of honour to see him off.
The outgoing commissioner saluted his successor before the pair embraced.
“I know (Ms Barrett) has the strength of character, fortitude and the support of the workforce to triumph over the diabolical threats we face as a country,” he said.
In his address, Mr Kershaw praised officers across the nation, saying work in any police force has a lasting impact.
“Every one of us will have one of those jobs that never quite leave us,” he said.
“Often we are betrayed by a sound, a smell or a name that transports us back to that time.
“There is nothing more human than empathy, but it is also human to toughen yourself for the ugly jobs we know are coming.”
Mr Kershaw also reflected on some of the lighter moments of his career, including being sent to disrupt a supposed drug deal in the 1990s as an AFP sergeant.
He and his partner from WA Police ended up raiding a child’s birthday party.
“There’s a couple of grandmothers busy in the kitchen. There are balloons in the backyard,” he said.
“My West Australian police partner started yelling at a woman carrying a tray… he orders ‘put the effing fairy bread down’.
“We found the brown paper bag, which didn’t contain millions of dollars of illicit drugs, but instead, wait for it, a toy Power Ranger.
“It was not a moment we were proud of.”
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke praised Mr Kershaw’s leadership and expressed gratitude for his decades of service in the federal and Northern Territory police forces.
“There are a million small stories of safety and sovereignty which bear the fingerprints of Reece Kershaw,” he said at the ceremony.
“Australia says thank you to you.”
