Politics & Policy breakfast with Chris Dawson

Police Commissioner to Governor:  Chris Dawson’s Life of Duty

As Western Australia’s Police Commissioner and State Emergency Coordinator, Chris Dawson has just overseen two years that changed the world.

He never imagined his 46-year career would be capped off by a pandemic, which required him to police the forced lockdown of more than two million citizens and the enforcement of “hard” border laws dictating who could, or couldn’t, enter or leave the state.

From police cadet in 1976, to being appointed Commissioner in 2017, Mr Dawson has also been responsible for policing serious and organised crime, counter-terrorism and implementing  major reforms to the WA Police Force.

He lists the rescue of kidnapped Carnarvon four-year-old Cleo Smith as the emotional high throughout almost four decades of standing on the thin blue line.

Before becoming the Commissioner, Mr Dawson spent four years leading the Australian  Criminal Intelligence Commission based in Canberra. He has also been a director of the Australian Institute of Criminology.

In July, Mr Dawson begins a new and prestigious chapter when he hangs up his police uniform to become the 34th Governor of Western Australia.

BREAKFAST Wednesday 13 July

Grand Ballroom, Crown Perth