WA POLICE Minister Paul Papalia served in the military for 26 years, during which time he worked as a navy clearance diver and was deployed to Iraq twice.
Mr Papalia also ran several small businesses with his wife before his entry into politics in 2007, when he was elected as Labor's representative for the now-abolished seat of Peel.
Perhaps not as well known is that his decision to contest the seat at a by-election was prompted by a tap on the shoulder by Western Australia's former Premier Mark McGowan.
Farm Weekly journalist BREE SWIFT asked the man behind the biggest overhaul of gun laws in WA's history a few questions about his life, views and plans for the Police portfolio in the future.
Question: Can you tell me about your upbringing?
What did your parents do?
Answer: I grew up in the South West dairy farming community of Burekup before joining the military at the age of 15.
I have a number of farmers in my family and I've always respected people who live on the land for their hard work and resilience.
Q: In 1978 you entered the Royal Australian Navy and served in the military for 26 years.
As a navy clearance diver, you served in the counter terrorist squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment and deployed on operations to Iraq on two occasions.
What qualities do you think your time in the military instilled in you?
A: Military service builds self-discipline, resilience and a capacity to work in a team.
Regularly leading teams in demanding, often life-threatening environments grows your ability to analyse tasks, assess risk and then develop and execute plans to achieve a good outcome.
Q: How did your experience in the military influence the views you hold as the State's Police Minister today?
A: I feel a great deal of admiration for our police officers, they sacrifice self interest in the service of others and that's a lot like the military.
Q: You left the military in early 2004 and became a small business owner with your wife.
What type of business did you have and what was this experience like?
A: We ran several businesses including small scale housing renovation and sub-division, laundromats and vending machines.
It taught me about the challenges small businesses are confronted with and means I will always appreciate and admire people who have the courage to buy or build business.
They effectively take responsibility for their own destiny.
Q: In February 2007 you were elected to represent the electorate of Peel at a by-election.
What prompted your decision to enter into politics?
A: I was approached and asked to consider pre-selection for the by-election by Mark McGowan.
Mark knew me from the navy and the by-election was in a seat adjacent to his.
I was not a member of a political party and had not planned to enter politics before that time.
It has been an adventure and I am grateful to Mark for having set me on this path.
Q: You've previously been the Minister for Tourism, Racing and Gaming, Small Business, Road Safety and Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs and now you are the Minister for Police, Corrective Services; Defence Industry and Veterans Issues.
Out of all the portfolio's you've held, past and present, which has been your favourite and why?
A: It's an honour to hold any ministerial portfolio but I am always completely focused on the job I'm currently doing.
Q: This Labor government has run a recruitment drive in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand to attract international police officers to WA's Police force.
Since this campaign, how many foreign police officers have joined the ranks of WA Police?
A: I led the overseas recruitment campaign in January this year and since then there have been 1300 applications to join the WA Police force.
Following application, officers are subjected to a rigorous selection process before having to meet Federal government demands for the visa application process.
So far, around 150 new recruits have either applied for or been granted Australian visas.
The first course of officers from the UK and Ireland commence training at the Academy in September.
Q: The Labor government is currently undertaking the biggest overhaul of firearms laws in Western Australian history.
The Primary Producers Firearms Advisory Board (PPFAB) was established in May this year to provide advice and feedback on firearms policy specific to farmers, growers and pastoralists.
How are the discussions going and are you close to finalising the details of the Primary Producers Firearm Licence?
A: The advisory board is made up of representatives from the WA Farmers Federation, Pastoralists and Graziers' Association of WA, Vegetables WA, Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen's Association, and Wines of Western Australia.
The input of these organisations has been invaluable and board members have expressed their support for the proposed changes.
Apart from the board meetings, the peak primary producers have had constant discussions with WA Police to inform development of the licence.
This work has been extremely positive, and detail of the licence will be finalised very soon.
Q: The State government's announcement that mandatory mental health checks will be introduced for WA's licensed gun owners received backlash from many of the State's licensed firearm owners.
What do you anticipate will be the frequency of these mental health checks and will there be the ability for people to complete these checks online?
A: A working group of specialists from the Mental Health Commission, the Department of Health, the Royal Australian College of GPs and others will develop a health check with a mental health component.
The group is considering the most effective way to complete the checks and will advise if telehealth appointments are a viable option.
It will very likely resemble similar checks required for a Heavy Haulage Driver's licence.
Q: For the Primary Producers Firearm Licence, how is the government defining a primary producer?
For example, will the definition incorporate the size or income of a farming property or will it be determined by how the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) views your business?
A: The intricacies of the Primary Producers licence are still being developed, in consultation with the advisory board however it is likely the ATO's ruling will influence licence types.
Q: Will the State's hobby farmers be restricted from owning firearms as part of the gun reforms?
A: Anyone with a genuine reason and reasonable justification who meets the legal requirements will be able to obtain a firearm.
Q: Do you have a rough estimate of how much a single firearm licence will cost under the new legislation?
And under the reforms, if you hold multiple firearm licences, for example both a primary producers firearm licence and a recreational firearm licence, will there be a cap or discount on the fees you have to pay for your licences each year?
A: Licences and associated costs are yet to be finalised.
Q: Through our discussions with members of the PPFAB, we've been informed a limit of 10 firearms is likely under the primary producer licence and a limit of five firearms for a recreational shooters licence?
How were these numbers determined?
A: No announcement has been made regarding firearm limits.
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Q: Do you anticipate there will be any issues which stem from the transfer of the State's property letters to an electronic system?
If so, how do you plan to mitigate these?
A: Western Australia's property letter system has been corrupted through the supply or sale of letters far above what landowners need for vermin control.
Several peak bodies representing primary producers called for the system to be overhauled.
Currently, some farmers say they can't stop strangers coming onto their land if a property letter was issued by a previous landowner.
That's not fair and the new legislation will give control back to the property owners.
Q: Is the WA Government aware of any other jurisdiction which has a digital system for property letters?
A: We currently have a legacy system which is manual intensive.
The intention will be to upgrade to a nation-leading level of tech.
Q: What is a professional goal you would like to achieve by the year's end?
A: I hope to have made the State a safer and better place to live through supporting the good work of our Police, Corrective Services, Defence Industry and Veterans Issues agencies.
Q: What is something people might not know about you?
A: Before deploying to the Iraq War, our Diving Team had to inject each other with the bubonic plague vaccine.
Q: Name something you haven't done that you would like to do?
A: Walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain.
