Commander Amanda Kates is the State Manager for Victoria and Tasmania of the Australian Federal Police. After service in the Royal Australian Navy, she joined the AFP in the 90's. She has served in many areas including specialist roles in national crime investigations and protection liaison.

The AFP has either a presence in, or has strong ties within, regions such as North and South America, Asia, South-East Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East as well as places closer to home such as PNG, the Solomon Islands and New Zealand.

Some of the work that the AFP gets involved in includes:

• Airport security.

• Child protection.

• Counterfeit currency.

• Cyber crime.

• Drug crime - cocaine is flooding the Australian market because criminals can make 5 times as much here compared to other countries.

• Fighting terrorism - the AFP works closely with the state police on terrorism. For example, they had been working with VicPol to monitor a potential terrorist attack in Melbourne. This led to the arrest of 3 men several days ago. 

• Fraud.

• Human trafficking - the AFP works hard to stop slavery, sexual servitude and child sex tourism.

• People smuggling - there are still hundreds of people trying to illegally reach Australia via boats. They are being stopped in Indonesia but Amanda fears that, if there is a change of government or policy, the boats will return to our shores.

• Proceeds of crime - After a long investigation, they recently conducted a drug raid which led to the arrest of several dealers and the confiscation of assets such as 2 Lamborghini's, 3 houses, various firearms and $8.5 million in cash.

• Peacekeeping - Amanda has been to Timor Leste and Sudan on peacekeeping missions.

• Close personal protection such as bodyguards for visiting royalty and many international dignitaries.

• Witness protection.

During 2017/18, the AFP was successful in:

• Confiscating $80 million in criminal assets.

• Reducing harm to Australians by assisting with successful transnational crime investigations to the value of $5.7 billion.

• Charging 58 people as a result of child protection investigations.

• Seizing over 17 tonnes of illicit drugs.

• Achieving a 98% court conviction rate.

120 officers were assigned to provide security for the recent APEC conference in PNG.

In addition to their international role, the AFP also provides community policing in the ACT. 

Some of the most notable international investigations that AFP officers have been involved in include:

• Bali bombings in 2002.

• Jakarta bombing in 2003.

• Downing of aircraft MH17 over the Ukraine in 2014.

• Rescue of the Thailand youth soccer team from the caves in 2018. 

Our venture into Bingo at the Italian Sports Club on a Monday night is proving to be fruitful. So far we have netted over $1500 and there is promise of much more to come as each week passes.

Regular patrons are delighted with our involvement, particularly because all proceeds will be distributed to the community.

A poster has been designed and will be circulated around the local businesses. We are also hoping to publish it in the local paper.

Click here to view the poster.

To all of those interested in getting together for a cutting and sewing working bee, and having a chin-wag at the same time, you are welcome to come along this Saturday to Mary Macaulay's place at 6 Kameruka Court, Werribee from 10am to 12pm.

This is the second session after the first one proved to be a lot of fun. You will be making wonderful bags from bits of fabric and filling them with small cosmetic items. 

So oil up your sewing machines and sharpen your scissors for another productive morning of fabric, fun and fellowship.

Footnote: Lyn Fava is asking everyone to save their milk bottle tops and deliver them to her. The tops will be melted down and made into prosthetic limbs by a local workshop for disabled children in under-privileged countries.

The Peace Through Service Conference is being held at the Melbourne Convention Centre on February 15th February 2019 as a forerunner to the Multi-District Conference on 16-17 February.

The early bird price for this exciting one-day event is $150. However, after 30th November, the price will be $200.

So, if you want to hear some inspiring and thought-provoking presenters speaking about ideas to promote international peace and harmony and to learn about how our club can become a Peace Builder club, please book now.

Click here to see the Peace Conference flyer.

Click here to see the Conference program.

Click here to visit the Conference registration page.

Our Christmas Dinner meeting will be held on Tuesday 11th December at Chirnsides By The River function centre which is part of the Werribee Football Club.

It promises to be a great night with fine dining and some fabulous entertainment provided by the much-loved Barking Dogs. Rumour is that the great man himself, Father Christmas, will also make an appearance.

We will also be having our traditional Kris Kringle. All attendees are invited to bring along one home-made or home-grown item as their gift.

The cost for the evening will be $60 per person with drinks at bar prices. We would love to have everyone's attendance to make it the best night possible. 

• It was good to see our Assistant Governor Julianne Bartels at our meeting and also Ophelia from Ghana who is a prospective member. Here is a happy snap of Julianne and Ophelia with Lyn and Mary.

• Well done to the Bunnings BBQ team who raised $860 last Thursday. As per new Bunnings regulations, they made sure that the sausage was placed on top of the onion. The final BBQ for the year will take place on Thursday 20th December. Your assistance would be appreciated.

• A number of the male members of the club ventured to the Murray Downs Golf Course at Swan Hill last weekend to engage in some "bonding" activities. It's fair to say that things got a little tense on the course at times. On one occasion, Rob Fava hit his ball out of the bushes but he got his ambitions mixed up with his abilities and the ball was seen flying between Ross Smith's legs. So it was decided that, from that point on, Ross should wear a safety vest to avoid any more incidents.

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