NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione has officially dedicated a Memorial Rose Garden at the Police Academy in Goulburn this morning, in honour of Mrs Beverley Ann Moroney.

The Commissioner was joined by former NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney, AO, APM, MA (Rtd), members of the Moroney family, friends, and colleagues, for the dedication in Goulburn today (Thursday 10 December 2015).

Mrs Beverley Ann Moroney, wife of former NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney, passed away on Sunday 24 May 2015, aged 70, after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Her unwavering support of her husband and care for their family during their various country postings, early in his policing career and later as Commissioner of Police, was always evident.

During his tenure as Police Commissioner, Mrs Moroney often travelled with her husband, where she visited many regional towns and small country police stations, always making an effort to check on the welfare of police officers’ families.

Mrs Moroney began work with a number of others to create the NSW Police Memorial Rose Garden on the grounds of the NSW Police Academy in 1987, when the former Commissioner was the Director of Training in Goulburn.

Her knowledge and passion for flowers, and roses in particular, encouraged the design of the garden, which was officially dedicated in February 1997.

Commissioner Scipione said the Memorial Rose Gardens are the perfect way to honour Mrs Moroney’s memory and her intrinsic connection to the NSW Police Force.

“Beverley Moroney was a much admired, widely respected and cherished member of the police family,” Commissioner Scipione said.

“She was known as a woman of warmth, grace and dignity, who genuinely cared for the many police families across the state.

“The Beverley Ann Moroney Memorial Rose Gardens will forever serve as a reminder of the devotion, sacrifice, and support family members offer our police, so they may continue to serve our community,” Commissioner Scipione said.

“I’m honoured to dedicate the gardens here today in recognition of Beverley’s service – her memory will live on in the grounds of the Police Academy.”

Following the dedication ceremony, Commissioner Scipione was joined by Education & Training Commander, Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy, and Commander of the Aviation Support Branch, Superintendent Mark Noakes, to unveil the PolAir 1 display, at the entrance to the NSW Police Academy.

PolAir1 was the first police helicopter to operate in Australia; it was considered state-of-the-art at the time of its official launch and its use, highly innovative.

The helicopter operated as part of the Aviation Support Branch from 1979, and was officially decommissioned in 2006.

PolAir1 was a key specialist resource utilised during several policing events including the Milperra shooting in 1984, Belanglo homicide investigations in the 1990s and Sydney Olympics in 2000.

“PolAir1 represents a significant milestone for the Aviation Support Branch, being the first owned and operated NSW Police aircraft in its history,” Commissioner Scipione said.

“Since its inception, PolAir1 provided invaluable policing support through search and rescue operations, drug eradication programs and investigative support via intelligence gathering. The permanent display at the Police Academy honours this contribution.

“The Aviation Support Branch continues to be an integral part of the arsenal of tools used in the fight against crime – providing a highly visible presence designed to prevent and detect offences and allow for a safe and secure New South Wales.”

Police are appealing for information into the whereabouts of a man wanted on several outstanding warrants.

Steven James Babic, 32, is wanted by virtue of outstanding warrants relating to break and enter offences.

He is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 170-180cm tall, a muscular build with short brown hair. He has a number of tattoos on his arms and shoulders.

He is known to frequent areas in the Australian Capital Territory and the Belconnen area.

Police warn the public that Mr Babic should not be approached.

Anyone who sees Steven James Babic or knows his current whereabouts is urged not to approach him but instead contact Triple Zero (000) immediately.

Police have suspended a woman from driving for six months after she was allegedly detected exceeding the speed limit by more than 45km/h on the Hume Highway, Jugiong with unrestrained children in the car.

About 4.45pm (Sunday 6 December 2015), police from the Gundagai Highway Patrol were conducting stationary speed enforcement on the Hume Highway at Jugiong when they detected a silver Kia Sportage allegedly travelling at 163km/h in a 110km/h zone.

Police stopped the vehicle and spoke to the 25-year-old female driver. The officers noticed two girls, aged eight and nine, in the back seat attempting to fasten their seat belts. They also saw a boy aged seven in the front seat without a seat belt.

The woman was breath-tested and returned a negative result.

Police issued a speed infringement notice and an infringement notice for each unrestrained child.

Police continue to appeal to all road users to obey basic road rules to avoid tragic consequences.

“The alleged irresponsible actions of this driver are exactly what we continue to warn against,” Assistant Commissioner John Hartley of the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command said.

“This could have ended in tragic circumstances in a split second. Speeding and having children unrestrained in a vehicle is completely unacceptable. The driver should have acted as a role model to the children she was driving but instead, she put them in harm’s way,” Assistant Commissioner Hartley said.

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione will officially dedicate a Memorial Rose Garden at the Police Academy in Goulburn this week, in honour of Mrs Beverley Ann Moroney.

The Commissioner will be joined by former NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney, members of the Moroney family, friends, and colleagues, for the dedication ceremony on Thursday morning (10 December 2015).

Following the dedication, Education & Training Commander, Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy, and Commander of the Aviation Support Branch, Superintendent Mark Noakes, will join Commissioner Scipione to unveil the PolAir 1 display, at the entrance to the academy.

Every time entrepreneur Frank Burke is on radio talking about resurrecting the Old Hume Highway the station plays Route 66, an anthem to North America’s famous highway.

But Mr Burke wants Australian music to promote the original route from Sydney to Port Phillip Bay in Victoria for fatigued drivers and tourists.

So he approached Geoff Mack who wrote “I’ve Been Everywhere”, a hit song released in 1962, to tweak the original with the chorus: “We are going everywhere on the Old Hume Highway.” The original singer, Lucky Starr, has re-recorded the classic track, managing to fit in the 86 towns along Australia’s most famous highway without missing a beat.

“We’re Going Everywhere” aims to raise awareness of communities bypassed by the new highway, such as Gunning, where Peta Luck and her daughter Laura Murphy bought the Old Hume Highway cafe in 2014.

The Luck family is descended from early European settlers in Gunning. Mrs Luck left the public service to re-connect with her community through the cafe, and says 50 per cent of trade comes from locals, the other 50 per cent are travellers from all over Australia.

“They turn off because they are sick of the service centres that just have McDonalds or KFC; they have heard we have great coffee in Gunning,” she said. “They get lamb burger with salad, lamb, Greek yoghurt, mint jelly and Spanish onion.”

Lots of grey nomads, car, motorbike and cycling clubs and commercial travellers wander in under pressed-metal ceilings looking for something other than pre-packaged fast food,.

“We do have a fair number of people who specify they want real Australian food. We employ 10 in this cafe, some are casuals who only get a couple of shifts a week, the little 14 and 15 year-olds. We get a lot of travellers who value that and want to be part of that,” Mrs Luck said.

A cafe since the Gunning bypass, the shop was a haberdashery and general store. The 1995 highway bypass emptied Gunning of much of its commerce, coinciding with a dark chapter for the village before a farmer’s wife, Melinda Medway, opened the Merino Cafe and later the Old Hume Cafe, resurrected the village’s famous lamb burger, and lured traffic off the new dual highway.

“After the trucks left, the town slowed down, the drought was terrible, we had [incurable sheep-wasting] Ovine Johne’s disease, some farmers were suicidal. On our property we buried 300 sheep,” Mrs Medway said.

A New Zealand company’s failed attempt to open a new service centre near the town was the last straw. “We thought we’d make the whole town a service centre to create employment,” Mrs Medway said.