New Story September 22 2016

 

In introducing his cousin, Detective Superintendent Greg Hough APM, Chairman for the evening, Rotarian Merv told how he had on many occasions tried to have Det. Supt. Hough come too address the Club; however work commitments both at home and overseas had made it impossible until now when Greg is on vacation.

    Merv told of Greg's family farm at Jindivick being compulsory acquired for the construction of the Tarago Reservoir which meant that the family had to move away from the district.  The family of the young Hough moved back to Warragul where he attended Kinder and did all of his schooling.

    Merv told that Greg was not the most driven young scholar and a teachers report which suggested that he probably need not continue his schooling resulted in his parents deciding that a career in the police force would not only provide a job but also his continuing education could be better managed by them. Teachers in the audience cringed at a professional making predictions about a teenager's capacity to learn, justifiably when Greg now holds a Master's Degree in his field of anti-terrorism and forensic policing.

 

Greg said that the decision to enter the force as a 17 year old cadet was one that not only had he never once regretted, but it had introduced him to one of the most rewarding vocations he could ever have imagined on that day in 1974.

    "The friendships, the experiences, the opportunities and the contribution a police officer could make to the community where unimaginable rewards for service". However he noted that there was a dark side to his work as it brought him into contact with some of the worst in humanity and he has been a first hand witness to some of the worst Australian and world tragedies with horrific scenes and resultant traumatic experiences for both police and victims, which required enormous composure, skill and resilience by him and the teams he led.

    Graduating as a young constable he was assigned duties in the inner city and Coburg police station. In this capacity he undertook the normal duties “of a cop on the beat”, a day at the football or cricket as a young officer wasn’t a bad outing, however the work of tackling crime and seeing the distress that it caused victims was always in the forefront for young Constable Hough.

    During this time he worked undercover for a period, growing his hair and a beard, and wearing shabby clothing, it was a particularly stressful task as any slip that revealed his identity could result in him being harmed or worse.  However, by now he had decided that he wanted to enter the Homicide Squad and in his more than 6 years with the Squad he was part of investigative teams that dealt with some 150 murders and suspicious deaths.

   

Despite his now extensive experience Greg freely admits that nothing prepared him for the devastation he would experience following the 2002 Bali bombings and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Thailand.

    The now Inspector Hough had only just moved to the Forensic and Coronial Squad when he was deployed to lead the Victorian contingent of Forensic and Coronial work in Bali where 202 people were killed. This was the first overseas deployment of any Australian policing team and it was not long before he was asked to take over the whole management of the teams of police and scientists from 23 countries.

   Greg praised the work of the Indonesian officials despite what appeared from the outside a level of less than perfect response by them. He said one needs to put it into context the levels of experience, the naturally occurring chaos and the sheer magnitude of the task which required resources that did not exist.

    He also spoke of both the horror felt by the Balinese people at what had happened and the sorrow they had not only for their own but for all those victims and families. Some of the voluntary work and contributions they made were outstanding. “They are lovely people”, he said

    Detective Superintendent Hough received his OAM for his work over two rotations to Bali. But even after witnessing this tragedy and thinking he had seen the worst, he was still not prepared for what he witnessed on his deployment to Thailand after the Tsunami in 2004.

    On December 26, 2004, waves reaching speeds of 800 kilometers an hour and 30 metres high hit the coast of Thailand. Nearly 300,000 people from 12 countries were killed, including 26 Australians. 1.7 million people were left homeless. Again Greg praised the local’s response saying it was outstanding in the context of inadequate resources, sheer chaos and the destruction of infrastructure. His team were responsible for the searching of nearly 150 kms of coastline, searching incredibly damaged properties and the retrieval and subsequent identification of around 2500 deceased.

    In both Bali and Thailand he said nothing could prepare him or his teams for the challenges they would face. There were enormous cultural issues that imposed themselves on the work, simply securing sights to prevent evidence contamination or even disappearance was a major concern. Greg spoke of media, political and families of victims putting pressure on the investigators and often criticising what they saw as a lack of progress and the speed of investigations. He understood this, but no one understood fully the conditions, and investigative requirements that are necessary to satisfy coronial reports.

    By far one of the biggest challenges and hugely important roles as the Manager was to look after both himself and his teams, as they were witnessing scenes and victim trauma never before experienced and for which nothing could ever prepare them, their own wellbeing and mental health was of paramount importance.

    Greg's experience in Bali made him feel that he wanted to work in counter terrorism as he felt that the need to protect his fellow Australians was an emerging urgency and so, in 2007 he moved to the counter terrorism and emergency management department. His role there has included training police from Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, England, New Zealand, and Singapore and in late 2010 he returned to Indonesia to train high-ranking members of the Pakistani police and Ministry of Interior personnel.

    He has also had to take part in intensive training for himself and most recently he has attended courses in both Montreal and Washington.

    He concluded the presentation of his work by recounting his involvement after Black Saturday around Healesville. The work undertaken by his team in conjunction with the military involved the extensive search of some 9000 properties, and pieces of debris. No stone was left unturned as they searched and recovered evidence in the three weeks given to them to conclude their work. In doing this, more than one search was conducted covering all the ground again to make sure nothing was missed. The teams finished their work in 17 days and nothing was missed.

    Greg Hough said that he was both grateful and privileged to undertake his policing work of the past 40 years. On that day in January 1974, as he walked into the gates of the Police Academy, he could never imagine the friendships, and experiences both good and bad that were going to be a part of his journey ‘to a front row seat to the world'.

    He told those assembled that despite the challenges, trauma and demands of modern day policing he would not hesitate in recommending a career in the Police Force to any young man or woman contemplating such a course.

 

    Chairman Merv made a presentation to Greg on behalf of the Club and he said how incredibly proud he and the rest of the family were of what their cousin had achieved for himself and Australia.

    President Sharryn also expressed the Club’s gratitude for a presentation that was both powerful and evocative and was amongst, if not the most brilliant presentation of a guest speaker in her time as a Drouin Rotarian.

    These comments were echoed by the applause of one of the biggest attendances seen in a long time at a Club meeting, from an audience that sat enthralled and fascinated by the presentation.