Constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold were shot dead on December 12 last year, after attending a property at Wieambilla in the Darling Downs.
They attended the home with two other officers to carry out a welfare check, when they were ambushed by religiously motivated terrorists.
Neighbour Alan Dare was also killed when he went to investigate.
The suspects, Gareth Train, his brother Nathaniel, and his sister-in-law Stacey, were fatally shot by tactical police who entered the property hours later.
The family of Matthew Arnold today described the anniversary as a “day when incomprehensible evil murdered” their son and brother.
“Matt had no chance of survival on that day, and this makes his death so unfathomable.
“It is so cruel and unfair that we never got to say goodbye. We miss Matt’s laugh, kindness, empathy and willingness to help.
“These traits were what made him such an excellent police officer and made him love his job.”
The family said in a statement they missed the sound of his truck arriving in the driveway and his “bigger than life character” which had left a hole in their hearts.
“We also miss his pranks, ability to be the first to the pub, burrito rolling skills, sarcasm, cheeky looks and well-known bear hugs,” the statement said.
“Matt has been stripped of being able to attend shared triplet birthdays, family holidays and family occasions. We will miss him at these events for the rest of our lives.”
An inquest into the incident is slated to begin next year.
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Read the full statement from the Arnold family below:
The 12th of December 2022 is a day our family will never forget.
A day when incomprehensible evil murdered our beautiful son and brother, for simply doing his job.
Matt had no chance of survival on that day, and this makes his death so unfathomable. It is so cruel and unfair that we never got to say goodbye.We miss Matt’s laugh, kindness, empathy and willingness to help.
These traits were what made him such an excellent police officer and made him love his job.
We also miss his pranks, ability to be the first to the pub, burrito rolling skills, sarcasm, cheeky looks and well-known bear hugs. Matt has been stripped of being able to attend shared triplet birthdays, family holidays and family occasions. We will miss him at these events for the rest of our lives.
Most of all, we miss the sound of his truck arriving in the driveway, and him announcing he was home.
He was a bigger than life character, which has left a bigger than life hole in our hearts. On this day, and every day, we think of Rachel McCrow and her family. Every day we are in awe of Rachel’s bravery and courage.
We will forever stand with the McCrow family in the pain they feel with losing Rachel. We thank both of Matt and Rachel’s friends and colleagues who have shared stories about their friendship, work shenanigans and fierce board game battles.
We also remember Alan Dare on this day.To the evacuation team and Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) officers who attended on that day, we thank you for your bravery, and for allowing Matt to be returned to us.
Many of you were friends with Matt and Rachel, and we are sorry for what you had to go through on that day. Your names are etched in our brains forever, you are now family.We wish we could count down the days until we see Matty again, instead we will live our lives as he would want, making him proud and ensuring no one forgets him and his sacrifice.
The tears still flow freely and will forever sting, but we can’t wait to share stories with him over a drink, and some country music again one day.
