South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens is in the running to be named Australian of the Year after being nominated for the state award.
The commissioner, who was promoted to the top job in 2015, responded to the nomination with his trademark humour and humility.
“I had to double check it was someone having a lend of me… one of my staff trying to be funny,” he said.
“Turns out it was a genuine phone call.”
Stevens rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, but more recently was praised for his brave and powerful response to the death of his youngest son, Charlie, in a car crash during Schoolies week last year.
Despite the enormity of his loss, he and wife Emma have been courageously advocating for road safety and organ donation.
“It’s no longer just words on a piece of paper when you stand up and talk about the consequences of people losing their lives on the road,” Stevens said.
“I wish I didn’t have that perspective.”
Stevens says Emma has been instrumental in ensuring their message reaches a wide audience.
“She is the strong one of the two of us,” he said.
“She’s the one that’s really pushed some of the things we’ve been trying to achieve in terms of awareness… that’s all about Emma so she deserves as much recognition as me, I think.”
Stevens is one of four people in the running for SA’s Australian of the Year. If chosen for that honour, he’ll be in the running for the national award, although the commissioner isn’t getting ahead of himself.
“I’ve been nominated along with a professor, a rocket scientist and a doctor who does cancer research,” he said.
“That’s fairly high-level company.”
The winner of the South Australian Australian of the Year will be announced on November 7.
This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.
