New Australian Museum of Policing to be paid for by criminals

The Morrison government is to announce $4.4 million on Friday, drawn from the proceeds of crime, to establish a permanent Museum of Australian Policing in 2023 near the National Museum of Australia on Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin.

An Australian first covering all policing jurisdictions, many of the initial planned exhibits will be drawn from the AFP Museum collection including the INTERPOL Red Notice of Australia fugitive Christopher Skase, diving suits and rescue equipment from the 2018 Thai cave rescue, forensic evidence retrieved from the 2002 Bali bombing and a 1974 Ford Falcon XB ACT Policing pursuit car.

"It's the first Museum of Australian Policing in the country and will showcase the history of state and territory law enforcement, plus the AFP,'' Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said.

"The general public and tourists will be able to see exhibits from some of the most significant police operations in our nation's history - the investigations led by the AFP not only captured the attention of Australians, but the world."

READ MORE

The wetsuits and face masks worn by the AFP divers during the sensational Thai cave rescue were recently exhibited at the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery.

The new national museum will also feature other exhibits from the AFP Museum collection including a door seized in Western Australia from a laboratory set up by the Japanese sect responsible for the 1995 deadly Tokyo nerve gas attack. The Aum Shinrikyo sect purchased a rural station in 1993 to conduct gas testing.

There'll also be a fiberglass drug boat which was split open by the AFP in 1998 to reveal it was carrying 225 1-kilogram blocks of cocaine worth an estimated $980 million at the time, as well as fragments of a panel from the Sofitel Magic Lagoon hotel in Khao Lak, Thailand that was destroyed in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

Evidence from the Bali bombing which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, include a drink coaster and an Irish flag from Paddy's Bar, fabric from the suicide vest and pieces of signage from the Sari Club.

The funding for the new museum comes from criminal assets confiscated and liquidated under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Since 2013, the Coalition government has distributed more than $209 million under the act.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: