Bruce and Denise Morcombe prepare for 20th anniversary of the Day for Daniel

Bruce and Denise Morcombe never gave up on finding Daniel or the monster responsible for taking their boy. Twenty-one years later, they refuse to give up on Daniel’s legacy.

Bruce and Denise Morcombe are preparing for the 20th anniversary of the Day for Daniel.

Bruce and Denise Morcombe are growing roses – Daniel Morcombe Roses.

“We’ve got 50 pots and they’re looking so great,” Bruce, 65, says.

“Gardening helps me relax, and we love giving them away.”

The couple are at home on the Sunshine Coast preparing for the 20th anniversary of the Day for Daniel – a national day of action for child safety – beginning with the 4km Walk for Daniel their son wasn’t able to complete himself from Woombye to Palmwoods.

“It’s always a hard day,” Denise, 63, says.

“Especially when we walk through the banner that has a big image of Daniel on it. That’s always difficult.”

Daniel Morcombe was abducted from a Sunshine Coast bus stop on December 7, 2003.

It was December 7, 2003, when Bruce and Denise’s 13-year-old son, a boy who loved his family, friends, motorbike and ponies, was abducted while waiting to catch a bus on the Sunshine Coast to buy Christmas presents and murdered that day.

It would be eight agonising years before Daniel’s body was finally found following the largest criminal investigation in the history of Queensland.

“One thing Denise and I said, way back 20-plus years ago when we lost Daniel and we had no answers at all, we said, ‘Whoever took Daniel picked on the wrong family’. And
20-plus years later, we still stand by that. We never gave up on finding Daniel. We never gave up on finding who was responsible. And we will never give up on his legacy,” Bruce says.

Repeat child sex offender Brett Cowan was found guilty of Daniel’s murder in 2014 and sentenced to life in prison.

The first Day for Daniel was held in 2005. This year Bruce and Denise are expecting about 2000 people to attend on October 25 this year.

The Daniel Morcombe Foundation was established in 2005 and the first Day for Daniel held the same year. About 90 people turned up to walk alongside Bruce and Denise that day to show their support and raise awareness about child safety. Over the years that number has steadily grown and this year, on October 25, they are expecting about 2000.

Every parent of school-aged children across the country knows to have a red shirt ready for the Day for Daniel – the same colour he was wearing the day he disappeared.

Testament to the extraordinary legacy Bruce and Denise have built, the event has become Australia’s largest child safety education and awareness day, helping to prevent child abuse and promote lifelong health and wellbeing.

Lessons cover everything from grooming and predatory behaviours, body parts and body awareness, help seeking strategies and boundaries to consent, bullying, cyber safety and more. Last year alone, 7210 schools and two million people participated.

Everywhere they go across the country to promote child safety, Bruce and Denise are stopped by people wanting to shake their hands, give them a hug or pay for their grocery bill.

Sometimes they remember them visiting their school or buying them something special through their victims of crime program.

Sometimes they share their own story of abuse or loss.

Sometimes they just break down and cry.

Denise still feels the pain of the loss of Daniel physically.

“It’s always there, that pain in the chest,” she says. “When we have Christmas and birthdays, it’s always difficult. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day too.”

“We think of him every day,” Bruce says.

For 20 years, the couple who experienced every parent’s worst nightmare have dedicated themselves to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, addressing the ever-changing threats to child safety.

Bruce and Denise Morcombe have thrown their support behind renewed efforts to introduce a public register for child sex offenders in Queensland. In will be known as Daniel’s Law.

Despite their hard work, they believe the world is a more dangerous place now for children than it was 20 years ago due to technological advances and social media.

“We need the lifting of the age restriction for social media because kids can’t protect themselves alone … There’s so much damaging material,” Bruce says. Legislation for an age minimum for social media is set to be introduced by the federal government by the end of the year. The Morcombes are hopeful the opportunity to mandate an appropriate age won’t be wasted.

“We’re happy with 16 most definitely, and if there needs to be a compromise maybe 15, but nothing less,” Bruce says. “Their minds are not mature enough and they’re not responsible enough at 12, 13 and 14 in our view … the kids can be talking to anybody in the world.”

In September, the couple also threw their support behind renewed efforts to introduce a public register for child sex offenders in Queensland.

In what would be known as Daniel’s Law, the LNP has pledged to implement the register if it wins the upcoming state election, while Labor has also flagged its support for a register similar to those in place in Western Australia and South Australia.

For Bruce and Denise, it’s been a long time coming. “We’ve been beating that drum for 15 years or more … It seemed to be on the backburner but it’s come back into talks and discussions and we think it’s going to happen, so never say never,” Bruce says.

Along with fighting for the causes they believe in, Bruce and Denise have worked hard to ensure the Daniel Morcombe Foundation is at the forefront of child safety in Australia and providing up-to-date resources for children, parents, schools and communities. In a new development, they are looking to expand their annual child safety lessons from primary schools into high schools next year.

“It’s early days, but it will likely look at AI and sextortion for the young teenagers and it’s about providing the best education in a worrying, trending area. We know by talking to different people that it’s an emerging situation that is going to be a problem so we’re going to do what we can,” Bruce says.

Bruce and Denise Morcombe have started stepping back from their duties with the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.

Recently, Bruce and Denise have started stepping back from their duties with the Daniel Morcombe Foundation. Although they will always remain heavily involved, the time has come to allow a new generation to continue their important work.

“Our official term these days is brand ambassadors,” Bruce says. “We are still the drivers at the foundation to make sure that Daniel’s legacy is on track where the family wants it to go, but I have now passed 65 and it’s a wake-up call … I’m not necessarily saying we want to retire. We have things to do and things to achieve, but we’re happy with the balance we’ve got while also having a little bit of downtime to do some gardening and spend time with the grandkids.”

Bruce and Denise Morcombe with their grandchildren Winston, 8, Elsie, 3, and Iris, 1.

Family is close by with Daniel’s twin brother Bradley, 34, and his older brother Dean, 37, both based on the Sunshine Coast with their families. Bruce and Denise see their three grandchildren including Bradley and his wife Anna’s son, Winston, eight, and Dean and his wife Alice’s two girls, Elsie, three, and Iris, one, almost every week.

“They love to play chasey and all of us got on the trampoline the other day,” Denise says.

They become lighter talking about their grandchildren. They start recalling the day Elsie was born – remarkably, on the Day for Daniel three years ago. “Alice went into labour as the Walk for Daniel was in progress. We saw Dean and Brad run back the other way to get her to hospital. She wasn’t due for another couple of weeks,” Denise says.

“It was unbelievable,” Bruce says. “It could have been tomorrow, it could have been the day before, but no, she came during the walk.”

Back in the garden, dragon lizards have been eyeing off Bruce and Denise’s roses – a variety known for its beautiful light fragrance and velvety blooms released by Knight’s Roses in 2014 to honour Daniel’s memory.

“I’m going to take the pots into the office today,” Bruce says. “To keep them safe.” ■

The Day for Daniel is on October 25.
For more info and child safety resources visit danielmorcombe.com.au