Honoured: The father of random breath testing, George Paciullo, has been honoured with a Medal of the Order of Australia Award.
FORMER Liverpool mayor and NSW police commissioner George Paciullo has been honoured with a Medal of the Order of Australia Award just months after his death.
He left behind a legacy of at least 15,000 lives saved through his implementation of random breath testing.
Fowler MP Chris Hayes made tribute to Mr Paciullo during a parliamentary sitting earlier this month.
"More than 700 mourners, including myself and my wife Bernadette, farewelled the man who made a tremendous contribution to the city of Liverpool and the state," he said.
"George was one of those politicians who was driven in his job purely for the purpose of serving his community.
"He is personally credited with the introduction of random breath testing, which by any measure, has saved many thousands of lives over the last 30 years."
In 1982 when Mr Paciullo was the chairman of the NSW Staysafe committee, the road toll for alcohol-related accidents averaged 1200 victims a year.
He was also a strong advocate for the rebuilding of Liverpool Hospital which, once complete, will be the largest hospital in the southern hemisphere.
He died in October last year at the age of 78.