Reports of verbal abuse and spitting at ADF members emerge from flood-affected regions

Victims of floods in northern NSW and southeast Queensland have reportedly been inflicting their personal grievances onto ADF personnel.

Vile reports of ADF personnel being spat on and verbally abused have surfaced in the aftermath of devastating floods that tore through northern NSW and southeast Queensland.

Anger that initially brewed online as locals became frustrated over a lack of state and federal support has now spewed into real-life, with at least one defence member being spat on.

Steve Patterson, the head of NSW State Emergency Service’s Northern Command, told ABC News the rancid behaviour was entirely unacceptable.

“A Defence member that I’ve been working with quite closely right throughout the flood, who was in Lismore in uniform, was spat upon by a member of the public,” Chief Superintendent Patterson told the network.

“That’s just behaviour that is almost beyond my understanding at any point, but let alone when these members have been out there working so hard.”

Flood victims have reportedly been taking their anger out on members of the ADF. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

There have been several reports of division between community members and uniformed workers in the wake of the disaster, with locals arguing the help was too little and came too late.

Scenes of ADF members helping in the clean-up were enough to get a rise out of some locals, with a woman who spotted a group having a break calling them “****ing wankers” in a video.

She pulled out her camera and began filming after seeing them parked up outside a fast-food chain, captioning the video, “Working hard I see boys. Feeding their faces at Chinderah KFC clean as! So mum had to give them a spray.”

Another video, filmed by a Northern NSW local, sparked anger after it appeared to show ADF personnel in the midst of a PR photo shoot in the flooded region.

One officer (not pictured) has been spat on. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

“They’re filming themselves, look at them, emptying out a trailer full of rubbish onto the side of the road,” the man filming was heard saying in the video, which was uploaded to Reddit.

“This is what’s happening, they’re filming themselves. Look at them. This is unbelievable.”

The man then sarcastically told the officers: “Doing a good job guys, that trailer isn’t going to empty itself is it? Make sure you get it filmed.”

Following the backlash, ADF Major General David Thomae defended the organisation’s response, saying it had acted as fast as it could.

“I think we have done all that we can within the conditions we have been faced with,” he said.

“It is not just an ADF response, it is the local government and local emergency services who were working very hard over the last week. We support them.”

There is concern negative attitudes towards emergency responders will have lasting effects on ADF personnel. Picture: Nathan Edwards

The ABC reported several ADF personnel, speaking on the condition of anonymity, had been targeted by flood victims in the NSW Northern Rivers.

People in uniform had been forced to absorb the personal grievances of those who experienced losses in the floods, according to the report.

Chief Superintendent Patterson warned people with social platforms against shaming ADF personnel and expressed concern over the impact negative attitudes would have on responders’ mental health.

“I would just ask them if they have a platform, if they have a profile, just to reflect on the fact that the tone and the content of the information that is being put out there can have a really profound effect on people who are just really working their guts out,” he said.

Originally published as Reports of verbal abuse and spitting at ADF members emerge from flood-affected regions