Police gatecrash Ben Carroll’s Werribee press conference amid ongoing bitter pay dispute

Frustrated officers have disrupted the acting premier’s press conference in Werribee in a defiant display amid the ongoing pay dispute, sending a chopper to circle the event while slamming the inaction as a ‘joke’.

Police have gatecrashed a state government press conference to highlight their ongoing bitter pay dispute, with a chopper sent up to circle the media event from above.

Acting Premier Ben Carroll was in Werribee on Tuesday morning to spruik free books given to the prep class of 2025, but the announcement was quickly overshadowed by local cops who turned up outside the Wallaby Childcare Centre.

The government was ultimately forced to move the location of its press conference in a bid to avoid having police cars – sprawled with slogans about poor work conditions – appear in footage being captured by news cameras.

Two police cars remained parked outside the centre for the duration of Mr Carroll’s visit, while the AirWing circled laps from above in a defiant minutes-long display.

Mr Carroll said the government did everything it could to support Victoria Police members amid the ongoing dispute.

Constable Karlaine Taylor, Senior Constable Grace Buckley and acting Sergeant Mark Bradley took their pay fight to the acting Premier at Wallaby Childcare. Picture: Mitch Clarke

“We are committed to giving our police every resource, including a pay rise,” he said.

“Pleasingly, the matter is back now at Fair Work for conciliation later this week.

“We want to see this resolved.”

The Herald Sun understands the AirWing helicopter was returning from a job when it began to circle above the media scrum.

Police union boss Wayne Gatt said the crew in the chopper were “probably searching for a fair pay rise to be honest”.

“Our members are out there searching for a pay deal. At the end of the day they want this dispute to come to an end quickly but they’ve come to realise the only place the government is probably going to listen to them is in the electorate of Werribee because their letters aren’t being returned, their phone calls aren’t being answered,” he said.

“The Victorian community expects the government to engage with the police workforce and sort this dispute out so we can refocus our members and double down on reducing crime.”

Acting Premier Ben Carroll received some unexpected guests during a press conference at Werribee on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire

Mr Gatt said while he wasn’t aware of the AirWing’s movements, he didn’t believe it was a waste of taxpayer funds.

“No, our members are in the air all the time. They are always out there trying to respond to jobs regularly. If they found themselves above some commotion on the ground and felt the need to support their colleagues then we would expect that to occur,” he said.

Speaking from Werribee police station, Opposition Leader Brad Battin said the “war on Victoria Police” must come to an end.

“The Police Association, for 18 months, have been trying to get the government to the table,” he said.

“This becomes Jacinta Allan’s problem when she’s got a minister who refuses to sit at the table and have those negotiations.”

Constable Karlaine Taylor said the long-running pay dispute was “beyond a joke.”

“Everyone wants to know why – why is it taking so long? We just want to get back to business and protecting the community, and this is a distraction we don’t need,” she told the Herald Sun.

Meanwhile, Senior Constable Grace Buckley said the saga was “obviously impacting” recruitment.

Police union boss Wayne Gatt says the crew in the chopper are ‘probably searching for a fair pay rise to be honest’. Picture: David Crosling

”What people are seeing is the slogans on our cars saying there’s an issue,” she said.

“So why would they want to join? And why would people want to stick around?

“You can go on to Google and see what the police wage is.

“I think some people are shocked that we are ten plus years in the job and we don’t earn over 100k for a job where we work shift work and we work public holidays and we are expected to be available and show up and be available and be fit and ready and look after the community.

”We still have to pay for our mortgages and we’ve got to pay for our daycare and all the things so that we can keep showing up to work, and you just can’t do that on the wage that we have now.”

Ms Buckley said targeting press conferences allowed police to highlight their cause to the media.

“We don’t normally within our job get to explain our roles and the hard work that we put in and how we’re really suffering with the lack of numbers of people that are coming to work,” she said.

Originally published as Police gatecrash Ben Carroll’s Werribee press conference amid ongoing bitter pay dispute