Alarmed and dangerous

Eyebrows were raised over at the Health Services Union HQ this month after the organisation’s secretary, Gerard Hayes, circulated an email about the distribution of self-defence key rings among staff.

Health Services Union secretary Gerard Hayes. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Eyebrows were raised over at the Health Services Union HQ this month after the organisation’s secretary, Gerard Hayes, circulated an email about the distribution of self-defence key rings among staff. “We have now received the self-defence key rings,” he wrote. “They will be distributed throughout head office today and will be distributed to regional staff and field operation staff next week. Please avoid setting them off in the office as they have a siren that emits a 140 decibel sound.” The handing out of personal alarms follows the raising of harassment issues against members of staff in recent years, however Strewth understands no complaints have been formalised. A quick peruse of the decibel scale drives home the consequences of setting-off one of the key rings accidentally – 140dB is akin to the loudness of a gunshot, standing on an aircraft carrier deck or on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the New Year’s Eve firework display (pre-Covid). Live rock music pales in comparison at about 110dB. Strewth spies say workers have also been offered situational awareness training because they sometimes work odd hours or in isolated environments. Healthcare workers in NSW, Victoria and Queensland have faced a spike in violent assaults in recent years, raising serious concern for the welfare of nurses, who are being assaulted by the patients they are trying to help. In NSW, Bureau of Crime statistics show assaults against healthcare workers are up 55 per cent since 2016. In Queensland, assaults are up 50 per cent over the same period and, in Victoria, the number of assaults jumped by 34 per cent. Hayes told Strewth: “We have issued personal safety alarms to staff and conducted situational awareness training to improve their safety,” he said. “This is something we take extremely seriously and we encourage all employers to do the same.”

Jolly Hockey tweets

If you loved Tuesday’s Strewth item about former Liberal treasurer Joe Hockey and OECD secretary-general Mathias Cormann’s Parisian rendezvous, you’re in luck. Hockey was caught sharing what he really thinks about the Morrison government’s sluggish vaccine rollout on Monday in a since-deleted tweet. Hockey seized upon the observations of The Australian’s own, Cameron Stewart, who tweeted a graph showing how Australia’s vaccine rollout fares in comparison to other developed nations. Hint: not well. “Says it all,” Hockey wrote of the chart, that shows Australia at the bottom of the list, trailing well behind Colombia, Costa Rica, Latvia, Japan and Mexico. The tweet, penned from “le Mesnil-Amelot, France”, comes as half of all Australians were thrust into lockdown due to Covid-19 outbreaks across the nation. Considering Scott Morrison’s constant refrain that the rollout is “not a race”, Strewth thinks Hockey tweeting “says it all”, really does say it all.

Joe Hockey’s deleted tweet about Australia having the worst vaccine rollout of OECD nations does indeed ‘say it all’.

C’est la vie

In very 2021 fashion, Australia’s second most powerful leader has been slapped with a $200 fine for breaching Covid-19 public health orders in regional NSW. Newly minted Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, who was catapulted to leader of the National Party just last week, was issued the penalty infringement notice on Monday for not wearing a mask while paying for petrol at a service station in Armidale in NSW’s Northern Tablelands. Joyce was dobbed in by a member of his own electorate, but was philosophical about the faux pas, describing it as a “funny story”. “I was going to the airport, I forgot to get fuel for Vikki, filled the car up with fuel, went in, 30 seconds later, $200 it cost me because I didn’t wear one of these (a mask),” he told Sky News commentator Alan Jones. “That’s life.” Indeed. But Joyce isn’t the only New South Welshman or woman to be pinged by Covid cops this week. A 39-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman were charged with assault after they refused to check in with a QR code at a restaurant in Forster on NSW’s mid north coast. After being told they would have to leave the restaurant if they didn’t check in, the man picked up a bottle of water and smashed it against a wall. But the madness didn’t stop there. He then punched the restaurateur while his lady friend allegedly bit a man who was attempting to intervene, “causing bleeding and bruising to his bicep”. The restaurant owner sustained facial injuries and was taken to Manning Base Hospital with a suspected broken nose. The man and the woman left the restaurant but were later arrested and charged. They were also slapped with $1000 fines for failing to comply with public health orders. They will appear in court next month.

Dame, set, match

One of the British scientists behind the AstraZeneca vaccine was given a spontaneous standing ovation on Wimbledon’s Centre Court on Monday. Dame Sarah Gilbert looked astounded at the reaction as the entire crowd rose to their feet to acknowledge her crucial work. Unlike in Australia where AstraZeneca is viewed suspiciously because of a minuscule blood clot risk, in Britain it is hailed as a lifesaver that has allowed the country to slowly open up. Strewth dares you to watch the clip without getting glassy eyed.

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