Change of heart about Fireman Paul

In a country where irreverence and indifference to authority are national traits, you will delight your fellow citizens by publicly telling a politician – particularly the prime minister – to “go and get f..ked”. Especially if the remark is made at the height of a disaster and the person concerned is a firefighter doing his utmost to protect the lives and property of others, irrespective of the danger to himself. After all, who does not love fireys or loathe politicians?

When NSW Rural Fire Service volunteer Paul Parker unloaded on prime minister Scott Morrison in January, the Nelligen man became an instant hero. Here was a man many claimed had the courage to speak truth to power. But as Network Ten’s The Project revealed on Sunday when it interviewed Parker, he was callously dismissed by the RFS for his forthrightness, a claim repeated next day by co-host Lisa Wilkinson who tweeted the hashtag “I stand with Fireman Paul”.

#FiremanPaul was told he was dismissed from RFS as a volunteer firefighter because of “exhaustion” after his feelings on the PM’s handling on the bushfire crisis went viral.
As he told us last night on Sunday @theprojecttv the real reason was much worse. #IStandWithFiremanPaul https://t.co/6VrXMVl4Tm

— Lisa Wilkinson (@Lisa_Wilkinson) February 16, 2020

There was just one minor problem with this scoop: the RFS had done no such thing. Twenty minutes before Wilkinson’s gushing affirmation, it had tweeted that Parker had not been dismissed and that he remained a member of the RFS.

The NSW RFS is aware of reports concerning the status of volunteer member Paul Parker from the Nelligen area.
We can confirm Paul remains a member of the NSW RFS and has not been dismissed. #NSWRFS

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) February 16, 2020

Just a thought: perhaps The Project should have verified Parker’s claims prior to airing that segment. In fact it should have been doubly cautious about them given the RFS had publicly refuted similar claims in early January.

But that was not the only falsehood. Parker also claimed during the segment that his outburst was in response to Morrison’s comment that firefighters “enjoy doing the job”, saying “Well, you know, as I said, yeah ScoMo we don’t enjoy doing this s..t”.

As Morrison reiterated on Monday, the media had misrepresented his remarks.

The Prime Minister has defended volunteer firefighter Paul Parker, who last night claimed he'd been sacked because of his televised outburst towards Scott Morrison. | @vanOnselenP #auspol #NSWRFS pic.twitter.com/y92BVOUTUJ

— 10 News First Sydney (@10NewsFirstSyd) February 17, 2020

What he had originally said about the firefighters was “We were talking through the crew rotations. And the fact is that these crews -yes they’re tired – but they also want to be out there defending their communities. And so we do all we can to rotate their shifts to give them those breaks, but equally they – in many cases you’ve got to hold them back to make sure they get that rest and I thank them all for what they’re doing, particularly all those who support them.”

That Parker misinterpreted those remarks was understandable. As with all firefighters, he was under great stress as well as being emotionally and physically exhausted. That The Project failed to clarify a month later what Morrison said and allowed Parker to repeat the misrepresentation unchallenged was not.

There was also the case of glaring double standards. “Most Australians, all of us on this panel, they really are behind you, and the beers you’re getting shouted shows it as well,” said co-host Peter van Onselen. No doubt many, if not most, do. But then this from a beaming Wilkinson to Parker: “You deserve it”.

Now think back to last month when The Project co-host Steve Price became irate at the mention of New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, referring to her “virtue-signalling”.

“I get sick and tired of that woman,” he said. On the following night Wilkinson, this time assuming the role of po-faced chief inquisitor, presided over Price’s ritual humiliation.

Last night we copped a lot of criticism over comments Steve Price made about New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Pricey joined us to set things straight. pic.twitter.com/btklmEZ5l0

— The Project (@theprojecttv) January 15, 2020

“To be honest, all of us at the desk last night were fairly shocked at the rant that you made against the New Zealand PM,” she said. Not content with his response that what he said had disrespected both Ardern and the prime ministerial office of New Zealand, she questioned his motives for apologising in what was a cringe-worthy display of self-abasement.

To summarise: a commentator who refers to a centre-left female prime minister as “virtue-signalling” and “that woman” must be made to publicly recant and grovel. Conversely, a man who tells a conservative male prime minister to “go and get “f..ked” and calls him a “d..khead” is welcomed on that same show and told he deserves his accolades. That Wilkinson in particular seems oblivious to this hypocrisy and impartiality could be explained in part by her writing in 2019: “It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment so many of us started to fall in love with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.”

It is not the first time The Project has verballed Morrison. Last December, when he faced intense criticism of his leadership in response to the bushfires, the show featured a three second clip of a Mudgee RFS volunteer “Jacqui” being introduced to Morrison but her saying in response “He’s not my prime minister”. It was seized on as an example of how people had lost faith in the government, and many were quick to join the PM pile-on.

Jacqui - another non quiet Australian @theprojecttv pic.twitter.com/DH1oZuD1pt

— cameron adams (@cameron_adams) December 23, 2019

Again, this was a total mischaracterisation. The exchange, far from being awkward or tense, was cordial. Jacqui had quipped she was a British national, hence Morrison was not her prime minister.

Pretty misleading editing last night on Ten, spurring the #JacquiForPM hashtag - here's what happened between the British citizen and PM after their selective 3 sec clip pic.twitter.com/irruUKOWCa

— Thomas O'Brien (@TJ__OBrien) December 23, 2019

The Project co-host Waleed Aly apologised the next day, belatedly acknowledging the context of the exchange, but stating this “was clearly not a deliberate mistake on our part”.

“The problem for us is that significant parts of that were inaudible, so we couldn’t actually deduce what was in that exchange,” he explained. Really? While parts of the conversation were indistinct in the unedited version, it clearly reveals Jacqui speaks with a British accent and that Andrew Gee MP, who had introduced her to Morrison, says “We need to sign you up as an Aussie, Jacqui.” Fancy that obvious detail being missed by the researcher, producer and presenters.

Just over a week before the show had featured a televised reproduction of a blog by author, gardener and NSW Central Coast resident Meg McGowan, whose husband, Graham King, is also a member of the RFS. It was a combination of a touching tribute to her husband and her castigating the prime minister, again in part for his comments that firefighters “want to be out there defending their communities”.

“Graham’s a really private person, he’s probably not very happy that I’m talking about him,” she said at the beginning. That’s an assertion at odds with the professionally and carefully choreographed accompanying footage of her husband kissing McGowan, putting on his overalls, watering the garden, and sending an SMS to her, but that’s by the bye.

“I dream of the day when we’ve got a leader who takes effective action on climate change, who’s interested in drawing down carbon,” she said after a five-minute indictment of the prime minister What The Project did not reveal was that McGowan and her husband had handed out how-to-vote pamphlets for the Greens in the last federal election, something a quick Google search would have uncovered. Another “mistake”? I doubt it. In her blog, which the show obviously was aware of, McGowan had written “The Greens are the only party ever to come up with a comprehensive policy on climate change”.

Graham King and Meg McGowan handing out for the Greens at the last federal election.

For the record, I admire King and Parker for their bravery and their selfless devotion to the community as I do all volunteers. I also believe governments have exploited these volunteers, knowing full well they will continue to serve in those roles despite not having the support and resources they require. I also think the prime minister made a serious error of judgment in leaving Australia to holiday overseas as the bushfire crisis intensified.

Lastly, I fully support the right of firefighters, as I do their partners’, to criticise political leaders. But while media outlets are free to portray these appeals as a cris de coeur, it does not release them from their obligations to report and disclose all relevant information, including political affiliations and bias.

On that note I don’t think I was the only one this week chuckling at the thought of inner-city apoplexy when footage of Parker, again in his fire overalls, emerged. Only this time he declared “There’s only one person who cares about this country, and that’s (One Nation leader) Pauline Hanson … Mate you’re unreal …”

For all of those who are taking up the memorable catch cry of RFS volunteer Paul Parker. Here is a bit more context from an interview he did with @9NewsAUS. There is only one politician in Australia he doesn’t think should “get f-ed”. Guess who? #auspol pic.twitter.com/2yJQT83uSd

— Chris Uhlmann (@CUhlmann) February 17, 2020

So can we assume The Project will continue to feature Parker on the show, this time to discuss Hanson’s views on climate change, immigration from extremist countries, and reform of the Family Court, just to name a few topics? I suspect it has suddenly had a change of heart about Fireman Paul. In future it might want to concentrate on giving a less skewed coverage of politics, and perhaps re-evaluate its interpretation of the show’s motto “It’s news delivered differently”.

That’s one way of putting it.