To the Premier of New South Wales, Dominic Perottet.
Regarding your recent appearance on the 2GB Morning Radio Show with Ben Fordham.
My name is Senior Constable David Roberts, and I am a former New South Wales Police Officer that was dismissed under a Section 181d of the Police Act for failing to comply with a direction to be vaccinated for Covid 19. For those that do not know, this is the police equivalent to a defence force dishonourable discharge. Such a dismissal is retained for the worst breaches of the NSW Police Force code of conduct, such as theft, assault, domestic violence, fraud and other such crimes. Real crimes. This prevents us from ever obtaining another government position and it has even restricted us from obtaining a simple security licence.
For the last 2 years, my former officers and I have fought to retain our careers. We have struggled to make ends meet and struggled to find new employment, all while attempting to fund and represent ourselves at the Industrial Relations Commission to be reinstated in our former roles. Our legal battle still continues, as we stand in front of the court, alone, while the NSW Police Force uses public tax payer money to hire top end lawyers to represent them. These lawyers are actually requesting to the court that we be criminally charged and serve jail time for breaching the vaccine direction.
Despite this ongoing struggle, we are the lucky ones, we are the small minority left, that still have enough energy left in us to hold the line and stand up for what is right. Unfortunately, for some of our colleagues, they have had to give in. Some have lost more than just their careers, some have lost their savings, their homes, their families, and sadly, some have taken their own lives.
When I heard you on 2gb announce that you want these mandates to end, as you stated, “There is no evidence that the vaccines stop transmission” it gave me and others a small glimmer of hope, that finally, after all this time, that someone will finally apply some basic common sense to this absurd situation that we are all living through and finally end this utter madness.
However, no. What occurred next was nothing short of a slap in the face to myself and my former colleagues. You said that you had no power to remove these mandates. Premier, this is utter rubbish and you should be embarrassed to pretend that you are the Premier of NSW.
Your government is responsible for these mandates being implemented. Your government held daily press conferences where it pushed the same repeated message of “Vaccines are our only way out of this.” And “Vaccines are the only way to get our freedoms back.” And “Vaccines are the only way to get everyone back to work.” So your predecessors, your government, along with the usual one sided media propaganda, pushed this mandate agenda, which you refused to change when you came into power. And you still refuse to change now.
Premier, you not only have the power to end this mandate madness, you have the obligation and the responsibility to! You need to do what you were put in this position for, to do your job! And your job is to run this state and to ensure that each and every one of its people get a fair deal and a fair opportunity and are treated equally.
One may have believed that the mandates had a place 2 years ago, which by the way, myself and every other officer were willing, and did, put our lives on the line to implement some the strictest (and ethically questionable) restrictions anywhere in the world, but we did it out of loyalty, honour, sacrifice and duty.
That honour
and duty was thrown back in our face and we were thrown out like garbage.
Ben Fordham rightly pointed out, how embarrassing it must be, to be in your position and not be able to actually have control of anything in NSW and to admit to the entire state that you are nothing more than a figure head, a politician poster boy to stand in front of the cameras, while others make the hard decisions for you. Well Mr Premier, this is your chance to prove us wrong and I don’t think there has ever been a better time.
End these mandates. End them now. Reinstate every Police Officer, Nurse, Fire Fighter, Teacher, Transport worker, anyone and everyone, from government sectors, emergency services, to private sectors. Reinstate them now and do what is right. Not only do each and everyone one of them deserve their jobs back, they deserve to be completely and fully reimbursed and compensated for their time lost.
And Mr Premier, most important of all, they deserve an open and genuine public apology.
I would request the NSW Police Force also apologise to the people of New South Wales for the way they locked them down, restricted them and isolated them from their family and friends, but I know first hand that the NSW Police Force are not the type to admit they were wrong, or to recognise their failures, so, as a former officer, I will apologise on their behalf, and for my contribution, to the nonsensical rules that were implemented. There were some of us speaking up against this right from the start. And that, is why they got rid of us.
Sincerely
Senior Constable David Roberts
A former NSW Police Officer
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