Politics

No, The Iconic Firey Who Told ScoMo To Get Fucked Has Not Been “Fired”

"Tell the Prime Minister to go and get fucked!"

by Rachael Conaghan  6 January 2020
scott morrison Paul Parker Nelligen Firefighter

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UPDATE: 7/01/2020

The Change.org petition which falsely claimed Paul Parker was being stood aside by the NSW RFS has been removed by the site.

Campaigns Director Nic Holas told Junkee they took steps to verify the information as soon as the petition was spotted.

“While petitions aren’t news stories and are written by our users, we know they are sometimes signed and shared by people who believe the facts presented to be the truth,” he said.

“If we receive credible reports that a petition contains verified misinformation or hate speech, we’ll take action under those policies.

“In some cases, we’ll remove the content altogether and in other more complex cases, we’ll add warnings on the petition page to encourages users to research the issue before signing or sharing.”

“Tell the Prime Minister to go and get fucked!”

With those words — screamed at a Channel 7 camera by a visibly furious and exhausted firefighter — an icon was born.

They came from Paul Parker, a volunteer firey from the NSW south coast town of Nelligen. Seven homes there have already been lost.

“We really enjoy doing this shit,” Paul said sarcastically, before calling the PM another word that ended with ‘head’ and started with something that was unfortunately beeped out.

Clearly, Paul has no fucks left to give.

The footage of him leaning out of his firetruck to deliver his blunt message went viral over the weekend, as did claims that he would be facing disciplinary action. That isn’t true, but it didn’t stop a Change.org petition from being circulated on Twitter alongside the hashtag #savepaul.

The NSW RFS confirmed Paul was asked to take a break for his own health after he collapsed, but remains a volunteer.

It was only weeks ago that our Prime Minister drew criticism for saying that firefighters wanted to be out fighting the bushfires.

It seems that went down really well with Paul, who literally collapsed from exhaustion just moments after his rant.

“That’s how much we enjoy it mate — putting our lives at risk. I do it for my local community, I do it for the township of Nelligen, and the people of Australia,” he told the camera as he sat on the grass beside his truck.

“That’s what I do it for. I don’t do it for you Scott Morrison, I don’t do it for any of you pricks in government.”