Confusion surrounds the alleged sacking of a volunteer firefighter who became a social media hit after a foul-mouthed spray against Prime Minister Scott Morrison while battling a raging fire.
Firefighter Paul Parker’s rant in January including telling Mr Morrison “to get f***ed” while battling a blaze from a fire truck went viral with a campaign launched to oppose his supposed sacking.
While NSW Rural Fire Service said that the fire-fighter was having a break after the incident; Mr Parker claimed on Sunday night a brigade chief told him he had been told that he was “finished because of your foul language” after the incident.
The Service said however that he was taking time-off from his duties because of exhaustion but that he was still a member of the NSW RFS. Parker’s rant became a popular social media hit after his foul-mouthed criticism of the prime minister in front of TV cameras in Nelligen on the state’s South Coast in early January.
An online campaign to save his job amassed thousands of signatures after reports emerged Mr Parker faced being stood down by the RFS.
The Prime Minister himself has stepped into the controversy saying that the volunteer should not be sacked. “There should never be any question about whether he should have been fired or not, of course, he shouldn’t,’ Mr Morrison said on Monday.
“I understand Paul was feeling incredibly exhausted, and incredibly drained by those events and he was working his tail off defending his community.”
The Rural Fire Service said Mr Parker was tasked to take time off volunteer work because of exhaustion and the firefighter was never facing sack. Since taking time off from the RFS following the fiery outburst to camera, Australians have donated hundreds of dollars to his bar tab at his local pub in the small village west of Batemans Bay.
Donors have left money to shout Mr Parker a schooner, while some cash has been given directly to the hotel.
The publican, who was an RFS member for the past 20 years, said Mr Parker visits the hotel “quite regularly.”
