“There’s only one person who cares about this country”: Paul Parker sacking saga heats up
The firefighter who claims he was sacked by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service after an expletive-laden comment about Prime Minister Scott Morrison has come out in support of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.
Speaking to 9News on Monday, Paul Parker said he supported the Queensland senator. “There’s only one person who cares about this country and that’s Pauline Hanson,” the volunteer firefighter said.
“Come and see us in Nelligen, Pauline. Mate you’re unreal, you care about the country. The rest of them don’t.”
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
Parker said on The Project Sunday night he was stood down by the RFS for his “allegations and foul language” against Morrison while on duty.
“Didn’t know you could get sacked from a volunteer organisation but apparently you can,” he said.
In a now-viral 7News clip, Parker could be seen driving his fire truck towards a camera crew on January 4 after he had been fighting fires near Nelligan on the NSW south coast.
“Are you from the media? Tell the prime minister to go and get f**ked from Nelligan. We really enjoy doing this shit, d***head,” Parker told the camera.
The RFS denied Parker had been sacked.
“We can confirm Paul remains a member of the NSW RFS and has not been dismissed,” it said in a statement on social media.
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
Morrison said on Monday he was pleased Parker had not been sacked.
“There should never be any question about whether he should have been fired or not – of course, he shouldn’t,” he said.
“I understand Paul was feeling incredibly exhausted, and incredibly drained by those events and he was working his tail off defending his community.”
Parker said he would no longer be a part of the RFS after the alleged sacking.
“You know, I was doing everything I possibly could do to protect my community and to be told that, it devastated me,” he said on The Project Monday.
“The fires are out and I want to move on with the rest of my life, and I want to move on with building our own local brigade with 30 or 40 local people around the area that are very keen to get it up and running so we can look after ourselves.”