The training of recruits to Queensland’s key first-responder groups – the Queensland Police Force and the Queensland Fire Department – has been reportedly labelled as “pitifully inadequate” and “a woeful disgrace” by an unnamed but senior member in the office of Police and Emergency Services Minister Dan Purdie.
“Clearly, I agree with you that the training up to now has been pitifully inadequate and a woeful disgrace,” the source told us.
And the anonymous staffer also predicted that curricular at the Queensland Police Training Academy at Oxley (pictured at top) and the School of Fire and Emergency Training, also in Brisbane, would need a complete overhaul that “could cost the Queensland taxpayer many millions of dollars to get right”.
His shock and frightening admissions come after excellent journalism in recent times from, firstly Nine News Queensland, and then backed up solidly by Australia’s No1 family newszine.
Nine News Queensland first exposed highly unprofessional conduct a week or two ago when Mia Gover reported on a “frightening fireball” after a vehicle was torched on the Gold Coast.
As our Bug followup (link at bottom) reported and the bulletin admitted, the frightening fireball wouldn’t have been seen at the time because there was no-one there to see it if indeed it happened, but the bulletin made it clear firefighters must have been the ones frightened when they turned up and saw the Toyota Landcruiser still burning well if not fire-balling.
And not to underplay The Bug’s role, it was Mediocre Bytes that pointed out that some serious retraining might be needed if the firies were frightened by seeing that burning vehicle. We understand it was our assessment of the situation that first caught the eye of the state’s top cops who then alerted the police minister for the need for action.
And, to be fair to Nine News Queensland once more, its 6pm bulletins over recent days have reported on police and brigade callouts, where the response of those first-responders has been worrying at best.
Last night (Tuesday) was the most recent when it reported that police had made a shocking discovery of some things in the back of a vehicle outside a Fernvale restaurant. The boys and girls in blue thought they were investigating an unlawful overnight camping matter and we can only image their shock when instead they found 30kg of copper wiring, power tools, a battery charger and some illicit drugs!
The Bug‘s media watchers once more called out: “Some desperate retraining needed here!” but they were at least thankful there wasn’t a corpse in the car which might have been the end of them. Even finding a couple fucking could have resulted in a hospital stay.
The police minister’s office source added that all senior staffers have now seen enough. With Nine News and The Bug’s help: “We now accept a total overhaul of the state’s two training facilities for police and fire-fighters is urgently needed!.
“Sure, instructions on weapons handling and arrest techniques and how to roll out fire hoses and turn on their nozzles will still be a key part of training in both sectors,” the source told us, “but there needs to be a training ground where inductees have to walk past a completely burnt out vehicle without being frightened, then one that’s just burning brightly, and one that looks like it’s about to explode in a fireball even thought they won’t see it happen.”
“And we certainly need to revamp training to ensure police in particular can look into an empty vehicle and not be shocked by seeing stuff.”
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