For the last four days since the horrific fires in country Victoria, we have been exposed to amazing stories of tragedy, bravery, selfless contributions, and horror. We have seen grown men and women reduced to tears, and even political leaders unable to retain their composure in the face of the enormity of the disaster. Australians from all walks of life have unselfishly committed time, money and anything else they can spare to try to mitigate the effects on those who have been directly affected by the fires. Contributions and condolences have come from all parts of the globe.
So it beggars the imagination to hear the reports tonight that a member of the Victorian Police Force apparently felt that the owner of the Narbethong timber business who had lost everything in the fires, and and whose son is still missing, had not quite suffered enough. It is simply impossible to understand what this Police Officer was thinking when he issued an on the spot fine for driving a vehicle without number plates.
This officer should be immediately publicly named by the Commissioner of Police and summarily dismissed as being a individual totally unsuited to the role of a guardian of society. This lunacy cannot possibly be tolerated or condoned in any way by any rational thinking human being.
The only “good” thing about this situation is that a commercial news channel was prepared to broadcast details of the event so that we could all hear about it. However, they did not go as far as to name the Police Officer involved even though the name was in their possession at the time of the report.
Now something has to be done about it. And in a public forum, not behind closed doors.
