Speaker 1: Jason Lawren on one hundred.
Speaker 2: Hey, big day to day Clint. Here in Victoria police
Speaker 2: are walking off the job.
Speaker 3: It's going to impact the police Academy in Glen Wave
Speaker 3: and also the broad Meadows Police station. It's an escalation
Speaker 3: of the industrial action the Police Association and police officers
Speaker 3: are taking. They're looking for a pay rise, a substantial
Speaker 3: pay rise, twenty four percent in some instances.
Speaker 2: Whether they want twenty four you know how it's you're
Speaker 2: always going with a high number and met halfway.
Speaker 1: Give it to them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3: I think there was an offer on the table not
Speaker 3: so long back of sixteen percent. It's that and also
Speaker 3: the work day, reducing the work day to an eight
Speaker 3: and a half hour shift from all of.
Speaker 1: Our emergency services.
Speaker 2: More money, absolutely. I mean you drive past any emergency
Speaker 2: service vehicle here in Melbourne and the riding all over
Speaker 2: the police cars.
Speaker 1: They work bloody hard.
Speaker 2: Also behind every police officer is a fly at home.
Speaker 1: Exactly right. We're talking about this the other day, Jays.
Speaker 4: Every time a police officer goes to work, really they're
Speaker 4: putting themselves out there to protect other people and I
Speaker 4: can't even imagine what that is like. Having a partner
Speaker 4: go and do that kind of work. Or it's the
Speaker 4: same with the army. It's the same with all of
Speaker 4: those careers. It's must it must be hard for the
Speaker 4: families at home, you'd be stressed every time they're at work.
Speaker 2: Well, Nikki will be able to shed some light on it.
Speaker 2: Her husband is a police officer and a specialist police Morning, Nikki.
Speaker 5: How are you morning, Jason Lauren, thank you so much
Speaker 5: for having me on No Worries.
Speaker 4: Well time we hear about this industrial action quite often.
Speaker 4: As a family member of someone who works in the force,
Speaker 4: how does this stuff affect you?
Speaker 5: Yeah, so, you know, in summary, really we've been together
Speaker 5: for eleven years, and so we've been together throughout his
Speaker 5: time in the academy and now where are you's at
Speaker 5: at the specialtist unit. And each stage of his career
Speaker 5: came with its throwing difficulty and strains on our lives,
Speaker 5: and particularly for the past two years where he's been
Speaker 5: at the moment. I mean, we have a two year old.
Speaker 5: I work in the legal industry. It's you know, it's
Speaker 5: a busy time for everyone, but this job, his job
Speaker 5: means that he's almost always at work, on call, at overtime,
Speaker 5: and there's been countless times where he's been called out
Speaker 5: during the night times where he's how to rest day
Speaker 5: what was called out? And you know that can happen
Speaker 5: three times a day. And I've also received countless text
Speaker 5: messages from him saying, you know that he was about
Speaker 5: to come home, but then he's a job's come up
Speaker 5: and he's no longer going to be able to come home,
Speaker 5: and he doesn't know when he'll come home. So it
Speaker 5: really makes it difficult, especially when you've got a young
Speaker 5: family and you're trying to work yourself as well.
Speaker 3: Niki, that's the that's the physical toll as well. What
Speaker 3: about the emotional toll that it takes on you personally.
Speaker 3: What's it like having a husband serve in such a
Speaker 3: high pressure and high risk.
Speaker 5: Hmm, it's it's incredibly difficult. I won't lie if you know.
Speaker 5: They particularly in his job at the moment, he's in
Speaker 5: the self shut of the unit. So they respond to
Speaker 5: really high conflict jobs and incredibly hostile situations and they
Speaker 5: do that every day and you don't really see it,
Speaker 5: and then you you don't hear about it, and it's
Speaker 5: hard because the conditions of the job and the pay
Speaker 5: it just it just doesn't meet the standard and it's
Speaker 5: not sustainable probably long term for us if if he
Speaker 5: doesn't receive a pay rise unfortunately, which is.
Speaker 2: A shame because he's obviously doing it because he loves it.
Speaker 5: They absolutely love it. I've never met someone more passionate
Speaker 5: and his team is more passionate about, you know, protecting
Speaker 5: the community. And you know, yet looking.
Speaker 2: After all lots anybody sitting here going you know, oh, look,
Speaker 2: do they really deserve money? You think about it. When
Speaker 2: you need to bring Triple O and need police somewhere,
Speaker 2: you expect them there as.
Speaker 4: A community, we do well. Nikki, thank you so much
Speaker 4: for jumping on with us today. I mean, this is obviously, Clint,
Speaker 4: it's a it's a big industrial thing and there's obviously
Speaker 4: a lot of complexities to it as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, of course, And the government is not just negotiating
Speaker 3: with police, you know, there's been negotiations on going with paramedics,
Speaker 3: with nurses and teachers. It's a fine balancing act. Just
Speaker 3: before you let NICKI go, Nikki, what's your message to
Speaker 3: say the premiere?
Speaker 5: You know, it's it's something that really needs to be
Speaker 5: addressed and I feel as though my partner and his
Speaker 5: team and probably all the police in general just don't
Speaker 5: feel as though they're being heard at the moment. Agreed, Yeah,
Speaker 5: it's time for a change.
Speaker 1: I think I.
Speaker 2: Got really annoyed when we were just entrailing in the
Speaker 2: other week because yeah, I like, you know, with a
Speaker 2: situation where we're waiting for an ambulance to help an
Speaker 2: old lady had fallen down at the Bound hotel an
Speaker 2: hour and a half and a nambo rocked up by
Speaker 2: himself and she was like, well, you know, if we
Speaker 2: if it was a priority, I promise the ambulance would
Speaker 2: have been there. Continue now mate, if it was you
Speaker 2: and mother lying on the ground for an hour and
Speaker 2: a half, you would have won them the.
Speaker 4: Australia really and the issue is our police officers and
Speaker 4: paramedics and AMBO workers. They're doing the best they can, yeah,
Speaker 4: and they're all there to try and help people. So
Speaker 4: there's obviously, I mean many issues that play here. Hey
Speaker 4: thirteen twenty four ten. If you are a policeman who
Speaker 4: who is walking out on the job, Clint, how will
Speaker 4: it affect people like because it seems scary the police
Speaker 4: walking out on the job.
Speaker 3: I don't want to say it sounds more dramatic than
Speaker 3: it is, but it is only impacting broad Meadows today
Speaker 3: and also Glen Waverley, the police training Academy.
Speaker 2: So look, if you're want of the robbers in homer Line,
Speaker 2: that doesn't mean it's free game too.
Speaker 3: It's not widespread, but it is certainly an escalation of
Speaker 3: industrial action and it sends a strong message to the
Speaker 3: state government that something needs to be done and done now.
Speaker 2: Thirteen twenty four ten is our number to join us
Speaker 2: on the air year.
Speaker 1: We love Alvic. We're big supporters of them in here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know we're a great job they do.
Speaker 1: All the police officers listening.
Speaker 2: To this and anybody out there listening at the moment
Speaker 2: when you want to help, you expect them to be there.
Speaker 2: So you know, let's chuck them more money, let's give them,
Speaker 2: you know, better, better conditions. Thirteen twenty four ten is
Speaker 2: our number if you're all a wigh in on it,
Speaker 2: especially if you are a police officer. Would love to
Speaker 2: hear from me this morning. I'm over how we're talking
Speaker 2: about the cops going on strike today. Certain areas of
Speaker 2: the Victorian police are walking out over a pay rise dispute.
Speaker 2: I'm still going to mate in my name's coffee shop.
Speaker 2: And they had a situation on the weekend where there's
Speaker 2: someone down there hassling all the customers and he ring
Speaker 2: the cops and it took the cops about now to
Speaker 2: get there. And he wasn't angry at the police. He's
Speaker 2: just angry at how understaff they are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it seems like all our emergency services are in
Speaker 1: a similar way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and like eyewitnessed the crime at start
Speaker 2: of the year, which the cops would see every day,
Speaker 2: you know, and that's like that stuff stays with you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they do a great job uptorn police officers.
Speaker 3: This industrial action just to paint a picture of how
Speaker 3: you nique it is and historic. It's the first time
Speaker 3: police in Victoria have walked off the job in a
Speaker 3: quarter of a century, breaking point, so they need a resolution.
Speaker 2: Well, no one will understand it more than Meghan, who
Speaker 2: is joining us on the air. Your entire family are
Speaker 2: police officers.
Speaker 6: Good morning, Good morning. How are you guys?
Speaker 1: Well, Meghan, what's happening in your family?
Speaker 6: So my dad has been in the dog for twenty
Speaker 6: two years, and then my Twistar has been in the
Speaker 6: dob of about five years, and then my brother in
Speaker 6: law has been in the job about four years.
Speaker 4: Police there are police families. There's a lot of families
Speaker 4: that are all police officers.
Speaker 2: Imagine Mary. Yeah.
Speaker 6: So so my dad at the moment has actually been
Speaker 6: off for a year, and I'm going to try and
Speaker 6: not get emotional because he's suffering PTSD. And that's what
Speaker 6: people don't see is the fact that, you know, there
Speaker 6: is some police officers out there, don't get me wrong,
Speaker 6: that are very you know, they just put on the
Speaker 6: uniform just for a bit of power. But there's also
Speaker 6: people out there that just do it for the good
Speaker 6: of their own heart. And that's my dad. And you know,
Speaker 6: he just took a breaking point and he's been off
Speaker 6: for a year and he's actually met up with quite
Speaker 6: a number of police officers that are exact same And
Speaker 6: I think that the money is going to help with that,
Speaker 6: but I think there needs to be a lot of
Speaker 6: things done in Victoria police. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Can I ask you what was he struggling with? Was
Speaker 2: it being burnt out? Over worked?
Speaker 6: Being burnt out? It's more, you know, people don't understand
Speaker 6: that they see stuff that normal people don't see, like
Speaker 6: they have to go and deliver death messages to parents
Speaker 6: who have just lost their child in a car accident,
Speaker 6: or you know, they have someone that's you know, drug
Speaker 6: intoxicated coming at them with a knife. That's normal.
Speaker 7: Not normal.
Speaker 2: Is your dad hero?
Speaker 6: Oh, he's one of the best mans you'll ever meet.
Speaker 6: And it's actually been really hard for our family. And
Speaker 6: I think it's hard because we've also got my sister
Speaker 6: who's his daughter, who's followed his footsteps, and you're worried
Speaker 6: that that's going to happen to them. But there needs
Speaker 6: to also be more support in regards to counseling as well,
Speaker 6: because it's all well and good to say that you've
Speaker 6: got counseling services there for the police officers, but men
Speaker 6: in that generation will not put their hand up to
Speaker 6: go I need help, you know what I mean to
Speaker 6: be compulsory.
Speaker 4: Mean, your family obviously do a very great job, and
Speaker 4: you can hear the stress that that families go through
Speaker 4: when when other family members who work in the force
Speaker 4: put themselves on the line.
Speaker 3: It's worth pointing out also the Police Association do a
Speaker 3: significant job in this space as well.
Speaker 2: Megan. I hope your dad's doing okay, mate, and I.
Speaker 6: Appreciate you guys bringing awareness to this and I think
Speaker 6: the pay is just a small thing that you obviously
Speaker 6: help them doing that job.
Speaker 2: All right, let's go to Billy. Now, Billy, you are
Speaker 2: a police officer made. How are you feeling?
Speaker 7: Oh, you know, it's it's it's frustrating that it's reached
Speaker 7: this point. And you know, you just keep hearing the
Speaker 7: political spin and yet told that it's all happening in
Speaker 7: good faith from the government's end, and you just sit
Speaker 7: your bang in your head against a brick wall. Like
Speaker 7: you see the slogans on the side of the police cars,
Speaker 7: one of them, one of them being nine hundred vacancies,
Speaker 7: nine hundred off sick and your shows, your shows are
Speaker 7: one of the platforms the organizations using to advertise our
Speaker 7: career when well, all these vacancies could be filled by
Speaker 7: the people that are currently off sick and on one
Speaker 7: of those nine hundred and once once we're off, it's
Speaker 7: like we're you know, seen as damage goods. And you know,
Speaker 7: let's just stand aide, fix it and replace them. And
Speaker 7: if you don't fix the culture of everything, then.
Speaker 2: It's not just about it's not just it's not just
Speaker 2: you know, the cash here, what else do you want?
Speaker 7: I think there's a symbolism to the cash as well.
Speaker 7: Likes as Meghan just said speaking about the you know,
Speaker 7: the trauma, like you go into this sort of knowing
Speaker 7: that you're going to be exposed to that. And you
Speaker 7: know most of us do bring, particularly in this generation.
Speaker 7: I know it's changing a little bit, bring a lot
Speaker 7: of self care to what we do, and you know,
Speaker 7: you find a way to get through that stuff. But
Speaker 7: then when there's moments like this where you don't feel
Speaker 7: supported by being told, oh, you're not worth this, You're
Speaker 7: not worth that, you started to question why do.
Speaker 2: You do it?
Speaker 7: And Clinton, I know you're a big d's man, and
Speaker 7: you know you had two of your high profile players,
Speaker 7: you know, exploring options with other clubs. It's it's nine
Speaker 7: hundred in my football club, so to speak. And in
Speaker 7: an AFL environment, there'd be an external review immediately to
Speaker 7: address part life.
Speaker 2: If that many people are leaving, Yeah, that's that's a worry. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's a sharing with us. I mentioned before, like I
Speaker 2: witnessed quite a violent crime at the start of the
Speaker 2: year and it really messed me up and stayed with
Speaker 2: me and I just I the respect I had for
Speaker 2: the cops that day was just like, this is just
Speaker 2: an everyday job for me.
Speaker 4: They deal with day in like it really blew me away. Look,
Speaker 4: there's no doubt that our Victorian police do do a
Speaker 4: great job. Hopefully they can come to a resolution and.
Speaker 3: We're not just a mouthpiece for you know, the Victoria
Speaker 3: police man. No God, someone from the state government who
Speaker 3: wants to reach out to us, and we'll happily have
Speaker 3: them on the show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but let's be honest, no bullshit. I don't want
Speaker 2: the political chats. If you're going to get on the show, like,
Speaker 2: at least be honest.
Speaker 4: So if you see a police officer walking down the street, yeah,
Speaker 4: just remind them that they're doing a great job and
Speaker 4: we're great.
Speaker 2: Thank you absolutely, Lauren
Speaker 1: A nob one hundred Jason Lauren on socials