muyakea here is the full story ….
Making the issue of Covid mandates out to be a political issue is a woeful error imo - the panic and global controls including use of force and sackings was beyond politics
The positives are that many people - including those in media companies are now calling a different story.
In regards the opinion piece by Laura Newell; It was designedw to be inflammatory!
Rather than squawking at the content, look at the comments (the West - mostly a gutter rag certainly will!)
https://thewest.com.au/opinion/has-...f-our-money-despite-defying-orders-c-14917884
OpinionLaura Newell
OPINION
Has Ben Falconer, an anti-vax copper, been paid a quarter of a million of our money despite defying orders?
Laura NewellThe West Australian
Thu, 6 June 2024 2:00AM
Comments
Laura Newell
Ben Falconer arrives at the David Malcolm Justice Centre with supporters cheering on. Credit: Simon Santi/The West Australian
When did you last roll up your sleeve for a COVID or flu vaccine? Yeah, I thought so. Off you go, make that appointment now.
For most of us, we’ll fit the jab in on a day off or at the weekend, squeezing it between Little Johnny’s football match and Miss Suzie’s ballet class. It’s a pest, but we do it because — if nothing else — it’s our civic duty to do something that may help protect others and reduce the already immense burdens on our health system.
But clearly, WA Senior Constable Ben Falconer had different
He decided not to get a COVID-19 vaccine when he was mandated to do so in order to keep working on the force’s front line in 2021. Instead of looking for a new job, he exercised his right to fight the orders to the bitter end. He was stood down from duty as he made his way through the court system until he was finally out of options in April this year.
At that point, the force announced that he and 12 other officers would finally be subject to disciplinary action. According to posts on X, hearings for these have been held in the past few days.
But get this — it’s believed we have been paying him (and possibly others, too) throughout the whole sorry saga.
A connie gets an annual base rate of $102,142. So if Mr Falconer was paid between November 2021 and April 2024, that’s a cool $246,843.17.
If we are conservative and add another 12 salaries at the level of a newly graduated officer’s annual salary of $83,544 to that — if we did indeed pay the others supposedly now subject to disciplinary action — we’re looking at a total bill of more than $2.5 million.
Let’s make it clear: It wouldn’t have been the officers’ decision whether they got paid or not, and I’m not suggesting they did anything wrong by accepting that money. But that’s a whole lot of taxpayer cash potentially spent on officers who allegedly didn’t follow orders that could have gone towards much-deserved pay rises for those who did.
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Normal public service - can do what they like.
Any officer (police or otherwise) is required NOT to follow orders that are not lawful.
What a derogatory way to write about a person that stood up for his rights .
Show some respect.
I'm up to date with my COVID and flu shots. That said, I shake at my head at the militant attitude of those disparaging this officer. Evidently you've never heard of bodily autonomy of abuse of authority. It wasn't long ago that governments were prohibiting the unvaxxed from entering businesses and other public places, even though there was no medical reason for this. Getting vaccinated doesn't stop you from transmitting the disease. Stop this pack mentality; it's plain bullying.
Everybody has a right to decline a medical intervention. Vaccination is a medical intervention, with risks and benefits. A new vaccine will have unknown and unpredictable risks, such as myocarditis that potentially has unknown lifelong consequences which, as a young man, Ben was at greater risk of.
Please stop vilifying peoples’ medical decision making by labelling a reasoned and individual decision as ‘anti-vax’ because this term is intentionally socially ostracising, discriminatory hate speech, used to vilify.
Falconer’s personal medical decision cost him his career and reputation. You are not privy to his reasons. To bolster the vaccine mandate they made obtaining a medical exemption from Covid vaccination virtually impossible.
Coercion into medical intervention has no place in a respectful society that respects the individual. Whilst there are arguments that it was for ‘community benefit’, these were false as the vaccine did not prevent infection or transmission; if we trample individual human rights all of society is worse off.
Western Australia has lost one of the most compassionate and thoughtful officers. A loss to us all.
These men could have (and should have) resigned or been sacked. It is appalling that they have behaved so selfishly and will now get some meaningless, minor penalty.
How did they behave selfishly?
By not doing the deed like everyone else had to Martin, for the sake of trying to save your life
Ah, I see. Did I ask for my life to be saved?
No just like many during Covid.
You do know for example you can give instructions to hospital staff that you are not to be resucitated. You can also deny yourself just about all other lifesaving medical treatment. How is mandating vaccines consistent with these principles?
STOP SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS from Covid Martin. Oh well if you don't want to be saved it's your choice, no one's forcing anyone.
I don’t buy for the greater good. We are all Gods children. He breathes life into us. It’s not for anyone other than him to decide who decides about our lives. Even if you don’t believe in God I’ll explain the science to you. Only those who are old ( over 60) or those those with co morbidities were / are at risk of dying from COVID. Everyone one else wasn’t at risk . So why lock up people against their will or force a vaccination on them when it’s not necessary.
Why Jim?????? EVERYBODY WAS AT RISK OF COVID JIM not any particular age group. I think you have or are misinformed by Anti Vaxers.
Sorry but “For the greater good is a spurious argument. “. If you don’t want to get sick stay home and wrap yourself in cotton wool. Each and every day we all take risks in various ways. It’s called living a life.
All the rights but none of the responsibilities brigade are still going on about the Covid vaccine
You’re right. He could have been working and doing his job had it not been for the government insisting he be vaccinated against his will. In my view bodily autonomy outranks any rule or mandate by a government. We all now know with hindsight that the vaccines efficacy was limited to the elderly with co morbidities and that very very few under the age of 60 died from Covid. Not to mention that the vaccines are now know to have caused adverse effects including myocarditis and blood clotting. I personally thank and respect Mr Falconer for standing up to his employer .
Should be jailed for theft
Shorten costs the Australian taxpayer 30 million dollars per day in NDIS Fraud, Giles allows 150 serious and violent criminal offenders on to our streets, maybe we should be looking at the real crooks first.
Agree with you there Bruce, Shorten going on about rorting in the NDIS, and the hypocrite spends $600,0000 on speech writers for his spiel /lies. Giles costing the country Hundreds of Millions because of his stuff ups, i say deport him.
You are lucky people can't get jailed for silly comments....
Clearly you have no idea of the proofs of that offence.
ahh those reader comments didn’t all come through but the overall tone was unmistakably supportive of Falconer.
Once this forum was almost the only place I saw people banding together with information AGAINST the vaccine mandates and the fact the vaccines were neither fully tested nor fully effective.
Now it’s easy to find people speaking and more .
I don’t read this thread much apart from sticking in a story every now and then but I’m glad it’s here and I support @Joannie when she cries out against any ‘rabid’ ‘I told you so’ nanny’s nya bullying!
I’m sure there are plenty of others who regret being jabbed and I think they should be supported here.
Meanwhile back in NZ some years back a whole bunch of police and armed service members WON their case against being jabbed!
I think it’s a shame that case wasn’t used as a precedent with Ben.
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