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Source: Brisbane Times - Police Risk sack

The Queensland police officers challenging their Commissioner’s vaccine order in the courts could lose their jobs if their cases fail, according to one of the state’s top cops.

Two groups of police officers and staff are running separate legal challenges in the Supreme Court, with one case involving 24 police employees and the other involving seven.

There had also been a third legal challenge by police officers and staff before the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, but that case was dismissed last week.

The newest case will return to the Supreme Court on December 10 for a review, while the longer-running case has been set down for a three-day hearing on December 20-22.

Police officers and staff were ordered to have their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine by October 4, and both doses by January 23 next year.

More than 99 per cent of the Queensland Police Service’s 17,200 staff have been vaccinated or have been granted an exemption after providing valid reasons why they cannot get the jab.

As of this week, across the service, 82 police officers and 54 staff members have been suspended for not being vaccinated or providing an exemption. Police Minister Mark Ryan said he did not expect police resources would be stretched by the number of officers and staff suspended for refusing to comply with the vaccine mandate.

“I’ve got assurances from the Commissioner that all of that is being closely monitored and there’s sufficient resourcing,” he said on Thursday. “We’re only dealing with a handful of people.”

Virginia Nelson (Qld Police)

Acting Assistant Commissioner Virginia Nelson, who oversees the Ethical Standards Command internal investigation branch, said police staff involved in both cases would be open to misconduct proceedings if they lost their cases and the court order protecting them was revoked.

A court order preventing the Queensland Police Service from taking action against the applicants over their vaccination status was put in place to allow the legal challenges to run their course.

However, if they lose their cases, the deadline set by Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll for officers to get their first dose has already passed, and the deadline for the second dose is looming. “I fully support the Commissioner’s direction,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Nelson said. “To contravene the Commission’s direction is essentially misconduct, and members of the service can be sanctioned or dismissed.

“So the Ethical Standards Command will have the responsibility for conducting the various investigations where members have failed to comply with the Commission’s direction. “Ethical Standards Command investigations are subject to any findings of any court in any event, but we’re a police organisation and our responsibility is community safety.

“The purpose of the directions are around … keeping a healthy workforce, maintaining a safe workplace for our people, and that we are safe when we are interacting with our community.”

The police officers and staff involved in the ongoing Supreme Court action are: Shaun Sutton, Dominic Luis Safi, Jason Mole, Adrian Knight, Stephen Lyttle, Wendy Holderness, Andrew Holderness, Jasdeep Atwal, Louisa-Jane Logue, Malcolm Cameron Logue, Oliver William George, David William Morgan, Britainie Jay Stickley, Sean Douglas Blair, Donna Janelle Malone, Lucas Dean Mizzen, Hayden Wayne Drinnen, Karina Lee Ormond, Adam Green, Naomi Hitchener, Natalie Skennerton, Bronwyn Smith, Drew Carmichael, Andrew Marshall, Connan Keith Barrell, Kevin Joseph Gehringer, Dylan Mark Johnston, Tonia Marcelle Lance, Benjamin Owen Oakley, Tony Adam Payne and Benjamin Shanahan.

Palaszczuk - hopelessly out of touch with community views ! 😭

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