Did anyone see the advertisement in the Herald Sun on Sunday, 31 October thanking Brett Sutton CMO Victoria and team for keeping us safe?
The text of the advertisement ran as follows:
“To Prof Brett Sutton, Prof Ben Cowan and A/Prof Deb Friedman
Thank you
To you and the team of people you lead,
For all you have done to keep us safe
Your expertise, compassion, hard work and dedication to the health
Of all Victorians during the pandemic is recognized and appreciated.
Again we say thank you.”
8 logos then inserted.
The timing and placement of the ad is interesting. The ad appeared on page 13 took up half a page and was placed directly below photos of the demonstration held in Melbourne on Saturday 30th October to protest the vaccine mandates and Daniel Andrews’ overreach of emergency powers. There would have been many health workers amongst the demonstrators.
This thankyou piece was presumably paid for by the organizations whose logos appeared at the bottom. The logos appearing were: AMA, ANMF (Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation, HACS U, Victorian Ambulance Union and several other health unions. There was no mention of Daniel Andrews or the government in the content. Perhaps a bit of social/political distancing being displayed? Or maybe these unions are a bit worried they will lose members. In Queensland some 4000 health workers are expected to be stood down for not meeting the requirement to be vaxed by the Qld. Government’s timeline. I have not seen an equivalent figure for Victoria but it is likely to be similar. The unions are being criticized by many for not standing up for their members’ rights. And here we have them thanking Daniel Andrews’ right-hand-man, Brett Sutton, for keeping health workers safe. If I was a health worker who was about to lose my job, I would not be impressed. So, what was the real purpose of this advertisement? Perhaps intimidation of health workers. Perhaps a positioning statement for these unions in relation to others. Perhaps to finger the CMO as being responsible for the mandates rather than Andrews. Perhaps the advertisement was a genuine expression of the feelings of those that signed off on it and its placement coincidental. Comments welcome.