By Nicole Butler
ABC Premium News
QUEENSLAND, Australia — Queensland’s ambulance officers want licensed venues to stop using pool cues and glass ashtrays to reduce the risk of being assaulted.
Last year the State Government banned glasses from some pubs and clubs to stop so-called “glassing” attacks.
Now the union representing Queensland’s ambulance officers says pool cues and glass ashtrays have become a “weapon of choice” for drunken patrons who turn on paramedics.
Kroy Day from the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union says paramedics are anxious about the makeshift weapons.
“Certainly they’re weapons that people are using and if we can’t make our people safe by any other means, then let’s remove the weapons,” he said.
"[This is] an indication of exactly how desperate and frustrated we are with the situation at the moment.”
Mr Day says a survey of 142 ambulance officers showed 94 per cent had been assaulted on the job in the past five years.
“Back in 2002 we had about 22 or 23 officers assaulted. Last year the figure approached almost 150,” he said.
“That’s a really sad indictment on the community, considering the paramedics have been voted the most trusted profession in Australia for a number of years running.”
Alcohol-fuelled violence
The paramedics’ concerns have been presented in a submission to a Queensland parliamentary inquiry on alcohol-fuelled violence.
Mr Kroy says the problem has become so bad it is posing an “intolerable risk” to paramedics and pub patrons.
“More than 90 per cent of these assaults have been when there’s been alcohol and/or drugs involved,” he said.
“But the problem is that the violence is increasing and we need to do something to make sure people go home safe.”
He says there is also anecdotal evidence which suggests rising violence is turning people away from the ambulance service.
“A little more than 10 per cent of paramedics who have been assaulted actually need some form of psychological intervention to get back to work,” he said.
“So while it’s hard to say ‘X number of people have left’, we certainly believe that there’s a significant contributing factor here.”
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says she understands the ambulance officers’ concerns about being attacked on the job and says she will consider their call for the ban.
“Obviously there are pros and cons to it. I’d like to talk to them more about it and we’d like to see some of the evidence but I welcome their contribution,” she said.
“They’re the guys out there on the front line often late at night when no-one else is and if they’ve got something to offer, we’ll talk to them.”
Industry outrage
But general manager of the Chalk hotel in inner Brisbane, Jason Titman, says hoteliers are frustrated and outraged by the idea of a ban.
“I think we’ve got to start getting some commonsense here and asking, ‘where does it stop?’” he said.
“I think if we’re going to start going down the path of banning pool cues and glass ash trays, we’ve really got to look at the credibility of our arguments here and what we’re trying to achieve.
“Because are we going to then start asking females to not wear high-heeled stilettos? Are we going to ban bar stools and tables so we’re all standing around?
“And are we going to ask you to leave your keys outside the venue? To me, it’s absolutely absurd.”
The Chalk is taking legal action against patrons who were involved in a glassing attack last year.
Mr Titman says he wants to put the onus back on individual responsibility and he thinks that is better than multiple bans.
“You can’t keep taking things away from people like that,” he said.
“What the industry and what I’ve been advocating for a long while is individual responsibility. If somebody plays up on a licensed premises then let’s ban them from any licensed premises for a long period of time.
“The Government, certainly with the global financial crisis out there, are desperate for money. Instead of fining people $200, $300 — which for a lot of people these days they don’t care about — let’s fine them $5,000 or $10,000 and say how serious we are.
“I mean, we’re saying these are serious offences, we’ve all had enough of it but the legislators don’t seem to want it.”
Mr Titman says if Queensland continues banning things from pubs and clubs people will just stay away from them and so will the tourists.
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