Professionals Australia condemns the violent protests which took place in Victoria over the last two days including attacks on a union office, orchestrated by violent right-wing extremists and anti-vaccination activists.
The violent attacks on emergency services workers are completely unacceptable and are an affront to every Australian worker who has made extraordinary personal sacrifices throughout this pandemic.
These acts are particularly offensive to front line healthcare workers including our pharmacists, who for over 18 months now, have undertaken great risks to their own health and well-being to provide our community with the important medical services and supplies they require.
These workers continue to work under intense pressure each and every day to protect our health and safety and to care for us. High vaccination rates are required to keep our communities safe, and to ensure that our communities and economy can reopen in a manner that does not put thousands of lives, particularly those of our most vulnerable, at risk.
We condemn those who deliberately spread misinformation against the vaccination program and encourage the community to refer to authoritative public health advice based on expert science and medical research.
We stand with other unions in condemning these unacceptable acts of disruption and violence which, undertaken in the midst of a pandemic, put the entire community's health at risk.
