The blessed bloke who, in the middle of fighting one of the plethora of bushfires currently burning across the country, hauled his firetruck to a complete stop just so he could tell the Prime Minister “go and get fucked” has been handed his own mural on the streets of inner-city Melbourne.
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Paul Parker, a NSW RFS firefighter, shot to national prominence over the weekend after he practically commandeered a 7 News camera crew to deliver the blunt message on behalf of the town of Nelligan, a message he punctuated with a sarcastic “we really enjoy doing this shit,” before cameras caught him a short time later collapsed to the ground out of sheer exhaustion.
That frankly poignant and symbolic moment has now been honoured in paint, thanks to a new piece of street art in inner Melbourne.
Artist Van Nishing (who, for the record, happens to be Kevin Rudd‘s nephew) splashed the mural up on a wall “somewhere along Lygon Street” in inner-northern Melbourne late yesterday. It bloody well kicks ass to be very honest.
Following his viral moment, Parker was the subject of incorrect social media rumour and speculation that asserted the RFS was considering sacking him over the incident, with chatter even going so far as to spawn a Change.org petition that attracted thousands of signatures.
In reality, RFS officials had asked Parker to temporarily stand down due to health concerns stemming from his clear exhaustion, leaving the door open for him to return whenever he feels ready. At no point was his position in the RFS in jeopardy.
Those of you keen for a gawk at the mural might want to put your walkin’ boots on; at this stage it’s unclear just where abouts on Lygon Street (a long ass road) the mural is.
