A man has been charged with allegedly assaulting a council contractor during the Cyclone Kirrily clean-up in North Queensland.
Key points:
- The 34-year-old allegedly tried to punch and kick a 65-year-old male worker and pushed another man to the ground
- Townsville’s mayor has urged the community to be patient with workers doing their best to assist
- An Ergon spokesperson says its crews have also been targets for abuse
Police alleged the 34-year-old became verbally aggressive and hit a piece of timber against the windscreen of a vehicle that had been collecting green waste in the Townsville suburb of Bohle on Monday evening.
He allegedly tried to kick and punch a 65-year-old male worker inside the cab.
Police alleged he also pushed a 32-year-old man to the ground.
Recovery crews have been out in force in heatwave conditions across Townsville in the aftermath of Cyclone Kirrily, which brought down trees and cut power to 66,000 homes.
The man has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, going armed to cause fear and entering premises to commit an indictable offence.
He will face the Townsville Magistrates Court on February 15.
Crews working around the clock
Townsville mayor Jenny Hill said any abuse towards recovery workers was alarming.
“I cannot understand why people can’t be patient,” Cr Hill said.
“It’s not a perfect system, but everyone’s trying really hard to assist the community and this sort of behaviour should not be tolerated.”
Ergon, whose crews have been working around the clock to restore power across disaster zone, said some of its staff had also been targeted.
“Unfortunately we’ve also had some instances of people abusing our crews and members of the 24/7 faults team who answer the phones, so we’d like to remind everyone that there is no excuse for abuse,” cyclone response lead Chris Hooper said.