Whilst it was reassuring to see Mr Grant publicly announce that he supports Paramedics and acknowledges the role that paramedics play in society, given the difficulties they face in doing so, it was extremely disappointing to read his negative comments around our liquid chalk campaign of free speech.

The fact that Paramedics have no legal avenue available to them to fight this deliberate slashing of their protections in a bid for the government to save money, means that increasing frustration amongst paramedics has now reached boiling point.

Paramedics hold grave concerns over their wellbeing which has led to employees highlighting this very real issue to the wider community in the only way possible. That being through the use of free speech, via liquid chalk.

It must be remembered that Paramedics are forbidden from speaking freely to the media and consequently we have had to rely heavily upon our union representatives to speak on our collective behalf.

Make no mistake this is a grass roots campaign lead by paramedics throughout the state who are incredibly concerned about their safety and their future, if injured at work.

NSW Paramedics have the worst safety record of all paramedics in Australia.

One in five paramedics will be injured EVERY YEAR.

Paramedics are deemed the ‘most dangerous profession’ which means they are unable to obtain private insurance themselves

Paramedics are injured at twice the rate of Police Officers

However, Paramedics now only receive one-quarter of the protections afforded to Police.

The Baird government has made allowances, through legislation and the Industrial Relations Commission, to ensure that funds were made available to provide protections for Police.

Mr [Mike] Baird and his government are now refusing to make the same allowances for Paramedics to ensure they are adequately protected.

Throughout NSW there have been numerous MPs publicly declaring their support and committing to lobbying the government to reinstate paramedic protections.

Paramedics are now requesting Mr Grant to also publicly commit to joining them in this campaign and actively lobby Premier Baird, Health Minister Jillian Skinner and the Ministry, to reinstate proper paramedic death and disability protections on parity with Police.

Paramedics look forward to hearing Mr. Grant’s prompt reply to their request.”

Signed - All Paramedics in the Dubbo Electorate