A single photo from Sydney’s George Street has unleashed a wave of public anger one bloke on the tools while five others appear to stand around – but fellow tradies say the furious backlash may be missing some crucial context.
The photo, taken on George Street in Sydney, shows one worker drilling a hole with a digger while another five men stand nearby observing.
Many Aussies were quick to condemn the scene, accusing the crew of wasting time and money.
‘I worked on Melbourne’s recent Metro Tunnel as a diesel mechanic. I felt like 10–20 per cent of that workforce built everything,’ one wrote.
‘The remaining were passengers constantly looking for a free ride and a bludge.’
Another added: ‘No wonder everything is crazy expensive here.’
‘Five guys, one hole. The Aussie gold standard.’
But others leapt to defend the tradies, arguing the photo didn’t tell the full story.
A single photo from Sydney’s George Street has unleashed a wave of public anger one bloke on the tools while five others appear to stand around
‘Just to play devil’s advocate – these are the possible roles here… one excavator operator, two spotter/labourers with shovels, one engineer, one survey guy, one truckie to take spoil away (yellow shirt),’ one said.
‘Could be wrong, but all those jobs are pretty common to be on a job like this.’
A second said: ‘You should consider your privilege before criticising workers. The workers are different trades, they are there to avoid expensive problems, damage and delays to adjacent services.
‘They could be fixing a pipe next to communication lines for example.’
A third said: ‘I am going to explain it to you like you are four, because you are. Inside the cordon – one guy who is qualified operate the rig.
‘Two spot to make sure the operators is digging in the correct place according to dial before dig marking and subsurface and dig progresses, which the operator can not see easily.
‘Likely one or both of those are also rig qualified. See that guy with the shovel? That’s a guy who clears debris so more machine hammering is possible.
‘The other in the yellow not orange is the safety person, first aid trained etc.
‘There is one other person, who could well be the team boss for the contractor, or may even the owner, outside the cordon.’
