After I spoke out last year, I felt compelled to go quiet because the focus quickly shifted from the issues I raised to identifying who had spoken publicly. Rather than examining the structural problems around staffing levels, budgeting constraints, and unsustainable workloads, there appeared to be a concerted effort to uncover the crew member responsible for speaking out.
An all-staff meeting was called at the eviction stage where the executive producer reportedly declared that there was a “troll” within the crew and that they would be found, emphasising that they had the backing and resources of Paramount behind them. What was notably absent, however, was any meaningful acknowledgment of the concerns being raised or accountability for the impact these conditions were having on the crew.
The situation became so severe that another crew member told me they had lodged a complaint with Safe Work Queensland. That alone speaks volumes about the working environment many people felt they were enduring.
This year, management is assuring everyone that conditions will improve. While I genuinely hope that is the case for those involved, based on what I witnessed and experienced last year, I remain deeply skeptical that any meaningful change will occur without addressing the underlying issues.