Brisbane’s lord mayor has labelled the assault of a bus driver in South Brisbane “deeply disturbing”, with police launching an investigation into the attack.
Video footage posted to community Facebook page Brisbane Incident Alerts on Saturday shows a bus driver trying to remove a man from a bus, allegedly for refusing to pay the 50-cent fare.
The passenger responds by punching the driver repeatedly in the shoulder and arm, stopping briefly to leave the bus before returning and punching him in the head.
The incident occurred about 6pm on Friday, but was only reported to police the following afternoon.
Queensland Police confirmed on Sunday that an investigation had been launched, and urged anyone with information to come forward.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner reposted footage of the assault on Instagram with a caption that read: “This kind of behaviour is deeply disturbing and has no place in our city.
“No one deserves to face violence in their workplace, especially from a single individual whose reckless actions endangered the safety of everyone on board.
“My thoughts are with the bus driver who was subjected to this appalling and completely unacceptable attack while simply doing his job.”
Schrinner continued that while council, which manages Brisbane’s bus network, has strong safety protections for drivers, “we shouldn’t need them, which is why we continue to stand up for Brisbane against crime to keep our community safe”.
Asked whether the driver had been offered counselling, Schrinner said he had, adding that all workers have access to an employee assistance program for help and counselling.
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