REAL LIFE NEWS: HIGH-VIS SPIES
by Hazed
When you think of spies, you think of stealth. Of covert operations, carried out in secret. Undercover work. Sneaking around, trying not to be seen as you follow somebody.
You don’t think of high visibility jackets. But due to an unfortunate oversight in Australian health and safety regulations, spies working for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) have been ordered to wear the fluorescent garments whilst at work.
The Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Act is very strict. It states that everyone working for the government must wear a bright yellow or orange safety vest. Two of the country’s spy organisations - the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and its Australian Defence Force counterpart – are exempt from the rules, for obvious reasons. But an oversight means that the third security organisation, the Secret Intelligence Service, whose spies work mostly overseas collecting intell against anyone plotting against the best interest of the country, have to abide by the regulations.
The government has written an amendment to the law and will put it before Parliament. This should allow the director-general of the ASIS to waive the vest requirement. So the spies will be able to be sneaky again.
Now I wonder what the health and safety regs say about using guns...
Note: this is such a ludicrous story that I wondered if it was perhaps an April Fool’s joke. But no, it was published a couple of weeks ago. Still, that doesn’t mean it’s true, of course!
