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Hero image for First Hand - Running the Rubbish

First Hand - Running the Rubbish

Television (Full Length Episode) – 1992

Look at this, take a shot of this! That's dangerous mate! That's bullshit there!
– A dustie with a cut finger points out sharp objects protruding from a rubbish bag
I've done lots of jobs and I've held fairly high position occupations ... this has been my choice and I've enjoyed every minute of it and I'll enjoy it as long as I'm able to. I don't regard it as a dirty job. I don't even regard it as a monotonous job.
– Ex dustie Lionel Piggott, boss of the waste management firm
Running is hard grind. Lifting and running takes timing and skill, and the guts to keep at it. Rubbish men are working sportsmen. Their go hard approach is the tradition of New Zealand rural workers like bushmen and shearers, brought to town.
– Narrator Paul Gittins describes the hard work of a dustie