CFA: it's not over

A LATE night sitting of Victoria's upper house which saw the passing of the government's Emergency Services and Volunteer Fund (ESVF) has failed to quell vocal opposition to the new law. After a marathon sitting on Thursday, the government passed the bill with help from the crossbench, including the Greens, Animal Justice Party, and Legalise Cannabis Victoria, after negotiating amendments which included an average reduction of $150 per year. Local farmers who have spoken to The Euroa Gazette have said they face increases to the levy of up to and over $4000. The ESVF replaces the previous cheaper Fire Services Levy and will be charged along with council rates each year. On Tuesday 13 May, over 400 CFA and SES volunteers and staff crammed Parliament House's steps to protest against the levy and heard from leaders of farming peak bodies and opposition members. Five fire trucks and other support vehicles blocked one lane of Spring Street as the crowd heard from leaders of peak farming groups and opposition parliamentarians, with protesters chanting 'scrap the tax' between speeches. Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland attended the rally and said on Friday that the amended legislation remained a 'betrayal' that went beyond just farmers. “Every single Victorian who pays rates will be hit by this cruel tax,” Ms Cleeland said. “To hit regional communities with this new tax while they’re already battling drought and cost-of-living pressures is unconscionable. "It’s a betrayal of the very people who keep our state running and safe.” The ESVF will come into effect from July 1, with households seeing their rates almost double, commercial properties increase by 100 per cent, industrial rates by 64 per cent, and farmers paying an extra 150 per cent. “It's our farmers, many of whom are also CFA volunteers, SES members, and first responders, who will be punished most by this increase,” Ms Cleeland said. She said the funds raised from the tax will be funneled into bureaucratic agencies like Triple Zero which have normally been funded through consolidated revenue and would leave frontline services with less resources. “Our local brigades are still fundraising for basic safety gear, yet this government is redirecting tax revenue to bloated city-based departments,” Ms Cleeland said. “Instead of taxing regional families off their farms, Labor should be investing directly in the facilities, equipment, and support that our volunteers need to keep our communities safe.” In response to the bill passing the upper house, over 300 CFA brigades went offline on Thursday night in protest, with another protest on Tuesday. Whiteheads Creek farmers and CFA volunteers Scott James and Daniel O’Neill attended last week’s rally and have spent between them 26 years with the service. Mr James said it was a ‘double-edged sword’ that many farmers were unable to attend due to the current dry forcing them to feed out to their livestock. “They couldn’t come down and support this because they need to support their own livelihoods first,” Mr James said. “So those farmers being affected the most by it can’t get off the farm to come down and voice their views.” Mr James also said the levy would be a ‘misappropriation’ of funds and that the tax would force farmers to ‘let employees go’. He said the government was not considering the financial strain farmers were already under. “For me, the budget is tight right now because wool prices have dropped and although cattle prices are up at the moment, if you sell all your cattle, then where’s the future in that?” he said. “We have to deal with the elements at the moment and at this stage there is not a lot to look forward to, so it means we have to tighten right up, and this levy is not something we have budgeted for.” Mr O’Neill said he regarded the levy as ‘new tax’. “This tax will make it harder again and I ask where it is going,” Mr O’Neill said. “You have already slashed already what we need in the CFA.” Both men said they recognized the dilemma of needing more funds from the levy for upgrading equipment alongside the financial impact the levy would have. Mr James said the levy would also affect those farmers who presently donate to the CFA. "We contact them and tell them exactly what their money gets spent on," Mr James said. “They may stop donating now.” VFF chair Brett Hosking told the rally the new levy would affect regional groups such as schools, sports clubs, churches, and charity groups. "That's the impact of taking money out of our rural communities," Mr Hosking said. "It will affect the same people who fight the fires - they're going to get hit with the tax. "We need to scrub the tax." Baddaginnie CFA volunteers Wendy McCarthy and Melinda Pentreath attended the protest and both said the levy had been introduced to them ‘deceitfully’. “I think there has been a lot of misinformation passed around,” Ms Pentreath said. “It’s been drip fed, there’s been little bits and pieces and by now, when everyone has connected the dots, we see we are all going to be impacted. “The whole of Victoria is going to be impacted by it.” Ms McCarthy said their brigade needed funding to buy a new truck. “The one we have at the moment can only take two in front and the other three of the five-member unit are in rollover protection in the back,” Ms McCarthy said. “If you are turning out to a fire and it’s very smoky then they are exposed to those elements. “We could do with a dual cab truck.” Premier Jacinta Allan refused to address the protest outside Parliament. Ms Cleeland said the absence spoke volumes. “But CFA volunteers have spoken louder, and they’re not done yet,” Ms Cleeland said.

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