Scrap The Tax
Dear Editor,
The Nationals have launched a “Scrap The Tax” campaign aimed at killing off Labor’s emergency services tax – a tax that is set to hurt farmers, property owners, and volunteers across the state.
Under Labor’s Emergency Services and Volunteer Fund (ESVF), households will see their rates almost double, commercial rates will increase by 100 per cent, industrial rates by 64 per cent, and farmers will face a staggering 189 per cent increase compared to what they paid under the previous levy.
Despite these major rate increases, the tax is unlikely to see local CFA brigades and SES units receive the additional funding they so badly need.
Funds raised by the tax are instead set to be shared with core government services such as Triple Zero, Forest Fire Management Victoria, and Emergency Management Victoria – services that are already receiving significant taxpayer funding.
With drought and rising costs already making it harder to stay afloat, this new tax will hit farm businesses and our regional communities hard.
We will keep up the fight and hope the community can voice their frustrations too through our Scrap the Tax campaign before the next sitting week in May.
I encourage residents across the state to share their concerns about the tax by visiting scrapthetax.com.au and sending a protest message directly to the Victorian Treasurer.
Annabelle Cleeland
Member for Euroa
A sign of the times
Dear Editor,
In reply to Arnold Pevensey (Opinion NCR April 22 2025) regarding the non-removal of road work signs. It is worth noting the following quote from the Victorian Road Management Act 2004.
“Removal of Traffic Management Measures. Having regard to the meaning and nature of short term, low impact and mobile works, any traffic management measures provided to protect the worksite should be removed when the workers are no longer present on the worksite (unless some form of residual hazard remains e.g. loose aggregate, an excavation).”
Minister Tim Pallas said the following in 2010 when he revised the Act; “As of September 1, 2010, motorists should not have to obey reduced speed limits when roadwork was not in progress. Contractors who failed to remove signs, or post unreasonably low limits faced penalties, including being banned from government work”.
Brian Patten
Upper Plenty.
Vision not slogans
Dear Editor,
Australia has often prided itself on being more politically rational than the United States, but our recent voting trends suggest otherwise. Just as many Americans chose style over substance by electing Donald Trump, Australians have seemingly repeated the mistake by voting for Anthony Albanese. In both cases, voters were sold comforting slogans over clear plans, and what we’re left with is confusion, division, and backpedaling on promises.
Albanese’s leadership has shown a worrying lack of direction, and much like Trump’s tenure, it seems driven more by optics than outcome. What happened to critical thinking at the ballot box? Have we become so tired of traditional politics that we’ll back anyone who claims to be different, even if they offer little more than hollow rhetoric?
We deserve leaders with vision, not just slogans. And we, as voters, need to ask harder questions before casting our votes—or we’ll keep getting leaders who are long on promises and short on delivery.
Brian Smith
Seymour
