ON Tuesday last week, hundreds of Victorian Country Fire Brigades went offline in protest against the State Governments Emergency Services Volunteer Fund (ESVF).
The Country Fire Authority (CFA) were made aware of the levy in December 2024, but now they are calling it a tax.
First lieutenant at the Terip Terip CFA, and organiser of the Hume Region protest Jonathan Tofts rallied the brigades at the Southbound Wallan BP Service Station.
Tofts urged his fellow fire fighters to use their UHF channels for communication and to heed traffic marshals on the road to the merger with over a thousand like-minded protesters on the steps of Parliament House, Spring Street Melbourne around 10am.
Primary producer and volunteer Paul Diamond with the Booroolite Brigade is sharing his message across social media for all to see.
“We are here, we’re mobbing up, like our starving stock in the paddocks,” he said.
“Minister [for Agriculture] Ros Spence, Premier Jacinta Allen… You are going to listen to us. Our truck is 35 years old. It’s one of the oldest tankers in the fleet.”
Mr Diamond spoke earlier on social media on Friday, May 16.
“What an absolute joke we are dealing with as farmers in Victoria,” he said.
“I’ve been an active volunteer firefighter for 10 years now, and now, as a part of our rates [for the farm] we are going to pay a new service levy. It’s 200 percent more than what we are paying… What do we do?”
Mr Diamond urged the Victorian politicians making these decisions to ‘wake up’.
Through the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund, $110 million is set to be invested for a rolling fleet replacement program for the SES, CFA and Fire Rescue Victoria.
However, the levy introduces particularly heavy tax hikes for farmers, with many of those also volunteer CFA firefighters.
The legislated peak body for local government in Victoria, the Municipal Association of Victoria are advocating for another way.
Local Government Authorities including Mitchell Shire Council and Strathbogie have joined their protest, citing that local government should not be asked to do more work collecting and administering taxes on behalf of the Victorian Government.
