PROTECT Our Farms (POF), a 200-member grassroots organisation representing rural communities across north central Victoria, has delivered a detailed submission to the parliamentary inquiry into the 2026 summer fires — setting out practical proposals to fix what members say is a broken emergency management system.
Group president Bill Chisholm said the submission is built on firsthand accounts from POF members who were on the fire ground this summer — CFA captains, lieutenants and volunteers with decades of service alongside farmers who fought the Longwood, Trawool and other fires with their own equipment at their own expense.
He said the POF is calling on the inquiry to act where previous inquiries have not.
Key proposals include formally recognising private firefighting units as a reserve force during emergencies, creating a common fuel reduction standard that holds government land managers to the same rules enforced on private landholders, fixing a volunteer recruitment system that is driving people away, and giving communities the ability to conduct their own fire prevention works in rural townships.
The submission highlights that farmers across the region invest tens of thousands of dollars in private tankers and firefighting equipment and are often first to respond to fires — yet their contribution is not recorded in CFA fire reports, and they are actively discouraged by emergency management agencies.
Members also point to a double standard in fire prevention. Landholders who fail to comply with fire hazard removal notices face fines of about $1700, while government-managed land, roadsides, forests and rail corridors carry dangerous fuel loads — despite the CFA Act 1958 already requiring public authorities to take all practicable steps to prevent fires on land under their control.
“Our members have centuries of combined experience on the fire ground. They know what works and what doesn’t,” Mr Chisholm said.
“We’re not just telling this Inquiry what went wrong — we’re putting practical solutions on the table.”
The full submission, including nine firsthand accounts, is available at www.protectourfarms.org