Community
23 May, 2025
Communities unite against levy
IN a massive show of solidarity on Tuesday, CFA volunteers, farmers and concerned locals took to the streets in opposition to the recently approved Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF).
A convoy of more than 45 vehicles, including CFA tankers and SPVs (special purpose vehicles), tractors and cars wound its way from Bushfield to the Warrnambool showgrounds on Tuesday morning.
By noon the oval was a sea of red and yellow, as hundreds gathered in unity to express their anger and frustration over the new ‘tax’ which has been widely slammed by farmers, CFA volunteers, residents and politicans.
While others joined a massive rally on the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne, the peaceful Warrnambool rally was organised by the Merri Group to allow those who couldn’t make the journey to the city, an opportunity to be “seen and heard.”
“Not everyone is able to take a day off work, a day off the farm, to go to Melbourne so this (the Warrnambool event) and one similar in Camperdown, gave everyone the chance to stand up and be counted,” Grassmere CFA captain John Houston said.
“This also showed those rallying in Melbourne that we are with them, we support them.
“This new ESVF is a tax that no-one wants, deserves or needs especially across farming communities who are doing it so tough at the moment.
“Out here we’re in the middle of a drought but it’s not just farmers who will hurt it’s everyone; it will have a huge flow-on effect for all households, for businesses, for everyone.
“It’s unfair, it’s unjust and it shows blatant disregard for volunteers (many of which will be paying thousands of dollars for a service they voluntarily provide) and the community as a whole.”
As news spread that the proposed ESVF had been approved by the government early last Thursday morning, several CFA brigades went off-line shortly afterwards.
CFA uniforms were seen strewn over road signs at several town entrances across the district, while many brigades held meetings to discuss a course of action.
Warrnambool City mayor Cr Ben Blain, also a volunteer firefighter, added his frustrations and concerns, labelling the ESVF as unfair and unjust.
Speaking at Tuesday morning’s rally, Cr Blain said he was outraged with the state government decision, saying it placed an “unreasonable tax burden” on regional Victorians.
In applying this tax, he said, the state government was turning councils into tax collection agencies and hurting regional Victorians.
“When CFA volunteers hang up their uniforms and say enough is enough, you know there’s a problem.
“Regional people volunteer in regional fire services and carry out their own fundraising.
“The new tax is cost-shifting, it’s unreasonable and there has to be a fairer way of funding a service that is as essential as any other emergency service.”
Cr Blain added that some of the bills that primary producers would receive for this revised version of the fire services levy would be astronomical.
“Added to the burden of battling drought conditions, this will impose considerable hardship on many farmers,” he said.
“It will rip a further $60 million from the 10 regional Victorian cities alone, with the 2025-2026 cost to residents of the fund projected to be almost $176 million, a 50 per cent increase on the $116.5 million paid in 2024-2025.”
He said the impact on rural and regional shires was even more devastating.
“Over recent decades we have seen councils asked to contribute more to services that used to be entirely or mostly funded by the state government,” he said.
“This included libraries, school crossings, maternal and child health services, kindergarten infrastructure, waste services and environmental protection.
“The response by CFA volunteers sends a message that the state government has over-reached when it comes to cost-shifting.”
Figures released by Warrnambool City Council show the previous (2024/25) FSL amounted to $4,728,236 while the new ESVF would be $6,836,557 (a $2.1 million increase, or 44.59 per cent).
Also addressing the large crowd in Warrnambool this week, Tower Hill fruit and vegetable farmer Ben Pohlner said he too wore many hats and was a proud member of this rural community.
“I’m a farmer, a parent, a husband and today I stand here representing the concerned farmers of this region,” he said.
“I stand here angry, frustrated but most all determined. This new tax, to be rolled out on July 1, is not only unfair it’s insulting.
“Is it fair that a small farmer with 500 acres pays five times more than a city homeowner with better access to services? Is it fair to hit us with this levy while half of regional Victoria is in drought? While we’re hand-feeding livestock and watching crops wither?
Mr Pohlner said the community was not asking for special treatment, just common sense and respect.
“This is a cash grab dressed up as a reform,” he said.
“The state government couldn’t balance its books and now its forcing farmers to pay. We battle drought, rising costs, crumbling roads and long days just to put food on tables across this country.”
Mr Pohlner called on the Premier and every politician in Spring Street to “come out here and stand where we stand; feel the dry earth under your boots and look a farmer in the eye and tell them they deserve to pay more.”
“Some of us are already feeding stock out of borrowed money, trucking in hay that costs more than we can possibly afford, we’re sinking in debt; we’ve watched fields wilt, pastures crack, water tanks dry up and we’re losing sleep, security, health and for some, even hope.”
Mr Pohlner added that for some farmers he had spoken to, the new levy would be more than their entire yearly profit.
“This levy may have been designed in a Melbourne office but it’s going to be fought in the paddocks, in the town halls by people like us because if there’s one thing farmers know, it’s how to weather a storm.
“We will keep signing petitions, calling MPs and speaking up until they listen. And together, we will be heard.”
Recently re-elected Member for Wannon, Dan Tehan, added his support to the campaign, saying the state government “must axe its unfair emergency services levy which threatens to devastate regional Victoria.”
He joined thousands of Wannon farmers, property owners, CFA volunteers and local council members in Melbourne on Tuesday to protest the move.
“This Labor Government has spent taxpayers’ money like it grows on trees, and now they’re coming after our money to try to plug their budget blackhole,” Mr Tehan said.
“This unfair levy will hurt everyone in the community; farmers will be forced off the farms they have worked for generations, local businesses will suffer from higher taxes and less money in the local economy, and the mental health impact will cascade through families.
“Labor doesn’t understand regional Australia. They are increasing taxes on the community volunteers who risk their lives to help others during an emergency. How is that going to improve emergency services?”
He said people in southwest Victoria look at the billions of dollars the state government has spent on new tunnels, new train stations and level crossing removals while they are hit with another new tax.
“While the South Australian Government recently provided a $73 million support package for its drought-affected farmers, the Victorian Labor Government is increasing costs for those already struggling.”
Member for Western Victorian, Labor’s Jacinta Ermacora, has come under fire this week following her decision to vote in favour of the controversial new levy in what she claims was “ensuring party solidarity.”
“I am a farm girl, I’m well aware of the tough times farmers across the district are currently facing and, as such, I’ve been busting my guts over the last few months to ensure some changes were made to the proposed ESVF before it was approved,” she said.
“Some of those changes included ensuring accountability for the fund and how it would be spent. I’m happy with the changes that were made and I will continue to advocate for farmers in our region.”
In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, Ms Ermacora thanked the farmers and CFA volunteers who had met with her and provided information on how the changes would affect them.
“I have been advocating on this issue into government and am pleased that a number of changes were achieved before it was passed,” she said.
“The government has reduced the variable rate for Primary Production Land from 83c/$1,000 Capital Improved Value (CIV) to 71.8c/$1,000 CIV.”
She also noted that farmers eligible for the infrastructure grants program in the government’s drought support package would also receive a partial rebate.
“And to ensure accountability for the money in the fund, the government will report annually how much money has been collected by the ESVF and how that money will be spent,” she said.
“I also thank councils in the southwest and western Victoria, along with the VFF, UDV and Grain Growers Australia who I have also met with about the levy and the drought.
“I will continue to advocate for our farmers.”
While many people are now questioning exactly where the money raised through the new ESVF will be directed, Ms Ermacora believes the money will give emergency services the funding and equipment they need.
“Every single dollar raised by this new fund will support our emergency services, including our amazing SES volunteers,” she said in her statement.
“I have visited Warrnambool, Hamilton and Port Fairy SES and heard first-hand about the increased callouts they are experiencing from more frequent, and more destructive natural disasters.
“These will only increase and the need for these services will continue to grow. We cannot afford to leave our emergency services to shoulder the burden of that demand.”
“The government has guaranteed in the legislation that 95 per cent of VICSES and CFA funding will come from ESVF, and 90 per cent of FRV’s annual funding.
“This money will go towards vital life-saving equipment, vehicles, staff, training for volunteers, community education and recovery support.”
According to Ms Ermacora, this will include $62 million to double the Volunteer Emergency Services Equipment Program for critical equipment, vehicles and facility upgrades; $70 million to establish a rolling fleet replacement program for VICSES and the CFA and a further $30 million to deliver training and support programs for emergency services volunteers.
“Our emergency services volunteers give so much so eligible CFA and VICSES volunteers and life members will receive a rebate on their principal place of residence or farm,” she said.
