General News
14 May, 2025
Angry CFA volunteers protest outside Premier’s office
Angry CFA volunteers brought their fire tankers to Premier Jacinta Allan’s Bendigo office on Friday in a dramatic protest over Labor’s proposed emergency services tax.
The protest closed Mollison Street for more than an hour and culminated in frustrated volunteers dropping the keys to their trucks at the Premier’s door.
The Nationals’ Member for Northern Victoria Gaelle Broad said CFA volunteers and farmers were angry and upset over the controversial new tax.
“This protest was not something they did lightly. Some drove their tankers 200km to get here today in a bid to have their voices heard,” Ms Broad said.
them,” Ms Broad said.
“One farmer said his emergency services tax had gone from $5,000 to $12,000. Under Labor’s plan it will increase to a massive $38,000.
“Others will pay even more. These figures will simply make some farms untenable.”
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 extra funding they so badly need.
“Instead of properly funding them, Labor is diverting this levy to cover core government agencies such as Triple Zero, the State Control Centre, and Emergency Management Victoria—services that should already be funded from existing tax revenue,” Ms Broad said.
The tax failed to pass through Parliament during the last sitting week but is likely to be discussed again when Parliament resumes next Tuesday.
Ms Broad also recently attended a community meeting in Baringhup where residents voiced their anger over the planned tax.
The Nationals have launched a new Scrap The Tax campaign in a bid to kill off the destructive tax.