General News
22 May, 2025
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: CFA service
A short while ago, I had the privilege to attend and record a CFA award ceremony honouring members for long service as volunteer members of the CFA.
These 24 members probably average conservatively 40 years of service each.
That's in the neighbourhood of 1000 years of service for this group alone.
Extrapolate that over all the CFA groups in Victoria and that's a lot of years serving the state, their neighbours and friends and travelling intra and interstate to fight fires, including leaving their homes and families on Boxing Day this year to fight the Grampians and Little Desert Fires fire weeks.
Now, if you take that 1000 years of service and multiply it by the hourly rate of pay earned by these members in that time the number is $.....cost to the state government!!!!!
Did I mention the cost billed to the State for the use of equipment that some members supply when called upon?
No, well, that seems to add up to the sum total of $0.
And the reward for that? Higher Taxes.
Average fire tax in Melbourne is approx $163 per year, with stations staffed by 'professional' fire fighters that start in approximately $1800 per week, according to the governments own documents, readily available close by, for cots for rural; Victorians, well we don't really know but in the worst case scenario, $100,000 and more for some larger broadacre farmers.
And that's not to mention being called out to vehicle crashes and other emergencies.
There may be some rate adjustments that CFA members can apply for, after they pay the full rate rise, and that will be adjusted by the same government that brought the tax hike in with the help of the Greens, the Animal Justice.
– MARK COWIN