Geelong farmers to protest ‘slap in the face’ fire levy.
Geelong farmers will today protest the emergency services levy which passed through state parliament last week.
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Furious volunteer firefighters from across the region are set to show up in numbers to protest the state government’s “insulting” fire services levy.
Rallies are planned for both Melbourne and Geelong on Tuesday to protest the levy, as anger among Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteers continues to simmer towards the Allan government.
The local rally will meet at Batesford Road House, before tankers and units travel to Brougham St to protest in front of MP offices.
Wingeel CFA captain and farmer Kane McDonald will be attending one of the rallies.
“I’m not a protester, I’ve never protested, but this is something I feel strongly about,” Mr McDonald said.
“We’re volunteers, we don’t do this for glory or anything else, we do this because we care about the community.
“To be slugged with this is a slap in the face.”
The government’s new Emergency Services and Volunteer Fund passed parliament early on Friday morning following a marathon sitting, paving the way for an estimated $2bn generated by the tax to be included in next week’s budget.
The levy will raise fees payable by farmers, many of whom are volunteer firefighters, by almost 200 per cent in some cases.
Mr McDonald currently pays about $8000 a year on his 7000 acre property west of Winchelsea which employs three people.
The changes would see that number sit at about $25,000 a year.
Like hundreds of other brigades around the state, Wingeel, which services a roughly 20,000 hectare area to the west of Geelong, is currently offline in protest of the levy.
Mr McDonald said the area Wingeel brigade services includes about 20 farms, the owners of which will be forced to stump up a combined extra $250k annually due to the levy.
“We’ve got a lot of money that’s not being spent in the community because of this drought,” he said.
“This new tax will be like having a drought every year, that’s how much money is going to be sucked out of our community.”
Money being taken from rural areas and redistributed to metropolitan centres is a concern echoed by fellow Wingeel volunteer and farmer Stewart Hamilton.
“It matters to everyone in a rural community, not just the farmers,” Mr Hamilton said.
“All of a sudden we don’t go to the local hardware store, we have to go to Bunnings because it’s cheaper.
“It’s a bit insulting that we’re going to have to pay for our time and effort we put into the community.”
The levy spurred Mr Hamilton to dump his CFA uniform on the fence of his Inverleigh property to show his disapproval.
He said taking stations offline is the only way to effectively protest the levy.
According to the Wingeel volunteers, most stations in the Geelong region were offline as of Monday, however CFA was unable to provide figures.
CFA acting chief officer Garry Cook assured Victorians there were “operating procedures in place to ensure that when brigades are offline”.
State member for Geelong Christine Couzens defended her party’s decision to implement the levy.
“The Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund is about making sure our emergency services have the funding and equipment they need to keep our community safe,” Ms Couzens said.
“We have been consulting with farmers, firefighters and community members and taken on feedback to ensure that this important legislation passed because we cannot afford to leave our emergency services left to shoulder the burden of increasing natural disasters.”
Federal Wannon MP Dan Tehan slammed the levy.
“When Labor run out of money, they come after yours,” Mr Tehan said.
“Axe the tax.”
Western Victoria MP Beverly McArthur said the government “have cut a deal which betrays regional Victoria”.
“It’s hard to know if it’s ignorance or spite - either way the result is the same,” Ms McArthur said.
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Originally published as Geelong farmers to protest ‘slap in the face’ fire levy.
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