Thousands of firefighter, farmers rally at state parliament on Victorian budget day protest
Furious farmers and firefighters descended on parliament on Tuesday to wage war with the Allan government over the controversial levy on emergency services.
Victoria
Don't miss out on the headlines from Victoria. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Furious farmers and firefighters descended on parliament on Tuesday to wage war with the Allan government over the controversial levy on emergency services.
More than 2000 CFA volunteers and farmers travelled in convoy from all corners of the state to gather at the steps of Parliament House while the state budget was being unveiled.
Spring Street transformed into a sea of orange and red as the crowds demanded Jacinta Allan “scrap the tax” amid the disastrous drought across much of the state.
Opposition Leader Brad Battin promised that if elected next year he would indeed “scrap the tax”.
“I will make the commitment to you that if we are elected in November next year, the Victorian Liberals will scrap that tax and hand that money back to Victoria,” he told the rally.
“We will ensure that we cancel this tax and ensure our volunteers in the SES, in the CFA and all other industries are supported.”
The Premier has been criticised for further taxing the under-siege farmers, many of whom are also CFA volunteers, to fund the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund.
The tax rate will double from July 1, placing further pressure on many already doing it tough.
Many of those farmers and firefighters travelled from the state’s west, which has been particularly dry.
Dozens of their trucks crossed Westgate Bridge just after 8am before joining the masses at parliament at 10am.
The state government was slammed in signs and banners across the steps of parliament.
“We fight fires while Labor burns us,” one read.
“Clueless Allan destroying Victoria,” read another.
CFA volunteer and farmer Andrew Slater said the tax hike was likely to force him to lay off a worker.
“We are not cash cows,” he told the Herald Sun.
“It’s going to be a $30,000 to $40,000 cost to my business.
“I’m going to have to lay off an employee; we can’t be paying for their mismanagement.”
Nationals leader Danny O’Brien threw his support behind the Liberal promise.
“We want to scrap the tax; we have got to scrap the government that goes with it,” he said.
MPs David Limbrick, David Southwick, Chris Crewther, Jeff Bourman, David Hodgett, Annabelle Cleeland and Bev McArthur also attended.
In response, Premier Jacinta Allan said the changes to the existing levy would “support” emergency services with further resources.
“More and more is being asked of our emergency services, which is why we need to support them with the tools and the resources, the trucks and the equipment that they need,” she said.
“We’ve taken an existing levy. We’ve expanded it because we’re expanding the support to the emergency services. Under our changes, they (CFA volunteers) won’t be paying the levy that they currently pay.”
Fire crews from several Gippsland regions left home just after 4am in preparation for Tuesday’s rally.
CFA members from Stradbroke, Fernbank, Fish Creek, Glenaladale, Allambee and Meerlieu travelled along the Princes Highway and Monash Freeway in convoy.
Meerlieu CFA captain James Blandford, 36, said his fellow members were standing up to the government.
“We’re doing this to stand up for what’s right for farmers and the CFA,” he said.
“The CFA is made up from about 60 per cent farmers, and those in the west have been on trucks all summer fighting fires.
“Now they’re going through a one-in-100-year drought. And now they’re expected to pay more tax. Scrap the tax.”
But major train delays on the Ballarat line prevented some protesters from arriving on time.
The head of Victoria’s powerful firefighter’s union sensationally claimed the state government had deliberately delayed those V/Line train services in order to prevent country people from attending.
“The government’s dirty tricks, they’ve stopped the trains coming in,” United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall said.
“That is dirty from this government.”
A V/Line spokesman dismissed that claim. He said delays of up to two hours were due to a fault in the Parwan Loop.
“We apologise to passengers for the delays on the Ballarat Line this morning due to a rail equipment fault near Bacchus Marsh,” he said.
Victorian Farmers Federation president Brett Hosking joined the protesters on the steps of parliament.
“Right now you should be putting crops in the ground, right now you should be feeding livestock, you should be carting water to livestock that have run out because of the drought,” he said.
“Instead you are here today because this government is placing another burden on each and every one of your businesses, each and every one of your families, each and every one of your communities. We need to scrap this tax. It is an unfair burden on the people who fight our fires.”
Originally published as Thousands of firefighter, farmers rally at state parliament on Victorian budget day protest
Half of Victorians say they no longer have confidence in the police
Victoria’s new top cop will face an uphill battle to win over the public as trust in police plummets to its lowest level on record, amid spiralling youth crime and the state’s deadly tobacco war.
Want to earn 10 per cent less than your male colleagues? Just go work for the ABC
Commonwealth public sector employers have been named and shamed for paying men more than women, with the worst cases showing pay gaps of up to 50, see the full list.