Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan slams ‘disgraceful’ cow manure protest stunt

A farmer has delivered a package of cow manure to the doorstep of one state premier as fury explodes over a sharp new tax grab.

A farmer has delivered a package of cow manure to the office of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan as fury explodes over a new tax on property owners.

The shock protest stunt took place on Tuesday as thousands of farmers and firefighters gathered on the steps of parliament to vent their anger.

The package, which held the manure in a vacuum-sealed wrap, featured the message: “Dearest Jacinta, I have considered your levy and here is my feedback. It’s bulls**t.”

The Victorian government is introducing a new levy on all Victorian property owners to fund emergency services, with the structure of the tax expected to hit farmers hard.

Ms Allan slammed the manure stunt as “disgraceful”.

A farmer placed the wrapped up cow manure at the parliamentary office of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. Picture: Supplied

“I say disgraceful because can you imagine, coming into any workplace, coming into a hospital, dumping cow manure on a colleague’s desk?” she said.

“Going into a factory and dumping that in the tea room. Can you imagine how that would be treated in any other workplace?”

Liberal MPs Bev McArthur and Nicole Werner allegedly helped the farmer with the stunt.

Manager of government business Mary-Anne Thomas has referred the matter to the parliament’s privileges committee, alleging the two MPs had brought the parliament into disrepute.

Liberal opposition leader Brad Battin, meanwhile, has declined to condemn the stunt.

“It’s not something I would have done but what I do know is yesterday people are very angry when it comes to the new taxes that are impacting on farms across Victoria,” he said.

Firefighters, CFA volunteers and farmers rallied on the steps of the Victorian parliament on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

“There is a reason that 1000s of farmers came from all over Victoria, with their firetrucks, with their uniforms, to explain to the Victorian government that they are fed up with being the feeding cow for this government’s budget.”

In a statement, Mc McArthur also defended the stunt.

“Labor MPs are acting like they’ve never seen cow s**t before,” she said.

“Maybe they don’t get out of Melbourne much.

“If they are genuinely more upset about a pile of manure than the total mess they’ve made of their budget and this state, it’s no wonder Victoria’s going broke.”

The levy, collected via council rates, will be calculated based on a property’s capital improved value.

For farmers, the rate increases from 28.7 cents per $1000 of CIV to 71.8 cents.

Originally published as Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan slams ‘disgraceful’ cow manure protest stunt