CFA budget cuts leave new tanker outside old station

A new tanker in country Victoria does not fit in its ageing station, forcing volunteers to store it elsewhere, slowing fire response times.

Charlton CFA Captain and mechanic Craig Walsh is storing the brigade’s tanker behind his workshop, as it does not fit in the town’s ageing station. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Charlton CFA brigade’s tanker does not fit into their ageing station, forcing volunteers to store it behind local mechanic and CFA Captain Craig Walsh’s workshop.

It has been three years since the volunteers got their new tanker, but they are still waiting on the Labor Government to build them a new station.

“As you can imagine having the fire truck parked off site causes some issues, including slowing down turn out time and a decrease in member involvement,” Mr Walsh said.

He said the problem was not isolated to Charlton, as many other brigades had older stations with roller doors that were too low for new tankers.

The brigade was promised a new station in 2021, but Mr Walsh said it took the CFA until February last year to find and buy a suitable site, after two failed attempts.

“Since then, we have been told there is no longer funding in the budget for a new station,” he said.

“CFA has no funds allocated annually to invest in new trucks, fire stations and needs to constantly submit budget bids to the Government to access the required funds to invest in new equipment and buildings.”

Past budgets show the government has slashed the CFA’s capital funding by 25 per cent in three years, from $63.2 million in 2022-23 to $55.8m in 2023-24 to $47.6m this financial year.

Yet the government increased the fire services property levy it collects to fund CFA and FRV from $847m in 2023-24 $1.033 billion in 2024-25.

Farmers, most of whom are CFA volunteers, were hardest hit after the government raised the FSPL rate from 16.9c per $1000 of a property’s capital improved value in 2023-24 to 28.7c/$1000 of CIV for 2024-25, lifting their contributions from $47.5m in 2023-24 to $75.7m this financial year.

There was no new funding in the budget for station upgrades or tankers, although Minister Symes office said it had committed $18.6 million for 15 new urban CFA pumpers.

However Ms Symes office said “we have delivered record funding in recent years for our fire services to ensure they have the resources, infrastructure and equipment they need to protect our communities and keep firefighters safe. 

“We will continue to work closely with CFA to identify and support its infrastructure priorities - with many upgrades or new stations currently being built.”