Inequitable and unfair taxes won’t be taken lying down by country people

Rural people are revolting against the Allan government’s new emergency service levy tax – but they aren’t going to leave their own communities vulnerable.

Disbelief, disgust and deep hurt.

That was visceral reaction as rural Victorians took in the news that a gaggle of crossbenchers had done a mystery deal to allow Jacinta Allan’s government to pass the unjust new emergency services tax last week.

More than ever, rural Victorians are venting frustration as their voices are ignored, and they continue being asked to carry more than their fair share on behalf of the whole state.

The new ESVF legislation not only introduces what is effectively a land tax to prop up the Allan government’s failed finances, but also, a scores a shocking own goal against what is supposed to be Allan’s own team – the state of Victoria.

The legislation passed in the wee small hours and by morning on Friday, the government was rubbing salt further into farmers’ wounds with a dribble of drought support that will help few and insult all.

Any claim now by the government that they understand what country communities in drought are going through is disingenuous at best, and if you truly consider impact of the ongoing emotional cost drought has on morale, cruel.

We know drought brings mental health pressures – we see that in statistics and even the government has its own drought mental health support grants.

It’s farcical to pass a hefty new tax, and then tiny support package hours later.

Then later the same day came the plan for Victoria’s 15-year transmission plan – vast tracts shaded grey for seven new renewable energy zones sprawled across farmland – more impacts, carried by rural communities.

On the ESVF, the rebates the government says it will offer for volunteers and drought hit areas lack detail and have been poorly explained.

This leaves rural people sceptical and lacking confidence in whether the measures will genuinely ease the new tax burden; and raised fears about how much the tax will be hiked up in future years. Another in built-in overhead cost that stifles growth when we know farmers terms of trade have been failing as debt skyrockets.

And while the desire to protest is clear, ironically, rural communities themselves will be the ones to suffer most if the goodwill to volunteer via CFA is permanently damaged by the new tax.

It could be the rebates will offer an incentive to remain in the CFA, but volunteers don’t want to be bought off.

Proportionally, primary producing landowners are still being hit with a bigger increases than any other property class with the latest estimates working out as an extra $102 million in taxes will be paid by farmers, compared to last financial year.

Premier Allan is governing for Labor’s interests, and most of that falls within Melbourne.

But the blowback against the government is not going away anytime soon, with the spotlight turning to how the broader community, the opposition and advocacy bodies like Regional Cities Victoria can pressure the government into this term.

RCV chair Shane Sali and mayor of Greater Shepparton, representing the 10 major regional Victorian cities, calls the new tax “tone deaf” and says it felt like the “government’s not getting it, as we see billions and billions pumped into metro infrastructure, with money striped out of the regions”.

With the premier and treasurer both coming from regional areas, he said RCV expected them to better serve the entire state, not to deliver “another hit to regional Victoria”.

He said councils remained at a loss of how the costs of collecting the ESVF would be managed.

Dunkeld farmer and CFA volunteer Charles Blackwell said new tax was “absolutely demoralising and disappointing” and came on top of drought and a drawn out fire season in which he spent Christmas Day fighting the Grampians fires, away from his young family.

“That is enough to make a grown man cry, and then to be rewarded like this, hurts,” Mr Blackwell said.

“I don’t blame the CFA and I am not quitting the CFA, we would never leave our communities hung out to dry.”

The new tax would hit his family business with an extra $15,000 a year, he estimated, and came when he was spending tens of thousands weekly on stock feed, with no end to the drought in sight.

“This tax is going to affect the growth of our business and things like family holidays will just get wiped,” he said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a revolt against a government like this and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

“I don’t think people in the city realise this tax is coming for them too; but they do see more for their taxes whereas we don’t get much for the taxes we pay out here.”

But the government’s actions would not break the community-minded spirit of rural people, Mr Blackwell said.

“I think it will unite people, everyone is talking about it and I don’t think the CFA will collapse because we are all so connected to our communities and we will not let our communities down.”