VOLUNTEER fire brigades in Victoria have started to go offline in protest at emergency service levy legislation passing through parliament overnight.

Victorian Farmers Federation president Brett Hosking said more than 150 Country Fire Authority volunteer brigades indicated they were considering going offline last night as members questioned their involvement in the CFA.

“It’s not what we want because that is 150 communities that weren’t protected in case of fire last night.”

Mr Hosking said brigades go offline when their members notify them that they are considering further CFA involvement and the brigade captain then notifies the CFA there will be insufficient volunteers to respond to a fire.

“There were 150 last night that did that and that was random, it was not an organised protest.”

Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria executive officer Mark Dryden confirmed that some brigades have gone offline, mainly in the Westmere area, where farmers facing transmission lines around their land are feeling disenfranchised.

“The number I have heard is nowhere near the 100s, they are very low compared to that, but it’s happening and they’re disappointed.

“I believe there have been some and we would not encourage them to be doing that because we want them to looking after their communities, not going offline, but we also understand that they would be very very disappointed and morale is probably not great at the moment.”

Mr Dryden said an offline would not respond to any CFA response calls, but the brigades around them will respond on their behalf.

VFF to lobby further on levy rate

Mr Hosking said there are also calls for a protest on Victoria’s State Budget day on Tuesday next week “and I suspect that will be well-attended.”

Mr Hosking the levy rate is set by the state’s treasurer each year and the VFF will be lobbying for a reduction in the rate for farmers.

“They (the government) could make it so that the levy is fair and equitable across all communities so that everybody pays the same levy rate, but she Premier Jacinta Allan) has chosen to put a bigger number beside primary production but that’s not to say that everybody treasurer will do that.”

Mr Hosking said the Victorian Government has reduced the rate levied on farmers from 83 cents to 71.8 cents per $1000 of capital improved value (CIV), but an everyday ratepayer pays 17 cents/$1000 CIV.

“It’s nowhere near fair.”

CFA confirms some brigades are offline

The CFA’s acting chief officer Garry Cook said the authority acknowledges that a number of brigades have reported unavailability overnight and today due to crewing issues.

“We are continuing to monitor the situation but want to reassure the community that we have operating procedures in place to ensure that when brigades are offline we can respond neighbouring brigades to protect communities or put in place alternative arrangements.

“The safety of life and property is always our number one priority,” he said.

“We expect that our brigades will turn out to protect their communities as they always have done in their time of need.

“CFA acknowledges that our volunteers and brigades, many of whom are from rural communities, have had a long summer of fire activity and are facing a lot of pressure as a result of drought which is impacting their livelihoods,” Mr Cook said.

“We respect their rights to engage in matters relevant to their local communities, including those who are concerned about the potential impact of the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund.

“The Victorian Government has announced that a rebate will apply to all eligible CFA operational and support volunteer members and we will be working with our members to ensure that they are able to seek the information they need to apply for the rebate,” he said.

“We are proud of the work that our members do to provide critical services 24/7 in protecting their communities.”

Giving with one hand, taking more with the other

The passing of the services levy legislation came just as the Allan Government announced a further $15.9 million to help more farmers and communities over winter, expanding support to farmers in 13 more Local Government Areas on top of those backed as part of the $13.5 million drought support package announced in September.

However, Mr Hosking said the government’s drought support was “quite underwhelming” and not “positively welcomed”.

He believed what would be taken from farmers and rural communities via the service levy would outweigh the level of drought support.

“There was a whole lot that they could have done with this drought support package and they haven’t.

“We have been engaging with them in good faith and giving them good advice, and telling them what it’s like, but clearly the message isn’t getting through, there is a disconnect there somewhere,” he said.

“I think what we have seen in Victoria over the last couple of days in Victoria is a very large disconnect between agriculture and the Victorian Government.

“They really don’t understand what’s going on on our farms and in our communities,” he said.

“I think the most pressing issue is we need them to get out on farms and experience what is really going on so they understand the impact of their decisions.

“I’m quite certain they don’t want to get it as badly wrong as they are, but they are not reading the room very well at the moment.”

Mr Hosking said the VFF lobbied that the government could offer support to farmers by dropping the emergency services levy or further reducing the rate for farmers.

“We argued for that very clearly and they have committed to pausing the levy for communities impacted by the drought, so they won’t pay an increased rate in their next round of rate bills.

“But they know it’s coming and they still have to pay the current fire services levy.”

Mr Hosking said the levy will cost the average farmers an extra $10,000-$15,000 a year and labour was the easiest thing to drop to pay for that.

“It just means you don’t go to footy on Saturday, you stay home at work, so you’re not supporting your community in footy and when there is a fire you say ‘you know what, I can’t afford to go, I’ve got to work’.

“And that labour unit you were employing is no longer part of the community and so is not there to jump on the back of a fire truck either,” he said.

“I just don’t think they have understood what they have done to volunteer fire fighting responses across Victoria with this levy.”

It’s a dog of a tax – Nationals

Leader of The Nationals and shadow emergency services minister, Danny O’Brien, said the new tax was a revenue measure – not a real plan to enhance emergency services.

“Amendments and undertakings don’t fix bad legislation.

“This is a massive hit amidst a cost-of-living crisis, and a drought in many parts of regional Victoria,” Mr O’Brien said.

The Nationals said higher tax rates will kick in on July 1, impacting on every home owner, business owner, farmer and renter. Farmers will have to pay 150 per cent more under this new tax than under the former fire services levy, the party said.

Mr O’Brien said the emergency services tax is about plugging budget holes, not frontline services.

“Farmers, so vocal in their protests on the steps of Parliament, have been used a bargaining tool, which leaves a very poor taste.”

Shadow Treasurer, James Newbury, said: “It’s still a dog of a tax – and it’s now a reality,” he said.

“Labor has sold out Victorians with this great big new dog of a tax and the crossbench have stabbed property owners in the back.

“Every Victorian should remember who sold them out in Parliament and who stood with them.

“This great big new tax will break people who are already unable to afford Labor’s tax addiction.”