‘We’ve had a gutful’: farmers, firefighters vent fury over emergency services tax

He was one of thousands who made the journey to Melbourne last Tuesday, May 20, to protest against the state government’s Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund.

“I have never seen so many people so irate,” Mr Lawless said of the protest.

“Number one, it’s a completely unjust tax. You can dress it up any way you want to, but that’s all it is.

“I’m concerned for country areas in the amount of money and reserves that are going to be sucked out of rural areas. The amount of money that will come out of there is frightening.”

The levy, which replaces the Fire Services Property Levy from July 1 to fund an expanded list of emergency service agencies, including the VICSES and CFA, was passed in an act of parliament in the early hours of Friday, May 16.

“I think some of older leaders have tried to temper a bit of the atmosphere down a bit because some of the things that people are talking about doing we normally wouldn’t do as a rural community,” Mr Lawless said.

“But sorry, we’ve had a gutful. And I’m not going to pay over $20,000 to be a volunteer in the CFA.”

The farm he works with his son, Nathan, stretches across about 1300 hectares and consists of at least 20 titles.

While the Cobram CFA brigade remains online, several others, including the Burramine brigade of which Mr Lawless is the captain, will not be responding to call-outs in protest at the fund.

“Just to reassure people, if there is something wrong, we’ve got plenty of private units that can attend. And we’ve got a communication system still going, and we will address anything major that comes up through our private network, but nothing to do with the CFA,” he said.

In a statement, CFA Acting Chief Officer Garry Cook said the safety of life and property was always the agency’s number one priority.

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

“We respect their right 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 community can be assured that we have operating procedures in place to ensure that when brigades are offline, for any reason, we can respond neighbouring brigades to protect communities or put in place alternative arrangements.”

Meanwhile, Cobram stone-fruit grower Matthew Cornish said farmers wouldn’t be alone in copping the brunt of the levy, with shoppers in supermarket aisles projected to bear some of the cost.

“What you’ll end up with is the consumers will end up having to pay more in the end, of some sort,” the vice-president of the Cobram and District Fruit Growers’ Association said.

His farm, which holds about eight titles and encompasses about 350 hectares, produces mostly peaches, pears, lemons, apples and oranges.

“Farmers are marginal, at the best of times, and they can’t keep absorbing taxes or more cost increases. So in the end, costs get passed on to consumers,” Mr Cornish said.

Mr Cornish has spoken to fellow horticulturalists around the district, and he said everyone was in the same boat.

“They’re all a bit shocked by how it’s all happened,” he said.

“But it’s another thing that gets imposed upon farmers and business owners, and you’ve got to find another way of paying it again.”

According to the Victorian Government’s Department of Treasury and Finance website, the variable rate per $1000 capital improved value will increase for primary production land from 28.7c per $1000 CIV to 71.8c per $1000 under the ESVF.

On top of that, it comes as the value of farm land has also increased, up about 30 per cent since the 2023/24 financial year.

Farmers who are also CFA volunteers can access a rebate of up to $3865 on two or more parcels of land in a single farming enterprise in which they have a direct or indirect ownership interest.