The Victorian Farmers Federation, VFF, is encouraging people to contact their local Members of Parliament to demand they vote to scrap the State Government’s proposed new emergency services tax.

VFF president and Quambatook farmer Brett Hosking said the unfair proposed tax hike had sparked unity among farmers, firefighters, councils and the business community, who were all campaigning against the tax and calling for it to be dumped.

“This tax is unfair, unnecessary, and completely out of step with what Victorians expect from their government,” he said.

“It’s time for the community to raise their voice and let politicians know they won’t stand for yet another hit to the household and business bottom line.”

With the legislation yet to pass the Upper House after the Bill was deferred last month, the levy will come before Parliament again in the coming weeks.

The VFF is calling on concerned Victorians to contact MPs and crossbench representatives to voice their opposition and demand a vote against the bill.

The VFF had earlier called for the Bill to be referred to a parliamentary inquiry to ensure the community had a voice in the process. “This tax has no support, not from the fire services, not from local councils, and not from the people who’ll be forced to pay it,” Mr Hosking said.

“The Upper House has the chance to stop it in its tracks, but they need to hear loud and clear from the people they represent.”

Rather than introducing a new layer of tax, the VFF is urging the State Government to focus on fixing the current Fire Services Property Levy system by introducing CPI caps, protecting households from levy shock due to inflated land values, and ensuring regional communities are not overcharged for the services they provide as volunteers.

“This is a moment for the Victorian community to stand up and say ‘enough is enough’. Don’t burn regional Victoria with more taxes,” Mr Hosking said.

Mr Hosking slammed the levy as ‘a blatant cash grab that unfairly punishes farmers’.

“The median fire services levy for primary producers will skyrocket by 109 per cent, from $621 to $1299 per assessment, with some landholders facing hikes in the tens of thousands of dollars,” he said.

Residential property owners will see a much lower increase of 32 per cent.

 Ararat South farmer Bruce Mackay said the increasing costs of the levy was a discouragement to enticing farmers to the industry.

“Last year we paid $6000 in our fire levy. This year we paid $17,000 and next year it is approaching $40,000,” he said.

“We’re getting bugger all for it and people have got to remember in the country, the farmers put out their own fire. 

“In the Grampians, fighting the fires in the Grampians, when the fire came out of the mountain itself and entered grazing country, it was put out by volunteers, mainly with their own trucks and own equipment.

“It wasn’t government funded, it was volunteers who were using their own machinery, trucks, fire trucks, and graders – the whole shebang was donated and the government wasn’t even putting the bill for it. 

“It’s an absolute disgrace. It’s just a money grab for this state that’s in diabolical trouble and hit the country people – they don’t even want to know the country people any other time of the year, but when there’s a new tax and they can get some money out of them, they’re all over them.”

For more information, including a letter template how to contact local MPs, can be found at bit.ly/4cGIASV.

The entire April 30, 2025 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!

The entire April 30, 2025 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!