Gippsland farmers and firefighters band together to protest new state government levy

A month ago dairy farmer David Johnson had never been to a protest. Now he’s been to two.

Johnson has been farming for 27 years and currently owns and operates a 450-acre dairy farm with 280 cows in Neerim South.

He has attended two protests in Morwell, including one on Tuesday, against the new emergency service levy that passed in Victorian parliament last Thursday night. 

This new levy will come into effect in July, replacing the Fire Services Property Levy.

In response rallies have taken place across Victoria, including a major protest in Melbourne, and regional protests such as the rallies organised in Morwell, which shut down Spring Street.

“It’s the first time I've ever been inclined to jump on a train and go and support something,” he said. “It’s poked the bear. There were 500 people at Morwell yesterday and they're all angry.”

What is the new emergency services levy?

According to the state government, the levy “ensures that Victorian property owners make an annual contribution to the State's fire services”, which include the CFA.

Prior to July 2020, different variable rates for the Fire Services Property Levy applied depending on whether your property was in an area serviced by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade or the CFA.

The ABC reported in December, when the State Government first proposed the new funding mechanism, that the rate - which is calculated by cents per $1,000 of capital improved value (CIV) - would be lifted from an average of 8.7 cents per $1,000 of CIV to 17.3 cents across the state.

This meant the new firefighting fund would raise an extra $2.1 billion yearly.

How will things change?

As with the Fire Services Property Levy, local councils will collect the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund on behalf of the state via rates.

Under the current system, primary production properties are levied at the highest rate, but under the new fund farmers will be footing an even larger bill.

Residential ratepayers will face an increase of about 35 percent, commercial ratepayers 70 percent and primary production properties 150 percent, down from the initially proposed 189 percent.

Let’s take, for example, a primary production property with a CIV of $5 million.

Under the current levy, the owner would pay $1,435 under the primary production rate of 28.7 cents per $1,000.

Under the new levy, with the 150 percent increase, that farmer would pay $3,587.50 yearly, an increase of $2,152.50.

Farmers are fed up

The introduction of the fund has generated intense backlash from farmers across the state, who are typically the regional residents volunteering the most time to their local brigades.

In response to the levy more than 200 local brigades are now “offline”.

Fire brigades “go offline” and stop responding to callouts when there are insufficient volunteers available. As volunteers walk away from the CFA in disgust, these events are expected to increase.

The Gippsland Monitor spoke to Gippsland dairy farmers Steve Ronalds and David Johnson.

Steve is part owner of Gippsland Jersey and operates a dairy farm in Jindivick.

“Farms are worth a bit of money, but that doesn't mean we have cash,” he said. “It's the old adage of farmers are often asset rich and cash poor. My point of view as a farmer is that we're already struggling enough.”

Ronalds said often farmers are “the ones on the ground that are saving the local community assets, as well as the CFA and the fire brigades.

“A lot of farmers have their own firefighting units or they put firefighting equipment on their tractors. They actually protect their own assets and also protect other assets as well.”

Typically, Ronalds noted, farmers are too busy to protest but that they are “up in arms about this and they've banded together”.

Johnson said the new levy was “being imposed at a time when farmers can least afford it. It’s probably the worst season since 1967 where we are, and to have this sort of imposition put on us, at this time, is just completely wrong”.

What does the local council think?

South Gippsland Shire Mayor, John Schelling, told the Gippsland Monitor the shire has been advocating to the state government to not implement the levy. 

“We see it as a very unfair tax on regional people,” he said. “It’s very poor that the people who are providing the food to Australia are having to pay the tax to do so.”

Schelling said he was disappointed the Victorian government was making local councils continue to collect the levy “when in actual fact, we're just doing it on their behalf, making them look good”.

Asked how the council would respond to farmers not paying the increased levy, Schelling said “if they don't pay then the state will take it off us”.

What does the Union think?

United Firefighters Union of Victoria delegate, Matt Muscatt, told the Monitor he was “irritated and annoyed” the state government had dragged firefighters into a dispute about paying for emergency services. 

Muscatt was in Melbourne for the rally on Tuesday and said 300 UFU Victoria and Fire Rescue Victoria members were standing alongside the CFA and farmers in opposition to the levy.

“[We] are standing up as one group saying not in our name. We're standing together to stop this tax.”

The State Government says from July 1, “eligible CFA and VICSES volunteers and life members will be entitled to a rebate on the ESVF on their principal place of residence or farm, which will be administered by the State Government through the Department of Government Services”.

The Gippsland Monitor has sought comment from Premier Jacinta Allan.