Community
23 May, 2025
Offline in protest
A NUMBER of Country Fire Authority (CFA) units across Victoria have downed equipment and gone offline in protest against the State Government’s Emergency Services and Volunteer Fund.
The levy, which was announced last week, has seen over 400 CFA units declare themselves offline in protest against the new tax.
Chocolyn’s CFA brigade is among the brigades going offline, having hung their uniforms along a fence near the CFA station.
Brigade captain Geoff Whytcross said none of the members of the brigade were happy with the new tax, which will see farmers hit with further costs in addition to their rates.
“We’re just supporting every farmer in Victoria that’s been hit by this State Government tax, and the more people that decide to do it – we’re all jumping on board,” he said.
“We’re only volunteers here – nobody gets any money out of the place.
“It was unanimous – most of our members are farmers in the district. Some have got big acreage.
“Everybody’s getting touched by this fire levy tax, so it affects everyone – everyone’s going to pay it.
“They just put it up too high.”
Other offline brigades around Camperdown include Tesbury, Stonyford, Bookaar, Bostocks Creek, Lesley Manor, Berrybank, Darlington, Vite Vite, Pura Pura, Mingay and Skipton.
“We’ve called into Vic Fire saying we’re offline – offline means, if there is a fire here, they don’t call us because our truck is offline,” Mr Whytcross said.
“We can be offline for many reasons – it can be mechanical issues, lack of members – at this stage, it’s offline because we’re protesting against the State Government for hitting us with this tax.”
The Camperdown, Derrinallum and Lismore brigades will remain online to support the community.
Mr Whytcross said the new levy has already caused issues for rural CFA brigades, with many long-time members leaving the organisation.
“You’ll see there’s a lot of rural CFA brigades that are struggling to attract new members, especially the young blokes,” he said.
“After this protest, there are members leaving over this tax and they’re not going to come back to the brigade.
“You’ll see regional trucks with no members – there’ll be a truck sitting in the shed, but no members.
“The truck is not supposed to leave the shed unless there’s three people on it – if there’s only two members of the fire brigade and one bloke’s away for the day, the truck is not going anywhere.
“All brigades are struggling for members, and this is just another nail in the coffin.”
CFA uniforms have been hung on fences across the district, with some frustrated members having burned their uniforms in protest.
“The State Government is hurting everyone who donates their time, and volunteers – over the years training and all the rigmarole to stay a member has gotten harder and harder,” Mr Whytcross said.
“When I joined, about 30 years ago, you just joined the brigade and became a member.
“Now, there’s training and all sorts of things and it’s scaring so many people away.”
Mr Whytcross said he had a simple message for Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan – to remove the tax.
“We already pay our fire levy – we’ve always paid our fire levy – they just want to increase it to ridiculous levels,” he said.
“They haven’t increased it by 15, 20 or 25 per cent –they’re doubling or, in some cases, tripling it.
“It’s just ridiculous.
“The big landowners are paying ridiculous money for this tax, and we’re in drought.
“Even if we weren’t in drought, there’s no justification for it for the farmers.”
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