The shocking truth about Victoria that all Australians should know
3 min read
WHEN thousands of Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteers and farmers traveled to Melbourne on state budget day to protest against the government’s horrific new emergency services tax a box of cow poo left at Premier Jacinta Allan’s office door sent the message.
Apparently the Premier’s staff were not amused. It was some sort of security breach and no-one carrying a box of manure should have got in there because the area is only accessible by parliamentary passholders and required an escort from an MP.
In fact the farmer carrying the “gift” was accompanied by an MP, Beverly McArthur MLC, the Upper House Member for Corangamite in Western Victoria. McArthur is an outspoken Liberal MP who has desperately fought Allan’s diabolical fire services tax rise.
“Dearest Jacinta, I have considered your levy and here’s my feedback, it’s bullshit. Love Brutus and family,” the message on the cow pat gift said.
Mrs McArthur said the Premier and Treasurer would not meet with them because they had a message. “How do you get messages across to a government that are not listening?” she said.
All ratepayers in Victoria will pay more for the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF) but farmers in particular are facing increases of tens of thousands of dollars.
Elmore farmer Eliza Ayres told the ABC she was at the rally “because I don’t know any farmer who can actually afford this.” “Our (input) prices have tripled over the past five years but our revenue has not, so basically we can’t afford this levy.”
The State Government is apparently attempting to placate the CFA brigades by offering new fire trucks to a number of country brigades, but the firefighters are not impressed. The government is saying this is what you get for your new 189% higher fee.
Allan government staff have written to the parliament demanding the Privileges Committee investigate the duo for “bringing discredit on parliament”, but the protesters wouldn’t hesitate to tell you who really has brought discredit on the Parliament – the bankrupt Labor government of Jacinta Allan.
A captain of one of the country brigades to receive a new truck, Toby Acocks of Corop, says his station does not need the new truck, allocated through the ESVF.
And they hadn’t even heard about it until they heard it on the ABC. He told the ABC it sounded like someone in Spring Street picked a brigade at random “and we happened to be it”.
“We’re probably a brigade that would happily upgrade to a hand-me-down from a bigger brigade and let someone else have a brand new one. There’s definitely other brigades that need new trucks before we do,” he said.
Ms McArthur said farmers had serious issues, yet the government wanted “to apply this tax to people who are on their knees”.
“If the government is really listening then they ought to come out and talk to the people, why didn’t the premier or someone come out and speak to them?”
