Volunteer CFA firefighters at dozens of brigades in the region are continuing to stand against the rebranded fire services levy as the fire danger period starts for District 23 on Monday, 10 November. Many have vowed not to attend emergency incidents outside their district which could have major impacts if a large scale fire breaks out. Wangaratta-based Ovens Valley MP Tim McCurdy said dozens of CFA brigades are not interested in going to campaign fires with towns like Killawarra staying local only, and Carboor members offline. "It's supposed to be a tough fire season coming and we have so many Forest Fire Management Victoria trucks off the road," he said. The Australian Workers Union (AWU) recently called for more reliable equipment as 290 G-Wagons and 59 Unimogs were taken offline due to chassis and subframe faults. "The government seems to think they're going to call on all these CFA brigades to help them out, I don't think it's going to happen," Mr McCurdy said. "If it's a big one and they start calling on trucks to join a strike team, it's going to be a big problem. "There are dozens who are not prepared to go to campaign fires but I don't want to put the fear of God into people and say they are not going to be protected by their local CFA should they have an urgent need locally." The Emergency Services Volunteers Fund (ESVF) passed the upper house of Victorian Parliament in May this year after the Victorian government negotiated with the Greens and other crossbenchers. In some cases the revamped tax is expected to quadruple what primary producers pay per annum, many of whom are currently or have been firefighters. Primary producers have been given a 12-month reprieve from paying the exorbitant tax but from 1 July next year the tax will hit. "Farmers are still paying their fire services levy this year, but if they have a current fee of $3500, the emergency services tax will go up to about $7000 to $8000," Mr McCurdy said. "It will be interesting to see rates notices going out next year because it's an election year." The Victorian government said the highly controversial levy is to help pay for the ongoing renewal of plant and equipment for the state's emergency services including the CFA and SES. Emergency service volunteers are eligible for a rebate on the levy, however, they can only claim this on one parcel of land. Mr McCurdy said the process to claim the rebate is also complicated and 12 pages long which is beyond a lot of people. Councils are also up in arms because they don't have the data to administer the ESVF payments. "They're saying they have to get more people in, new technology and they are also not happy that councils are the ones responsible for the new tax," Mr McCurdy said. The property tax is expected to increase the fire services levy on Rural City of Wangaratta ratepayers by $3.2 million, or 67 per cent each year. The state government slightly eased the increase in the levy for farmers, from a planned 189 per cent, to 150 per cent and a temporary pause for those in drought-declared areas.
