The Victorian government’s own CFA annual report has laid bare a growing funding crisis that is putting volunteers and communities at risk.

The government claimed it provided the CFA with $361 million in 2024–25, $71 million was clawed back to fund public service bureaucracy, leaving the organisation with a $50 million operating loss.

This is a shell game.

The government gives with one hand and takes with the other, and CFA volunteers are paying the price.

The report confirmed capital contributions to the CFA had also dropped, raising serious doubts about Labor’s claims it was investing in new stations and tanker replacements.

Volunteers across regional Victoria are turning out in some of the oldest fire trucks in the country, while money is diverted away from frontline firefighting.

The delayed release of the annual report and repeated denials from the Premier has damaged trust.

CFA volunteers deserve honesty, transparency and proper support, not spin.

Our volunteers protect lives, farms and towns.

They should never be treated as an afterthought while bureaucracies are prioritised over boots on the ground.

Tim McCurdy, Ovens Valley MP

$12m target to help sick kids

As kids around Australia return to classrooms this week, hundreds will not – their desks sit empty as they fight the single biggest disease threatening the lives of school-aged children in Australia today – blood cancer.

This year alone, 350 Australian children will be newly diagnosed with blood cancer – the most common and life-threatening childhood cancer in the country.

Thousands of local kids are already living with the disease, enduring aggressive treatments in a bid to save their lives and forcing them out of schools for lengthy periods of time.

Blood cancer now accounts for more than one in three cancers affecting school-aged children, yet it remains a largely hidden national tragedy.

No other disease in Australia is threatening the lives of children on the same scale as blood cancer.

The Leukaemia Foundation warns if this trend continues, more than 400 children a year could face a blood cancer diagnosis within the next decade with catastrophic impacts.

A blood cancer diagnosis is often sudden and abruptly removes children from their schools and normal life.

They are immediately forced to leave home and the comfort of familiar surrounds and thrust into the scary and unfamiliar world of intensive lifesaving treatment which is prolonged and isolating.

For many, treatment can take up to three years with children frequently missing 40 – 60 per cent of school in their first year of treatment, with some absent for six to 18 months or more.

The Leukaemia Foundation supports thousands of Australians and their families every year impacted blood cancer who say their lives have been completely reshaped by their diagnosis.

Launching nationally today, the Leukaemia Foundation’s iconic fundraising campaign – the World’s Greatest Shave – is calling on the Australian community to help this national tragedy playing out in classrooms by signing up to shave, cut, or colour their hair and raise vital funds.

Our goal is to raise $12 million this year, but we simply cannot do it alone.

Schools are in fact one of the biggest contributors to the World’s Greatest Shave with thousands of students taking part each year, highlighting the impact that blood cancer has within the school community.

However, every person in Australia who shaves, cuts, or colours their hair, or donates to someone who is, helps to ensure no one faces blood cancer without support and we deeply encourage people of all ages to get behind this year’s campaign.”

Services provided by the Leukaemia Foundation include accommodation during treatment (a home away from home), transport assistance to appointments, education and information, and practical, financial, emotional and mental health support – regardless of where families live.

The Leukaemia Foundation also invests in leading blood cancer research to support the development and access to new treatments and the future prevention of blood cancers.

To be counted in the fight against blood cancer and help support children and Australians of all ages living with the disease, register to participate in the World’s Greatest Shave at worldsgreatestshave.com or call 1800 500 088.

Chris Tanti, CEO Leukaemia Foundation