Melina Bath MP – Labor betrays regional Victoria as emergency services tax passed
Victorians will be slugged with higher taxes after Labor’s cruel emergency services tax was rammed through Parliament overnight.
The Emergency Services and Volunteer Fund (ESVF) will increase rates for all homeowners, business operators, and farmers from July 1.
It comes after Labor struck another dodgy backroom deal with the Greens, Animal Justice, and Legalise Cannabis parties to pass the legislation.
Households will see their rates almost double, commercial properties will be hit with a 100 per cent increase, industrial rates will rise by 64 per cent, and farmers will cop a staggering 150 per cent hike compared to what they previously paid.
The Nationals’ Melina Bath said the tax was nothing more than a desperate Labor cash grab that will do nothing to fix the real issues plaguing Victoria’s emergency services.
“Every single Victorian who pays rates will be hit by this cruel tax, but it’s our farmers who bear the brunt with a 150 per cent increase,” Ms Bath said.
“Labor is shockingly punishing farmers when many are also CFA volunteers, SES members, and first responders.
“To hit families with this new tax while they struggle with cost-of-living pressures and target farmers gripped by drought is unconscionable.”
The decision on the ESVF comes just days after hundreds of farmers and CFA volunteers descended on the steps of parliament in protest.
Last night over 300 CFA brigades went offline in protest of the ESVF, with another protest planned for this coming Tuesday at state parliament.
Under the ESVF, funds raised from the tax will now be funnelled into bureaucratic agencies like Triple Zero, which should be funded through consolidated revenue.
Ms Bath said it is another blatant Labor tax grab to raise revenue for bloated city-based bureaucracy.
“Instead of taxing regional families off their farms, Labor should be investing directly in our CFA facilities and volunteers to keep our communities safe.”
Media contact – Jenni Rohde 0437 750 806