General News
23 June, 2026
First responders get firey at rally
ANGRY firies and farmers have upped their ante against Premier Jacinta Allan and the State Government in the fight to have the controversial emergency services tax axed.
ANGRY firies and farmers have upped their ante against Premier Jacinta Allan and the State Government in the fight to have the controversial emergency services tax axed.
Close to 1000 people - many from North Central fire brigades - rallied at Bendigo’s Tom Flood Sports Centre this where chants of “scrap the tax” echoed the amphitheatre.
CFA Volunteers’ Group speakers were joined by prominent rural activists including Across Victoria Alliance founder Andrew Weideman condemning the tax as a hit on rural communities, farms and small businesses.
Ross Johns, a key Wimmera agricultural voice in the campaign against State Government policies critics say are a hit on country people, acted as warm-up MC interviewing anti-Western Renewables Link campaigner Will Ellsworth and a swag of politicians who descended on the Bendigo.
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson and Nationals’ leader Danny O’Brien were cheered for reiterating the Coalition commitment to scrap the tax if they win November’s state election but were heckled by opponents of WRL and VNI West when again stopping short of stopping those projects.
One Nation’s Northern Victoria Region MP Ricky-Lee Tyrell was greeted with cheers when she said her party would stop the emergency services tax and the controversial renewable energy projects. She promised the party’s current federal MPs Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce would be at a future rally against the tax.
The rally comes as the Liberal Party is still to pre-select candidates in Ripon, Bendigo East, Murray Plains and Bendigo West.
However, it is believed the Ripon candidate could be endorsed as early as tonight while both Ms Wilson and Mr O’Brien said they would have more to say on candidates in country seats in coming weeks.
CFA Volunteers Group president John Houston said the emergency services tax issue had not gone away and that many people in country Victoria remain deeply frustrated.
“The Government may think this issue is behind them, but the bush is still angry,” Mr Houston said. “CFA volunteers support properly funding emergency services. We support new trucks, better equipment, improved stations and stronger support for volunteers.
“What we don’t support is an unfair tax carrying the name of volunteers, a lack of transparency around where every dollar goes, and a government that refuses to listen to legitimate concerns from country Victoria.
“People feel they have not been listened to. They are tired of being told what is good for them while paying more and receiving less transparency.”
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