Opinion & Perspectives
16 December, 2025
Letters to the Editor: group calls for transparency and what are we getting out of tax?
Want to have your say? Email us a letter to the editor at: ncn@iinet.net.au.
Calling for transparency
ON BEHALF of the CFA Volunteers Group (CFAVG), we are calling for urgent transparency around the new Emergency Services Volunteer Rebate (ESVF).
The Government claims that 55,126 CFA and VICSES volunteers are “covered” by the scheme, yet provides no explanation of how this figure was reached. CFA’s own reporting lists more than 50,000 CFA volunteers alone, but there is no public data showing how many actually meet the rebate’s strict criteria or how many are being ruled ineligible.
Volunteers across the state are already reporting rejections without clear reasons, including long-serving members caught out by administrative or technical issues. A scheme intended to recognise service should not become a source of confusion or inequity.
We call on the Government to release full eligibility and rejection statistics and improve verification and appeals processes. Volunteers deserve clarity, fairness, and respect—not uncertainty.
Leigh Harry
CFA Volunteers Group (CFAVG)
What are we getting from emergency services tax?
VICTORIANS are being slugged more than $3 billion for Labor’s increased emergency services tax, yet frontline crews at Forest Fire Management Victoria are still stuck with offline vehicles and second-hand equipment from interstate.
If this is what the Allan Labor Government calls “investment,” then Victorians deserve a refund.
What exactly are we getting for this massive new tax?
The CFA and SES base budgets have been cut, CFA brigades are dealing with old trucks and ageing stations while volunteers, already giving their time and risking their lives, are being taxed by the very government that claims to support them.
No wonder so many are hanging up their jackets.
The government’s latest stunt, deferring the ESVF levy hikes for farmers and rental providers until after the next state election is nothing more than a political manoeuvre.
If the Allan Labor Government is serious about community safety - it would properly equip and respect the volunteers who stand on the frontline when disaster strikes.
A Nationals and Liberal Government will ensure our emergency services are supported, respected and properly funded to continue the amazing work they do – because lives depend on it.
Labor can’t manage money, can’t support our emergency services and Victorians are paying the price.
Danny O’Brien
Leader of The Nationals
Shadow Minister for Emergency Services
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