The Warburton CFA have chosen not to strike amid a mass protest from brigades all over the state sparked by the State Government’s controversial Emergency Services Volunteer Fund (ESVF).
The brigade made the announcement in a Facebook post on Saturday 17 May and said it would remain online while the strikes took place.
“You may have seen in the media in recent days that there are some CFA brigades taking their trucks offline (not responding to incidents) for political reasons,” the post read.
“We the Warburton Fire Brigade would just like to assure our greater community that all of our trucks will be remaining online and will respond to any incident that we get paged to.”
The post was made in response to community concerns that Warburton CFA would not respond to incidents after many CFAs around the state chose to strike after the ESVF was rammed through parliament on Thursday 15 May.
The legislation would raise an extra $2.1 billion for emergency services through a tax which would replace the Fire Services Property Levy from 1 July and expand coverage to other emergency and disaster response services.
It will lift the average annual bill for residential home owners by $63 and $678 for primary producers, sparking backlash from some farmers and firefighters.
In order for the bill to pass however, partial rebates were added to the bill and would be available for farmers eligible for a state drought support package.
This was on top of previously confirmed rebates for eligible State Emergency Service and Country Fire Authority volunteers and life members.
The legislation will explicitly guarantee 95 per cent of SES and CFA’s annual funding will be drawn from the levy, and 90 per cent of Fire Rescue Victoria’s.
The Warburton CFA Facebook post clarified the decision wasn’t made because of political purposes.
“It’s not that we agree or disagree with what is going on around the state but we always do our very best to put our community first and we think this is the best way we can do this.”
“So it’s business as usual here in Warby so order your big red truck by dialling 000,” the post read.
The Yarra Ranges Council mayor Jim Child weighed in on the ESVF and was critical of its disproportionate effect on farmers.
“At Yarra Ranges Council, we fully support the adequate funding of emergency service agencies and understand the need to ensure they have modern equipment for the dedicated volunteers and staff who protect our communities,” Cr Child said.
“However, we have significant concerns about the proposed increased amounts to be charged to our community and the impact on locals especially in rural areas, many of whom are already struggling during this cost-of-living crisis and drought.”
“As this levy is based on the value of the property, it negatively impacts those farming and rural properties that have high values but low disposable income – especially those that also employ several people.”
The original levy had serious problems but the amendments would address concerns raised by farmers and firefighters, Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell said.
“With increased bushfires, floods and droughts, we need fully funded emergency services to keep us all safe, so we don’t face a horrific situation like the Los Angeles fires,” she said.
