Speaker 1: Bit of a heads up you're on the Western Freeway.
Speaker 1: We had a call come through before anytime you want
Speaker 1: to join the show. Actually, thirteen twenty four to ten,
Speaker 1: Pete from Melton said he saw about thirty fire trucks
Speaker 1: heading in to the city, driving side by side, no
Speaker 1: sirens but lights on. All for a very good reason.
Speaker 2: CFA gathering in the city CFA farmers as well. This
Speaker 2: is to protest the state government's new Emergency Services and
Speaker 2: Volunteer Fund. It's a new levee which is being introduced.
Speaker 2: It's going to gross basically an extra two billion dollars.
Speaker 2: But clearly people are furius, especially farmers and those who
Speaker 2: live in Regional Victoria, because they'll they'll be forking out
Speaker 2: for a levee which helps fund the CFA.
Speaker 3: And the farmers have to pay for it.
Speaker 1: Yep, because what is there argument saying, well, it's rural properties,
Speaker 1: that's where the.
Speaker 2: And Regional Victoria are the ones that are going to
Speaker 2: be stumping up for our seats.
Speaker 3: Are doing it so tough anyway.
Speaker 2: And someone who will be at the protest this morning
Speaker 2: is Wimmer farmer Andrew Weedeman. Good morning morning, yeah.
Speaker 4: Good yeah, good morning, goes how Are we all to thank.
Speaker 3: You on the way to the protest this morning?
Speaker 4: Yes, No, I'm already in the city and obviously doing
Speaker 4: a bit of media around this this morning. That yeah,
Speaker 4: we've got quite a lot of people coming from are
Speaker 4: parts of Victoria. But I want to make it very
Speaker 4: clear this is every asset owner here in Melbourne is
Speaker 4: also affected by more than one hundred percent in most
Speaker 4: cases increased in their own shy rape notices or the
Speaker 4: what was formally the fire services levy component. But now
Speaker 4: what the government has done has actually put all of
Speaker 4: the emergency services in under one umbrella and it's now
Speaker 4: increased that. And for us as farmers, we had a
Speaker 4: seventy five percent increase on the fire services levy last year.
Speaker 4: It was one hundred and eighty nine percent more this
Speaker 4: year and expected, you know, in my own case, you
Speaker 4: know we're going to be going from twenty five grand
Speaker 4: in fire services levy to well over fifty thousand dollars
Speaker 4: a studident space of twelve months.
Speaker 1: Stupid question before this got raised, who was paying for it?
Speaker 4: So originally the buy services levy was actually paid by
Speaker 4: every insure everybody that owns the property anywhere in Victoria.
Speaker 4: And now what they've done has bundled all of the
Speaker 4: emergency services in which was funded from consolidated revenue. Now, look,
Speaker 4: I know the listeners know quite well and we all
Speaker 4: know quite well how bad the government's been in its expenditure.
Speaker 4: It's management of expenditure on big projects where they've overrun,
Speaker 4: and now they're trying to tack. What's clear, Victoria.
Speaker 2: It's clear that your blood's boiling, Andrew, and for good reason,
Speaker 2: because you're hurting. Right. How much are you and your
Speaker 2: your friends and family herding in the regions?
Speaker 4: Well, I think you're going to see that express today.
Speaker 4: I mean, we're already forty percent up on numbers of trucks.
Speaker 4: I just heard you mention there's thirty, there's fifty coming
Speaker 4: in from the Western Highway, there's another forty coming in
Speaker 4: on the Colder, and then there's another twenty to five
Speaker 4: to thirty coming in on the hum. And you've got
Speaker 4: to remember we've joined today with all of the Melbournians
Speaker 4: here United Firefighters Union, Peter Marshall's group. We're combining with
Speaker 4: them in this rally and they've been amazing in terms
Speaker 4: of helping and supporting all of the people that we
Speaker 4: all work side by side together with.
Speaker 1: Now and I just want to remind people for anybody
Speaker 1: to be stuck in this traffic on the way to work, right,
Speaker 1: go bloody oh is this really that important? How have
Speaker 1: you got to do it?
Speaker 3: It really does that important?
Speaker 1: You guys get hit with these levees, your costs go up,
Speaker 1: it's going to be handed down to us.
Speaker 4: Correct, absolutely, I mean that's exactly what it is. I mean,
Speaker 4: but everybody's sitting in the car that owns a property
Speaker 4: in Victoria, they've got one hundred percent increase as well.
Speaker 4: So they've all got a stake in the game here,
Speaker 4: absolutely they have, and that's expected to keep increasing. And
Speaker 4: this was normally all of these services were funder some
Speaker 4: consolidated revenue and the insurance component until twenty twelve used
Speaker 4: to be charged interimntly. But look it was a fair system.
Speaker 4: We have in placed under the fire services levy component.
Speaker 4: But this has just been an absolute cash graph via
Speaker 4: broke labor government.
Speaker 3: Andrew, I'm outside of this. Our farmers are in the
Speaker 3: news a lot at the moment because Victorian farmers are
Speaker 3: doing of bloody tough. We've had no rain where we're
Speaker 3: hearing about it a lot more. There's huge issues with
Speaker 3: livestock because there's not enough feed. How are you going?
Speaker 3: The reality of this is really grim, isn't it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, look it is. I mean, combined with poor government
Speaker 4: policy putting pressure on a lot of people, the mental
Speaker 4: health and well being of the state is really under pressure.
Speaker 4: And not only farmers. You've got the impact of all
Speaker 4: of the ancillary businesses that are attached to agriculture right
Speaker 4: across Victoria are also suffering a lot of mental health
Speaker 4: stress at the people are not spending any money either,
Speaker 4: even here in Melbourne. I mean even here in Melbourne
Speaker 4: there will be businesses that are suffering because of poor
Speaker 4: government policy and the expenditure and we don't have the
Speaker 4: will pocket and guess what, we've just got another lot
Speaker 4: taken out.
Speaker 2: There will be some people, though, Andrew that say why
Speaker 2: do you have to shut down the city?
Speaker 1: Look good?
Speaker 4: There will be plenty of people, But we have to
Speaker 4: make a point I mean, and the point will be
Speaker 4: made quite strongly today and I can probably Garran see
Speaker 4: you that this will be a day there historically you'll
Speaker 4: be talking to your grandkids about because this is the
Speaker 4: day rural Victoria has woken up. It's coming to the
Speaker 4: city and it's here to make a set and we'll
Speaker 4: be back powerful words. Repeal it. It doesn't. We're asking
Speaker 4: for moratorium and the parliamentary inquiry into the effect today
Speaker 4: and that's what we're ask is of the government.
Speaker 3: All right, Andrew, thanks for jumping on, Andrew. I hope
Speaker 3: it's safe out there and everyone looks after each other
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just take it easy on the roads. A lot
Speaker 1: of emotions.
Speaker 2: I'd say avoid the city.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, avoid the city if you can, if you can.
Speaker 3: I love our farmers and they are doing a bull
Speaker 3: bloody tough at the.
Speaker 2: Moment, Lauren, Lauren, wake up feeling good.
Speaker 3: Follow them on the socials.