The Nationals’ Member for Shepparton District, Kim O’Keeffe has condemned the Victorian Labor Government after a new parliamentary inquiry report has confirmed the government’s mismanagement of the CFA and its ability to protect rural and regional communities.
“The Legislative Council’s Environment and Planning Committee’s inquiry into the 2026 summer fires has confirmed what Victorians already know and that’s the government lack of ability to properly manage our CFA brigades and its hardworking volunteers.
“For more than a decade, whether that be Daniel Andrews, Jacinta Allan or now Ben Carroll, Labor has continued to neglect the CFA and its volunteers. Instead, Labor wants to continue taxing volunteers of the CFA through its so-called Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund.
“As a region alone, more than $12 million is being taken away from Labor’s new tax, which as a direct result is placing a heavier burden on local households already stretched to the limit, and impacting on the economy and businesses,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
Among the Committee’s findings in its final report included:
- The number of CFA operational volunteers had fallen by 26 per cent over the past decade.
- 802 single cab tankers remained in the CFA fleet and would not be fully replaced until 2036, while South Australia has already phased its single cabs out.
- Around 650 CFA tankers still carried firefighters in exposed rear seating.
- Roadside vegetation management was inconsistent, poorly funded and without clear accountability, leaving fuel loads that hampered evacuation and firefighting.
“A drop of more than 26 per cent in frontline CFA volunteers over the past decade should send shock waves across every rural and regional community in Victoria.
“Only a Nationals and Liberal Government will properly fund the CFA, by backing in its volunteers for the work they do in protecting their community by putting their lives on the line.
“The Nationals and Liberals will scrap Labor’s Emergency Services Tax and deliver regional Victoria its fair share.”
Photo Caption: The Nationals’ Member for Shepparton District, Kim O’Keeffe pictured on the front steps of Parliament with fed up Victorians protesting against Labor’s Emergency Services Tax.
