Bill: Fire Services Property Amendment (Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund) Bill 2025: Council Amendments

BILL DEBATE

‘FIRE SERVICES PROPERTY AMENDMENT (EMERGENCY SERVICES AND VOLUNTEERS FUND) BILL 2025: COUNCIL AMENDMENTS’.

Thursday 14 May 2025.

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (23:47):

It is an absolute disgrace that we have seen sell-outs in the Upper House sell out Victorians.

Tonight, we have seen an estimated 160 CFA brigades go offline. These are people who are always first there to protect their communities, so to see these brigades go offline tells you the depths to which they feel strongly about what this Government is doing. They are the first people when this State needs them, when their communities need them, to be there in harm’s way, and for them to be downing their tools tells you the depth of their feelings.

I am sure that they were absolutely torn in making that decision, and none of them will have wanted to do it. But they have no other way to show the outrageous pain this government is causing Victorians than to do that in protest tonight. It is unprecedented. Of the 1200 brigades, to see some 160 – not including the tankers – go offline tonight tells you the depth to which people are concerned about this great big new dog of a tax.

What we also learned in the debate in the Upper House tonight is the Government has done deals and has not costed them. The Government has no idea of the cost of the deals they have done, deals that are not included in the suggested amendments, by the way. The suggested amendments that are being dealt with tonight in the Chamber do not outline the dirty deals that have been done to get this Bill through the Parliament. But how concerning is it that we have a Budget paper that has been printed and we do not know the cost of the changes that have been made to get this Bill through – potentially hundreds of millions of dollars, because rates have changed in terms of the tax. And the Government has been crowing they are going to reach some fake surplus next week.

Yet we know the Budget papers are absolute rubbish. The Treasurer has admitted it tonight. They have no idea of the cost of the dirty deals that have been done. The Budget papers are not accurate when they have not even been released. They have been printed and have not been released. Whatever this is costing, the tax raised has clearly been reduced because of these deals. We do not know how much it is going to cost. Even in terms of the rebate, the rebate numbers previously published, and the ones discussed in the debate tonight are two different numbers. The Government has absolutely lost control of the Budget and more specifically with this tax. What it tells you is the Budget papers are complete rubbish for this $2.1 billion new tax over the next three years.

The Coalition will not be supporting these amendments. That does not mean that we do not agree with every element of the amendments, but the amendments are going to be considered as a whole. I do think it is important to note that, although we do not support many of the elements of the amendments, we do support parts, because the Government has picked up part of the proposals we have made. The Government has directly lifted an amendment we proposed around reporting and said, ‘We’ll put our own little badge on it because we can’t let the Opposition and
the crossbench agree to that more-transparency-by-way-of-reporting measure, so we will move the amendment ourselves.’ We support that, but the amendments are being dealt with as a whole and so therefore we cannot. In relation to the other amendments, there are some consequential amendments which we did not take issue with either.

But in terms of the listing of where the funding would be applied, we have had an issue with that and we moved amendments in the Council, which were defeated. Of course we do not support that. We have, in principle, from the get-go, said that we feel very strongly that this is the wrong tax model and the Government is effectively using a new tax to fund core Government business. So we do not support the amendments in relation to that, the first amendments in the package. It is worth noting that in relation to the reporting measure – though it is included in these amendments, which we will not support – we have not got the opportunity to break that down and let that go through separately, but it should not be read that we oppose that. In fact, as I said, the Government has picked up our amendment.

What the overall amendments do and the final bill will do is cause immense damage in the community. There is no question this Government are tax addicts. This bill will cause deep damage to the community. Tonight, when the Treasurer was speaking about this in the Council, we saw the flippant nature of the way she said things like, ‘For the average property the price will only go up from $190 to $250,’ as if the increase meant nothing. She literally talked about it flippantly, and when she did, it did not surprise anybody who was watching that this was the same Treasurer who, when asked about the increase, said, ‘People can afford to pay.’ That is when you know how broken a Labor Government is, because this is what happens when Labor have been in Government for more than a term.

They forget that taxpayers, at the end of the day, work hard to raise a dollar through the sweat of their hard work. That dollar comes in, through tax, to the Government. Labor always assumes that this money somehow grows on trees and it is their right to waste it. You could see, when the Treasurer was talking about these increases tonight, the absolute coldness of it. We know because the Treasurer, when asked about these measures, said that people could afford to pay, just flippantly. Well, people cannot afford to pay, because this is the 60th increase in taxes and charges by this Government. What this Government is doing is absolutely crippling people, and for the Treasurer tonight to talk about these tax increases so flippantly was outrageous. We know that Labor are tax addicts. We know this was their plan. At least their plan was clear to everybody. They did not resile from it. They said that they were going to overtax everybody; they said that they were going to run Government differently by creating new taxes instead of funding core Government business through consolidated revenue. They were open about it; you have got to give them that.

I think a special award needs to go to the crossbenchers, who through the federal election held out their votes purely to con voters. They did not vote for this Bill throughout the federal election period, because they wanted to con voters. They did not want voters to know what types of con artists they are, what types of dirty deals they are willing to do. They wanted to wait till after the federal election before they sold out. You can hear the Government protecting their con artist friends. What a surprise that is. They held out. You can hear them standing with the Greens. They stood with the Greens tonight. They stand with the Greens. They have done a deal with the Greens. What a disgrace that the Government would do a deal with the Greens to sell out Victorians. It is an absolute disgrace. We have a Treasurer who is mocking Victorians, saying that Victorians can afford to pay, and we have minor parties holding out their vote until after an election to con people throughout the election and then after the election vote against them. I am very, very sure on this one: Victorians are going to remember, and we are going to remind them. Not only has this Government hurt Victorians but the crossbench have sold out, which is absolutely disgraceful. We have fought at every single opportunity to call out how bad this great big new dog of a tax is.

I know tonight many Members on our side of the chamber want to speak on this, so I will make sure they all have an opportunity to speak, because all Members who want to speak on this should have that opportunity so that they can put on the record how they have stood on behalf of Victorians, so they can put on the record how it is that the Labor Party and the crossbench have done a dirty deal to sell them out. This tax is going to hurt people. To see 160 CFA brigades go offline tonight should tell the government the damage that this tax is doing.

Michaela Settle interjected.

James NEWBURY: As I said earlier, to see the people who are first to walk into danger to protect their communities protest tonight –

Members interjecting.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Eureka is warned!

James NEWBURY: and down their tools tells you how strongly they feel about what this Government is doing. I am sure every single person who is doing that tonight is doing it against their best nature, because they do not want to be doing that. They want to be volunteering, they want to be helping and they want to be standing by to protect their community. For them to say they need to send a message should tell the Government to listen. The Government should be listening to these people who are the first in line to protect our community, and it is not listening. It is absolutely disgraceful what this Government is doing. Every single Member that wants to should take the opportunity to put on record our disgust and our Opposition to what this Government is doing.

When it comes to tax, we will have more to say. Of course we will, because what the Government is doing in terms of tax is absolutely crippling Victoria. The Government often says – they shout across the Chamber – ‘What are you going to do on tax?’ I do not think I can possibly talk about how much I do not like the tax regime in Victoria. I do not think there is any secret about that. I do not think it is a secret on our side of the Chamber. In our DNA we do not support high taxes. We do not support them; it is in our DNA. It is no surprise. No-one over that side of the Chamber should be surprised that we do not support the current tax mix. We do not support what the Government is doing in relation to tax. We have stood again and again and again and said how outrageous what the government is doing is. We oppose taxes in this Chamber regularly. Of course we do, because we do not support increased taxes. Of course we do not. This is in our DNA. Sixty times – I mean, there must come a time when you stop –

Michaela Settle interjected.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Eureka, 10 minutes.

Member for Eureka withdrew from chamber.

James NEWBURY: with your Cheshire smiles. Today when this Bill was being discussed and the Government moved to delay the House adjourning, everyone cheered on that side of the Chamber. They cheered to increase tax. I mean, can you believe it? Look it up in Hansard. Earlier today the Government cheered that they were staying back late to introduce a $2 billion tax over three years. What a bunch of – I cannot even say; it would be unparliamentary. But they cheered multiple times, by the way, at staying back late to impose a new tax on Victorians. We would love to know next week, in relation to this tax, how much it is going to cost. But we cannot. We will have a Budget paper that we already know will not be properly listing what this tax is going to raise. We know the Budget papers are a complete con. The Treasurer said it tonight. She said tonight that she has no idea what the cost of the deals is. What are the Budget papers worth? We already know that the fake surplus that is supposedly being listed in it is only made up of the increased GST bailout. It is the first time our state has required a bailout. The Government was crowing about that, weren’t they? They were crowing about the fact that we required a bailout. I mean, seriously, when someone has to come along and bail you out, doesn’t that just show what a hopeless bunch of financial managers you are? ‘We’ve been bailed out for the first time in history. We’re so hopeless that someone needs to come and save us, and we’re crowing about it.’

I mean, seriously, what a hopeless bunch of financial mis-managers this group is, and for them to crow about it. But what is worse, and we all saw it earlier today, is the Government was cheering when this House moved to sit late. The Leader of the House came in here and moved a continuation motion, which means we can sit later so we can consider an increase in tax tonight, and this Government all cheered. They had their arms up, cheering: ‘Yay, great big new tax.’ Cheering – I mean, it is craven. It is so incredibly craven what this bunch do, crowing about increasing tax. You never know, when these amendments are dealt with later, when these amendments pass, we might hear them cheer again. I can see the energy over there. I can see it now, them crowing. ‘Yeah, we’ve got a great big new tax through.’ How clever. When you introduce a tax, you hurt people. When you introduce a tax what you should do is work out, frankly, what taxes you do not need. That should be your base position: what shouldn’t you be taking from people. Because, guys, it isn’t your bloody money. That is what is so outrageous about these taxes.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Through the Chair.

James NEWBURY: Deputy Speaker, I apologise. What is so outrageous is that this is not your money. Every tax dollar is taxpayers’ money. No Government has a God-given right to that money. It should stay in the taxpayers’ pockets. Yet this Government crows about it and cheers about it multiple times. All of you were cheering. Do not say you were not; you were. You were cheering. It was absolutely outrageous, all of you. We all saw it.

A member interjected.

James NEWBURY: Yes, that is right. We will get the video. You were cheering about increasing taxes. What a bunch of craven crooks. Anyway, a bunch of craven crooks they are. But cheering about increasing taxes – are we surprised? No, because the Treasurer said, when asked about the pain this would cause, ‘Well, they can afford to pay.’ Are you serious? I thought when the former Treasurer said that, because the former Treasurer said the same, that he was out of touch. He had been in Government for so long, he had been working for the Labor Party for so long, that he was out of touch. For the new Treasurer to come in and say exactly the same thing just shows there is something rotten in this Government. There is something rotten when a Treasurer thinks they have a God-given right to someone else’s money and they do not care about the pain they cause every single taxpayer with these 60 new and increased taxes. And to think, on top of that, that the Treasurer has not even got the wit and wherewithal to know what it cost. How can you do a deal and not know the cost? How can you do that as a Treasurer?

Richard Riordan interjected.

James NEWBURY: That is right. And the answer, Member for Polwarth, is she does not care about the money. She does not care about taxpayers’ money; there is no respect for taxpayers’ money. When asked how much these deals would cost, she did not know. It tells you also that the deals were about the political dividend of the vote. That is what they were about. They were saying to the sellouts, ‘How much is it going to cost us to buy you out? How much is it going to cost? We will pay it. We will give you the blank cheque, and we don’t need to know how much it will cost.’

We will have a Budget next week that will not even properly account for these deals. We can go into detail about why the Budget is a great big crock, but this is just another example of why the Budget cannot be believed, because when the Treasurer was asked to account tonight for these changes, she had no idea.

The other thing that came out, which was just flagrant, was when she was asked about the rebate scheme and people receiving it. Of course she was not fully across the detail on that, because why would she be? But when it came to the rebate, she also said renters do not get it. If you are a volunteer and you do not own your property, guess what you do not get? You do not get a rebate. Did anyone know that little one? No-one knew that. If you do not own your property and you are a volunteer, do you get a rebate? No, renters do not get a rebate. The Treasurer admitted that tonight. The Minister for Industry and Advanced Manufacturing is looking quizzical; the minister did not know. The Treasurer admitted that tonight.

I would ask the Greens, the supposed champions of the renter: is that the deal that was done with the Greens? Have the Greens sold out renters tonight? The answer is yes. These amendments sell out renters. Can you believe it? Tonight, I challenge the Greens to come into this Chamber and talk about their deal – if they are still here, and I am sure they are not. I say to the attendants, the clerks, the caterers and everybody who is still here, thank you for keeping us going. You are all doing an incredible job, and we all thank you. I note we do not even know if the Greens are still here, but if they are, I put the challenge out to them: did you know?

Danny O’Brien interjected.

James NEWBURY: That is right. It is Friday now; it is stay-at-home day. I ask the Greens, who have not accounted for themselves today at all – they have dodged every possible media – to explain their vote when they come in here. Explain why, as champions of renters, the Government’s rebate scheme does not extend to renters if you are a volunteer and you do not own your property – did anyone know that? I am seeing a lot of very confused people on the Government side of the Chamber. Minister, if it helps, when the Treasurer said that, she said it very, very softly. ‘They don’t own their property,’ she said. If you are a volunteer and a renter, guess what you do not get? The volunteers that rent do not count for this Government and do not count for the Greens, their supposed champions. I am looking forward to hearing from every Labor Member who gets up talking about their protections for renters.

What is so clear about this Bill is that Victorians have absolutely had enough when it comes to this Government’s tax addiction. This evening, as we saw reports coming in of CFA brigades downing their tools, I was with the Leader of the National Party in the Council. We were aware how strongly Victorians were over what this government was doing with tax, but we were both struck when CFA volunteers downed their tools – the people who are there first and always do the right thing. That should tell you something. And it was not one, it was not two; the last reports were 160-plus tankers –

Danny O’Brien interjected.

James NEWBURY: Now 200, I am advised.

I would say to the government: do not make light of these reports. Do better than that, guys; do better than that. At least 200 have downed –

Members interjecting.

James NEWBURY: Make an issue of everything else I have said, but do not make issue of that. Two hundred brigades have downed their tools. I am advised it is now 200 who have walked away. We should say to ourselves, ‘If one volunteer is downing their tools, we should be listening,’ because it is the first person who will not want to walk away. The CFA volunteers will always be the first person there, so for a reported 200 to be downing their tools tonight should say to us that there is a huge proportion of the community who are now saying, ‘Enough.’ So for the Government to be cheering earlier tonight in this Chamber is an absolute disgrace. It says there is something so incredibly rotten with this Government. It is just incredibly rotten. The Government thinks people can afford to pay. They cannot. It is absolutely rotten.

The Greens will presumably have to come in here and vote tonight. Whether or not they explain themselves will be interesting, because they did not in the Council.

A member interjected.

James NEWBURY: Well, they might have gone home. I do not think they will be in bed. They have an opportunity to come in and explain themselves, and they need to give Victorians their reasoning as to why they have got in bed with this rotten Government. These amendments do exactly that. It is a dirty deal that is hurting too many people, and you can see it. It is an incredibly profound message that is being sent by the CFA volunteers tonight. What the Government is doing with this tax is fundamentally wrong. It is absolutely, fundamentally wrong. It is hurting people and it is going to hurt people, and the craven joy from the Government over this tax is absolutely shameful. They should stand condemned for doing it, and I hope every single Victorian remembers what this Government has done to them.