FARMING this year has been anything but ‘a picnic’ especially with the extended dry conditions not breaking until it was too late for autumn growth.
The result has been that many started feeding out early, and they haven’t stopped, in most cases requiring additional feed to be brought in.
And then there was the kick in the guts from the State Government – the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF) levy.
This Sunday, June 29, however, is an opportunity to get together on a more positive note, at a ‘Farmers’ Picnic’ organised by the local business community, at the Ventnor Recreation Reserve.
He event starts at 12 noon.
The Phillip Island Rotary will be on hand to cook up a delicious BBQ, with bread supplied by Bakers Delight, while the Phillip Island CWA will ensure everyone gets a cup of tea. There’ll even be some musical entertainment.
One of the organisers, Greg Price of Alex Scott and Staff, has urged farmers from across the district to attend, promising when the event was organised a few weeks ago, to make it rain!
“It's a wonderful opportunity for the farming community to gather, relax, and enjoy a day out.”
But, there’s little doubt that showing community support for the farmers after a tough year, and following the angst over the new emergency services levy, is behind the event.
Notwithstanding the fact that the government announced, after introducing the new levy in May, that it would be capped at the 2024/25 rate for all primary production properties across the state for the coming financial year, the massive increase in the levy has been a real phycological blow.
Take a 235.2 hectare dairy farm near Wonthaggi, presently on the market for $9 million. This year they would have paid a levy of $2583.27.
Next financial year it was going up to $6462.28 as a component of an already hefty rates notice with the Bass Coast Shire Council’s take being in excess of $17, 000 following the adoption of the budget by council last week.
The total rates bill for the 2025-26 financial year on that farm would have been a whopping $23,726 and has probably forced the hand of the Bass Coast Shire Council to consider improving the farm rate differential to 70%, down from 80% of the general rate later this year.
Phillip Island Councillor Tim O’Brien said he would have liked to see the reduction in rates for farmers introduced this coming financial year.
“I really feel we’ve let our farmers down (leaving the differential at 80%) when we are surrounded by local government areas with farm rate differentials of 70% and 65%,” said Cr O’Brien.
But the 150% increase in the emergency services levy for farmers is coming the following year, the government has simply kicked the can down the road.
Interestingly enough, the big increase in the levy to primary producers is set to hit in 2026, in the lead up to the next state election.
Other classes of ratepayers, including residential (up 98.85%), commercial (up 100.3%), and industrial (up 64%) will pay the increase in the emergency services levy with their next rates notice.
VFF veteran Graham Wood of Grantville said it best about how farmers felt about the new levy in a speech at a farmers’ rally in Wonthaggi recently:
“This government wants you to believe this is just a simple, fair way to fund our emergency services. But let me be crystal clear, this tax is anything but fair. Let’s break it down to show exactly why this is an assault on every farmer in Victoria:-
1. First, this is a tax on your assets, not your income. The government calculates this tax based on the Capital Improved Value of your farm. that is the value of your soil enabling the production of food and fibre, your land, your sheds, your fences – everything. But as every single person here knows, the value of your farm on paper has absolutely no bearing on the money you have in the bank. We can have a multi-million dollar property and be struggling to make ends meet whether it be after a tough season, or drought, or low market prices. This isn’t a tax on profit; it's a tax on our very existence. It’s like taxing a factory on the value of its working capital, i.e. machinery, or Medicos having to pay a tax on their X-Ray and MRI machines, etc. They don’t pay tax on this working capital. A Farm’s SOIL is its working capital and should NOT be taxed! THIS LEVY is a TAX and is fundamentally, and dangerously, flawed.
2. Second, it disproportionately punishes farmers. The figures don't lie. While city homeowners will see a small rise in their contributions, farmers are being slugged with an increase of 3 times or more in just ONE YEAR! It is an outrageous and targeted attack on the agricultural sector. They see our land, our assets, and they see a cash cow. They don’t see the mortgages. They don’t see the input costs and hard work. They don’t see the sleepless nights and the long hours of working. The politicians see an opportunity to prop up their budget on the backs of the hardest-working people in this State of Victoria.
3. Third, and this is the most galling insult of all, it penalises the very volunteers who protect us. Think about it. Many of you in this crowd are CFA volunteers. Who give their time, their energy, and risk their lives for free. And now, this government has the audacity to send us a bigger bill for the privilege. They’ve offered a token rebate for one property, a measly concession that is a slap in the face. It's a cynical political stunt that does nothing to address the fundamental injustice of forcing volunteers to pay for the service they already so generously provide. It's like asking a volunteer at a soup kitchen to pay for the soup! It is absurd, and it is offensive. A one-year reprieve, though welcome, does not mean too much if it is only for one year.
4. Finally, this is a tax on our food and our future. This isn't just a burden on us; it's a threat to the food security of our state. Every extra dollar in tax is a dollar we can’t invest in new equipment, in sustainable farming practices, or in succession planning to pass the farm on to the next generation. It makes us less competitive, it makes our food more expensive, and it pushes more family farms to the brink. This isn’t just a rural issue; this is an issue for every single person who eats to continue living.
See, you at the Farmers Picnic at the Ventnor Recreation Reserve this Sunday, June 29 from 12 nonn. Tell you mates to come too.
And bring your Driza-Bone!
