Thursday, 29 May 2025

Western Victoria Region

Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (13:01): (1621) My question is to the Treasurer. Right across my electorate, including at a CFA shed I recently visited, signs are appearing. They have been erected by farmers and CFA volunteers who are fed up with continually being ignored by the government. One sign at a local shed that I visited in Ripon recently said ‘Farmers aren’t ALP cash cows’, with a hashtag #ThanksMartha. Another sign said ‘Martha, thanks for nothing’, with a hashtag #ESTax. Minister, my question to you is this: did your government do any consultation at all with any CFA volunteers, any consultation with farmers or any consultation with rural communities, especially with the rural communities that I represent? It does not appear to be the case. Did you actually speak with anyone except for a bureaucrat before coming up with this tax – because even your own MPs appear to hate this tax? Why won’t you scrap it?