Wednesday, 29 October 2025

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (09:52): One of my constituents contacted me recently to say that he is being charged the big new emergency services tax and has been cruelly denied his right to the rebate for emergency services volunteers. He is a long-serving CFA volunteer with almost 35 years of service to his community and has lived with his partner at the same house for the last 28 years. The property title was in her name when they met, and they have not changed that, but the house is his home and has been his listed address for CFA membership for over two decades. He recently applied for the volunteer rebate from Labor’s greedy emergency services tax but was turned down due to bureaucratic red tape. My constituent wondered whether he should send an invoice back to the government for the tens of thousands of hours he has dedicated to his brigade, attending call-outs, repairing vehicles, improving operations and keeping the financial books in order at night. It is clear that Labor does not recognise or value the hard work that volunteers contribute to our state. I have written to the Treasurer asking her to do the right thing and ensure his rebate is granted.