We say the Parliamentary Inquiry into Victoria’s 2026 summer fires must deliver action, not another report documenting the same failures that farmers have been warning governments about for years.
VFF President Ryan Milgate said Victorian farmers are tired of paying the price for poor public land management and woefully under-resourced emergency services that fails agriculture and regional communities.
“Every summer, farmers are the ones on the frontline protecting their families, livestock, neighbours and communities. We continue to bear the brunt of decisions made from Spring Street and worst all of, we are left to pick up the pieces long after the fires are put out.”
“The reality is the government has been told what needs to change and these recommendations already exist. The question is why they haven’t been acted on?,” Mr Milgate said.
The VFF’s submission to the Inquiry reinforced long-standing calls for practical fuel management at the public-private land boundary, greater investment in the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and stronger frontline firefighting capability that recognises the unique impacts bushfires have on agricultural businesses.
Mr Milgate said the Inquiry should focus on implementing solutions that have already been identified.
“The VFF has been calling for practical reforms for years, including better management of public land fuel loads and stronger support for the CFA that properly recognises the impact of bushfires on farm businesses.”
“Many of those recommendations have already been recognised through previous bushfire reviews. We don’t need another report, we need governments to start delivering and they can start doing that today.”
“These findings will rub salt into the wound into CFA volunteers already seething from the outrageous Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund tax-grab.”
“It’s time the government backed those on the front line and scrapped the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund and gave our regions a fighting chance to defend their property and communities the next time they face a raging firefront,” Mr Milgate said.