Farmers are planning a Parliament House steps rally

At the close of its two-day Ballarat conference, the VFF agreed to ask farmers to assemble on the steps of Parliament House, possibly in September, to ask politicians to address rates and rural services inequities. 

VFF president David Jochinke said recent concerns over rates were a catalyst for a wider movement on rural inequality.

“I reckon we should be actually calling for a better deal for rural Victoria,” Mr Jochinke said.

“We are sick of the condition of the roads and sick of the condition of telecommunications -  why can’t we be marching for a better deal?

“We want the same opportunities as metropolitan centres.”

A motion was moved by the VFF’s Wimmera branch that farmers protest, on the steps of State Parliament.

Member Andrew Weidemann, Rupanyup, said farmers were at a tipping point.

“We are seeing a rating system that is completely broken,” Mr Weidemann said.

“It’s based around old systems where the value of the land is structured around a rate and billed back to farmers, rural ratepayers and residents,” Mr Weidemann said.

“The differential rating system is causing enormous confusion, heartache and despair in a lot of those rural areas.”

He said it wasn’t about farmers avoiding paying rates but the introduction of an equitable system.

Cost shifting had meant services which were “unfundable” and a number of shires were almost insolvent.

Mr Weidemann said the VFF wanted commitments from election candidates the rating system would be revised and inequities resolved.

“We need to see that in writing and very quickly,” Mr Weidemann said.

“Councils are in despair at having to work with this inequitable system.”

He suggested a broadacre farm category be added to the differential rating system, to allow greater equity.

Mr Jochinke called on farmers to organise busloads of protestors, to go to Melbourne and say “we need a better deal.

“We are not going to go away, we are not going to go quietly,” he said. 

“We just want a simple message that we want a better deal.”

A working group was set up to organise the protest.

Peter Touhey, Pyramid Hill-Mitiamo branch cautioned against diluting the message.

“You want the politicians to deliver on rural rates, it’s a big issue we have been fighting for years and years,” Mr Touhey said.

“This is a big one because you are going to get a lot of farmers because it affects every farmer across the state

“I think it’s a simple message and a strong message.”

VFF vice president Brett Hosking said the ratings model had to change, sooner, rather than later.

“In 10 years time, we will have crippled nearly all the businesses here in this room,” Mr Hosking said.

State Opposition leader Peter Walsh told the conference he didn’t believe councils used all the tools they had at their disposal.

“The rate cap has failed farmers because it limited overall rate increases, not how they were raised.

“There is a local government reform bill, before the Parliament at the moment, and that talks about reducing the amount of rates can councils can collect the municipal charge from 20 per cent to 10pc,” Mr Walsh said.

“That’s a backward step.

“I’m disappointed a lot of rural councils don’t use the municipal charge

“That’s effectively a household charge, which is meant to cover the services council’s deliver that everyone uses.”

But he said there was also a need for a change to the grants formula.

“For city councils, the amount they get out of grants probably doesn’t equal the amount they get out of their parking meters,” Mr Walsh said.

He said another way of helping council was to bring back the shire roads and bridges program.

“Councils are elected by their community and I think they have to be responsive to their communities

“I know a number of very contentious rating decisions, by local councils, and farmers need to work with those councils to get a better outcome.”

Greens leader Dr Samantha Ratnam said one solution was more State and Federal government funding.

“What has happened over the years is that State and Federal governments have consistently withdrawn funding support for local government, which means they rely more and more on rates as their predominant, if not only, source of revenue,” Ms Ratnam said.

In rural and regional areas, councils had a limited ability to raise revenue from other areas.

“They have been given the same job to do, if not a bigger job.

“One of the quickest and most effective solutions governments could now propose is to better fund local government.”

Premier Daniel Andrews said there had been one review, under the Local Government Act, of one council’s rating strategy.

“There is, then a broader piece of work, that goes directly to this issue and addresses the smaller councils that are perhaps driving some of these sorts of decisions,” Mr Andrews said.

He rejected a call, from the conference floor, to sack Horsham Rural City Council and replace it with an administrator.

“I was invited to run a commentary on the event on whether we were going to use our very significant power, under the Local Government Act, but it would be best to go through a slightly different process, then answering questions in a public forum.”