General News
20 January, 2026
Across Victoria Alliance chair questions CFA funding
When Victorian premier Jacinta Allan visited the fire-affected community of Natimuk on January 12, she said CFA funding has gone up each year since 2020 and that vehicle upgrades and maintenance are current.
CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan backed up her statements.
Still, some volunteer firefighters, led by Across Victoria Alliance chairman Andrew Weidermann, brought their concerns to parliament last week.
"The fire services levy has lifted by 200 per cent, and the CFA funding has not kept pace with that increase," he said.
"If the funding was increased last year, where is it?"
Mr Weidermann also said if the Auditor General's report showed there hadn't been any income increases, but the government said they have, where is it, who's getting it?
"This needs to be accounted for; the public deserves an answer," he said.
Mr Weidermann said he is worried that the current schedule has not led to equipment being replaced.
"It would take 58 years before we see the replacement of the current fleet," he said.
"We need a documented process for the replacement of equipment."
Mr Weiderman said the 2009 Royal Bushfire Commission stated that all fire trucks should have rear access doors so that firefighters didn't have to get out on the ground to re-enter the trucks.
"This is a safety matter," he said
"Secondly, it also found that five per cent of the Forest National Parks should have cultural burns take place, but currently that is running at about one per cent," he said.
Mr Weidermann said that if controlled burning cannot happen, grazing should be brought back.
"If we were allowed to graze the parks and road sides, it would reduce the fuel load, and that in itself would reduce the fire risk," he said.
"The reality is we are increasing the heat in fires due to the lack of preparedness."
He said that if the government prepared for fire season the way farmers do, the fire risk would not be as high.
"The roadsides have been left to grow and become a fire hazard," Mr Weiderman said.
"We are a fire state, and preparedness is paramount if we want to limit disasters as we have just seen again this year.
"It's everyone's responsibility. Including the state."
In reference to the recent January 9 fires, he said nothing much would have stopped them, but less fuel would have certainly slowed their spread and reduced damage, giving firefighters a chance to gain control earlier.
"I am in awe of those farmers," Mr Weiderman said.
"On a record Fire Danger Index Day, modelled at 103 but rated at 481 FDI, they faced that fire with speed tillers, their own tractors and graders, and bravely they stopped that fire from reaching Horsham.
"It is hard to comprehend what they did; it's almost impossible to take it in, just what they did, and they should be acknowledged."
Mr Weidermann also praised Horsham Rural City Council Mayor Brian Klowss.
"He's been phenomenal. Despite losing up to 90 per cent of his own farm, he has been on the job looking after everyone else," he said.
"Preparation limits risk; we need to be prepared, and that means getting some answers about this funding."