{"id":118544,"date":"2025-08-07T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?p=118544"},"modified":"2025-08-06T16:40:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T06:40:15","slug":"geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/","title":{"rendered":"Geelong councillor backs moratorium on ESVF levy"},"content":{"rendered":"

A CITY of Greater Geelong councillor is among the 30 local government representatives collectively against the new Emergency Services and Volunteer Fund (ESVF) and calling for a moratorium.<\/p>\n

Coming into effect on July 1, the ESVF replaced the Fire Services Property Levy and is intended to support the work of a wider range of emergency services that respond to fires, floods, storms and other emergencies.<\/p>\n

Local governments are upset<\/a> at the impost of the ESVF on their residents and that they must collect the ESVF on the Victorian government’s behalf but will see no direct benefit.<\/p>\n

Cr Trent Sullivan<\/a> from the City of Greater Geelong represented one of the 22 Victorian municipalities that met in Melbourne on July 26 to discuss their opposition to the ESVF.<\/p>\n

The group unanimously expressed its opposition to the ESVF, as well as its intention to form a delegation to meet with the Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Local Government to advocate for a moratorium and public inquiry; and to form a working group to further advocate on the issue.<\/p>\n

Cr Sullivan said people outside Melbourne were dismayed the Victorian government was pushing ahead with the ESVF, and many residents could not afford it.<\/p>\n

\u201cCouncillors want to be on the side of local people, and we are being forcibly deputised as collectors of an unfair tax that papers over cuts to services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis part of the world doesn\u2019t get the same level of service as people in the city do, and cuts to services that are already under-resourced are a real concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got local businesses and primary producers already doing it tough facing a doubling or tripling of the rate that they are charged to repair a budget that has blown out because of infrastructure projects in Melbourne.”<\/p>\n

There have been some protests across the state about the ESVF, including in Geelong in early May, and councils including the Surf Coast Shire have passed resolutions against it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Victorian government says more resources are needed to respond to natural disasters across the state, and emergency services volunteers would be exempt from the ESVF.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A CITY of Greater Geelong councillor is among the 30 local government representatives collectively against the new Emergency Services and Volunteer Fund (ESVF) and calling for a moratorium. Coming into effect on July 1, the ESVF replaced the Fire Services Property Levy and is intended to support the work of a wider range of emergency […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":118546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-118544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGeelong councillor backs moratorium on ESVF levy - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Greater Geelong councillor joins 30 local representatives calling for a moratorium on the new ESVF levy amid rising costs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Geelong councillor backs moratorium on ESVF levy - Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Greater Geelong councillor joins 30 local representatives calling for a moratorium on the new ESVF levy amid rising costs.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-06T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2025\/08\/esvf-protest-geelong.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"James Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45\"},\"headline\":\"Geelong councillor backs moratorium on ESVF levy\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-06T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":355,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/esvf-protest-geelong.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/\",\"name\":\"Geelong councillor backs moratorium on ESVF levy - Geelong Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/esvf-protest-geelong.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-06T18:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Greater Geelong councillor joins 30 local representatives calling for a moratorium on the new ESVF levy amid rising costs.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/esvf-protest-geelong.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/esvf-protest-geelong.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"There have been some protests across the state about the ESVF, including in Geelong in early May. Photo: ELLIE CLARINGBOLD\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Geelong councillor backs moratorium on ESVF levy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Geelong Times\",\"description\":\"Free local news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Geelong Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/times_logo_1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/times_logo_1.png\",\"width\":248,\"height\":37,\"caption\":\"Geelong Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45\",\"name\":\"James Taylor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Taylor\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/author\\\/james\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Geelong councillor backs moratorium on ESVF levy - Geelong Times","description":"Greater Geelong councillor joins 30 local representatives calling for a moratorium on the new ESVF levy amid rising costs.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Geelong councillor backs moratorium on ESVF levy - Geelong Times","og_description":"Greater Geelong councillor joins 30 local representatives calling for a moratorium on the new ESVF levy amid rising costs.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/","og_site_name":"Geelong Times","article_published_time":"2025-08-06T18:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2025\/08\/esvf-protest-geelong.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"James Taylor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Taylor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/"},"author":{"name":"James Taylor","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/person\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45"},"headline":"Geelong councillor backs moratorium on ESVF levy","datePublished":"2025-08-06T18:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/"},"wordCount":355,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2025\/08\/esvf-protest-geelong.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/","name":"Geelong councillor backs moratorium on ESVF levy - Geelong Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2025\/08\/esvf-protest-geelong.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-06T18:00:00+00:00","description":"Greater Geelong councillor joins 30 local representatives calling for a moratorium on the new ESVF levy amid rising costs.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2025\/08\/esvf-protest-geelong.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2025\/08\/esvf-protest-geelong.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"There have been some protests across the state about the ESVF, including in Geelong in early May. Photo: ELLIE CLARINGBOLD"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/geelong-councillor-moratorium-esvf\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Geelong councillor backs moratorium on ESVF levy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/","name":"Geelong Times","description":"Free local news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization","name":"Geelong Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/09\/times_logo_1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/09\/times_logo_1.png","width":248,"height":37,"caption":"Geelong Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/person\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45","name":"James Taylor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"James Taylor"},"url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/author\/james\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118544"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=118544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}