Rob Armstrong, the 'accidental leader' of the protest against the Country Fire Authority (CFA) levy in Victoria, has spoken publicly about the childhood trauma that shaped his life. In a recent interview, Armstrong recounted the harrowing experience of surviving the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires as a child.
Armstrong described huddling under a woollen blanket on a country road with three other children and a woman, as the fire swept over them. They had fled their farmhouse in an FJ Holden ute moments earlier. The 1983 Ash Wednesday fires killed 75 people in Victoria and South Australia and destroyed over 2,000 homes.
Armstrong's activism against the CFA levy, a charge introduced by the Victorian government to fund fire services, has drawn attention to his personal story. He has stated that the trauma of the fires motivated his involvement in community safety issues.
