Duck hunting: time for a more decisive political strategy

A MESSAGE TO ALL VICTORIAN DUCK HUNTERS: Get on board with a more decisive political strategy, or lose duck hunting forever.

Key points:

• Political pressure from animal liberation groups has cut the Victorian duck hunting season down to a fifth of what it normally would be;
• Pressure from these groups threatens every form of hunting, duck hunting just happens to be the first ‘cab off the rank’;
• The NSC will work with other shooting organisations on a new political strategy aimed at targetting politicians who support the Government’s decision;
• The NSC also aims to get the major parties contesting next year’s Victorian State Election to support new pro-shooting initiatives that will benefit hunters in other states;
• We need your help to make sure this happens.

As most duck hunters in Victoria will now be aware, the Victorian Government has approved a drastically reduced duck season. This is a political strategy designed to appease not just those opposed to duck hunting, but any form of hunting, ahead of next year’s Victorian state election.

This year’s season will span just 20 days, with bag limits of 2 ducks per day, and even then, the choice of ducks will be limited. 

For some, this is barely worth getting out of bed for, which is the whole purpose of restricting the season in this way. 

We urge every duck shooter to refer to Field & Game Australia’s website for information on the season – and what they need to do about it. Don’t just give up, go shooting but get angry about it and do something to fix it.

The NSC steps in

Many of you, stoked by the NSC’s recent legal and political performances, have asked what the NSC is doing about it. 

We’ve developed a multi-pronged strategy which we plan on actioning shortly.

However, be rest assured, you – and the politicians who are responsible for this, will know about it over the coming months. As will those organisations and political parties who sold out on us – especially those who believed sending preferences to the Animal Justice Party and Greens to get elected, was a good idea. 

This is the consequence of that idea. Remember the story we ran warning shooters of this very scenario in mid 2019 – which the ADA scoffed at? 

We are not going to rely on angry FB posts or letter writing campaigns, because they just don’t work. Nor do token questions in Parliament. 

Bringing forward our plans for the Victorian state election

The NSC’s strategy involves establishing a budget and taking concerted and meaningful political action to end the careers of those MPs who are against us and support those who will get the results we need.

To do this, we will be looking to have early conversations with Field & Game Australia, SSAA Vic and the ADA because they will be the ones most impacted by the State Government’s decision. 

It means bringing our 2022 Victorian State Election campaign forward to this year.  Precisely what this involves, we won’t say right now, but it means taking action in marginal seats this year – well before the election.

Are you a member of FGA, SSAA or ADA?

We encourage financial members of those organisations to let their branches know that they MUST make a stand against any politician who sells out on shooters now, and to continue that pressure through to next year’s state election through the NSC. 

The days of working with government to achieve the outcomes we need are gone. They have betrayed that trust. Somehow hoping that our problems will go away simply doesn’t work, nor does settling for mediocre promises such as what we saw with the resurrection of the Firearms Consultative Committee.

Instead, shooters need real commitments from the major parties and for them to live under the threat of retribution if they don’t deliver – because that is the position they have put us into. 

If we don’t do this, then we’ll be settling for ‘more of the same’ – which means further attacks in the future. It has to stop.

The NSC has started this work which we will reveal more about later on.  Suffice to say, targeting some of the marginal seats starts soon.

You can support this work by becoming a member of the NSC by clicking here