Why shooters will not vote LNP on election day

"If you know you're doing wrong then you are a part of it and share the guilt,” says the president of the Cooloola Range Complex Association

This letter writer says the LNP has let gun owners down. Picture: Frances Klein

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

RE "Curra Promise For Rifle Range", Page 3.

The quote from myself, "Most of the shooters will not vote for them (LNP) anyway" did not include the reasons why shooters will not vote for the LNP, which had been intensely discussed at this meeting with Tony Perrett MP and Dr Christian Rowan.

READ MORE: What One Nation Wants for Gympie

Besides the John Howard "Great Firearm Theft of 1996/7 and the Hand Gun Theft of 2003", which were implemented by the National Party, Russell Cooper and Tim Fischer voting with Labor, Tim Nichols has recently twice voted with Labor to oppose primary producers' rights to own Category H firearms by providing as-of-right access to category H firearms for primary producers' then voted again to support the Labor party's Weapons Legislation (Lever Action Shotguns) Amendment Regulation 2017, subordinate legislation No. 212 of 2017.

Dr Christian Rowan, (left) with MP for Gympie Tony Perrett.

If the LNP votes with Labor, they are part of Labor, they do deals with Labor.

Admittedly, our local member, Tony Perrett, was a champion and at the above mentioned vote on October 11, he crossed the floor and voted with the Katter Party and One Nation.

We all hoped that he would have stood as an Independent for the forthcoming election, but he has chosen to remain with the LNP. As his party has caused so much pain for law abiding firearm owners, I cannot vote for the LNP, or Labor, or the Greens.

I admire Mr Perrett for crossing the floor and would always want to count him as one of my friends, but cannot help him, as that would assist the LNP.

(Last Thursday) November 2, LNP Shadow Minister for the Environment Christian Rowan MP announced in Gympie that the LNP would grant a lease of the land in the Curra State Forest, and provide $150,000 grant to the Cooloola Range Complex Association Inc to progress this facility.

As I am the president of the Cooloola Range Complex Association Inc this announcement was made at the Owen Guns business premises, with Mr Perrett in attendance.

Tony Perrett. Picture: Rowan Schindler

Of course, as the campaign to regain our centrefire shooting range in Gympie has been a 25 year battle, I was very pleased to hear that news and told them so, but also reminded them that their LNP government had been in power several times during the last 25 years and last time in 2012, the minister had even given an Agreement in Principle, but continually delayed and procrastinated, preventing the project from proceeding.

This announcement, of course, is only promised on the proviso that the LNP wins the forthcoming election.

I reminded Mr Perrett and Dr Rowan that as the LNP had betrayed the firearm owners yet again and had twice voted with the Labor Party to impose further impositions on law abiding firearm owners their chances of re-election were greatly reduced and that as we spoke the firearm industry and shooting associations were raising a million dollars to ensure their electoral demise.

Gympie MP Tony Perrett in parliament. Picture: Contributed

Dr Rowan suggested that in politics everything was a trade-off, a compromise and that he felt that even though he knew what they were voting for was wrong, the LNP was a better alternative than Labor and to do some good he had to stick with the LNP.

I reminded him that what he had described was in legal circles called the Nuremberg defence, where German Nazi SS soldiers admitted to knowing that they had done wrongs, but blamed their superior officers for making the decisions.

That defence failed at the Nuremberg trials and those soldiers were hanged, under the 'common law principle' that if you know you're doing wrong then you are a part of it and share the guilt.

Mr Perrett knew that further impositions on law abiding firearm owners was against the wishes of his electorate and blatantly diametrically opposed to the LNP's own firearm policy so he took the correct course and became the first and last LNP member to cross the floor of the 55th Parliament.

Ron Owen from Owen's Guns in Gympie. Picture: Renee Albrecht

The rest of the LNP members followed the party dictates, followed the orders and have to accept the consequences.

Ron Owen,

Gympie