Shooters want a ‘right to hunt’. How about a right not to be shot?

If anyone is in doubt about the real motivation behind the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party’s new Conservation Hunting Bill, just listen to the gun lobby. The Sporting Shooter magazine has declared it “the biggest victory for hunters in two decades”.

Despite the bill being framed around conservation and environmental management, the shooting community isn’t talking about protecting habitats or restoring biodiversity. It’s celebrating a “right to hunt”, access to silencers and myriad other “benefits” from a shooting industry proverbial Christmas shopping list.

Feral pigs would be in hunters’ sights under the proposed laws.

This bill is not about conservation; it’s a Trojan horse for the gun lobby, and it seems it’s being ushered in through backroom political deals. The NSW government appears willing to trade public safety for political convenience, seeking the Shooters Party’s support to push through its own legislation, such as the workers’ compensation bill.

We’ve been here before. The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party has previously pushed similar agendas – and now it’s leaning heavily on the conservation framework, a justification emphatically rejected by conservation bodies.

The last time the state government did a deal with the Shooters Party, in 2012, it led to hunting being permitted in national parks – alongside bushwalkers, campers and families. Public safety took a back seat to political convenience.

Let’s take a look at some of the proposed changes in this new bill. It seeks to:

Establish a conservation hunting authority. This would revive an idea that failed spectacularly in the past. The former Game Council was abolished in 2013 after a scathing review found public safety was not prioritised. Rather, we got poor governance and prioritising hunter interests over public good. A new authority would inherit the same structural conflicts – once again, it would be a proxy for the firearm industry.

Recognise and make provision for a “right to hunt”. This strikes at the very heart of Australia’s firearm safety framework. The National Firearms Agreement – signed by all states, including NSW – affirms that gun ownership is a privilege, not a right, and must always be subject to the overriding principle of public safety. This is also the primary objective of the NSW Firearms Act. Since the Port Arthur tragedy of 1996, nearly 90 per cent of Australians have supported our firearm safety framework or want it tighter. This new hunting bill seeks to rewrite the fundamental tenet of firearm safety. Who but firearm users would want laws that make it easier to get and use a gun?

Create a minister for hunting and fishing. Imagine a minister for smoking, gambling and alcohol – a dedicated cabinet position to promote and protect commercial industries that come with significant social harms. Why does the gun lobby deserve a bespoke minister? The bill also includes less publicised, yet deeply concerning, provisions: legalising silencers, authorising night-vision hunting, expanding Crown land access for shooters, establishing bounty programs and more.

It reads like a wish list for the shooting industry.

NSW already has more registered firearms than any other state – more than 1.1 million. That’s one for every seven people, with more than 30 per cent stored in suburban homes.

There is no limit on the number of guns an individual can own. Some licensed firearm owners have more than 300 guns. This bill is not about environmental stewardship. It is about enabling more people to use more guns more often.

The government must remember that most Australians – three in four – support limits on the number of firearms one person can own. In NSW, 97 per cent of people do not own a gun. These 8 million citizens have a right to public safety over the whims of shooters.

The Australian Gun Safety Alliance comprises members from the health, medical, education, emergency services, faith, and domestic and family violence sectors. These organisations deal with the impact of firearm misuse through accidents, injury, self-harm and homicide. They all agree that community safety must be the first principle in any discussion about firearms – not political deals, not commercial interests, and not appeasement of a loud, well-resourced and influential minority.

No backroom deal is worth risking public safety. Our alliance calls on the government to reject the hunting bill when it returns to parliament next week.

Stephen Bendle is convenor of the Australian Gun Safety Alliance.

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