Victorian MPs Jeff Bourman and Georgie Purcell share their views on the duck hunting decision
The state government’s call to allow duck hunting to continue has divided opinions. Politicians from the Shooting, Fishers and Farmers Party and Animal Justice Party MP argue the case for and against.
The Allan government’s duck hunting decision has sparked fierce debate. Two MPs put forward their arguments.
For: ‘Hunting is safe, humane and sustainable’
– Shooting, Fishers and Farmers Party MP Jeff Bourman
The Victorian government’s decision to let duck hunting continue is a win for individuals but also the state.
The sport has been a hotly contested issue for nearly three decades now, which finally came to a head after the government tasked the Upper House with an inquiry into Native Bird Hunting Arrangements in early 2023 to investigate the issue.
I sat on that inquiry with MPs from the Government, the Coalition, the Greens and the Animal Justice Party.
The inquiry heard evidence from the foremost experts in wetland and waterbird ecology in Australia.
All of them stated unequivocally that well-regulated recreational hunting is sustainable and that it does not pose a threat to wild bird populations.
The inquiry heard from credible economists who made it clear that native bird hunting provides economic benefits to the state, particularly to regional communities like those I represent in East Gippsland.
It is false for others to claim that the evidence presented to the inquiry supported a ban on native bird hunting.
It did not.
It is false to claim that most submissions to the inquiry favoured a ban.
They did not.
It is false to claim even that the majority of the MPs on the inquiry favoured a ban.
They did not.
Nonetheless, the committee divided along ideological lines to make one of its eight recommendations a ban.
The remaining seven recommendations all provide pathways forward for hunting.
It is also false to claim that the Government has ignored this report and its recommendations.
It has not.
This week, the government has accepted seven recommendations rather than just one.
Any hunting, let alone waterfowl hunting, is not for everyone.
A genuine concern of the public is sustainability, as it should be.
Sustainability is assured in Victoria by scientific modelling that sets sustainable harvest levels, including conservative ‘floor’ population levels, below which no hunting can occur.
Hunting must be regulated and controlled for safety and to ensure that the take is reduced in years of less abundance to ensure a sustainable population.
The science provides the sustainability inputs that are critical to ensure that a species isn’t placed at undue risk.
Those inputs should shape the bag limit for a year and whether hunting should continue.
These decisions should no longer be influenced by activists telling horror stories or by pseudoscientists with no training, experience or qualifications pushing their desire to ban something they don’t like.
You don’t have to like hunting – you not liking it is not a reason for me and thousands of other Victorians not to do it.
The government’s decision this week to continue Native Bird Hunting in Victoria acknowledges the many thousands of Victorians and Australians who hunt native waterfowl legally, safely, responsibly and sustainably.
It also lays out a clear pathway forward for Native Bird Hunting that ensures that the activity meets evolving (dare I say progressing?) community standards.
The cornerstone of the changes is the Waterfowl Wounding Reduction Action Plan.
This plan has been developed by government agencies, academics, animal welfare groups and hunters to address and reduce the already low levels of wounding in a measurable, evidence-based way.
Nothing short of complete capitulation to their extremist demand will ever appease the animal rights activists.
Theirs is an extreme, liminal ideology that they pursue with a fundamentalist fervour.
The genuine concerns of the majority of the community, however, of those who worry about sustainability and animal welfare, can and should be addressed.
The approach adopted by the government this week addresses genuine community concerns.
They ensure hunting is safe, humane and sustainable.
I am still not sure how we got here from such a messy process, but we got here, and the community should be pleased with that.
Against: ‘It is senseless slaughter’
– Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell
Duck shooting is Victoria’s greatest shame, and despite a parliamentary inquiry initiated and chaired by the Allan Labor government recommending a ban, we’ve just greenlit a 2024 season.
I’ve worked productively with the Labor Government for years in my capacity as a union official, political staffer and now as a Member of parliament.
But never have I seen a decision so gutless and nonsensical as the decision to continue this
recreational slaughter that Labor governments in New South Wales, Queensland and Western
Australia ended decades ago.
The Allan Government established an inquiry and spent taxpayer money, time and resources.
Thousands of community members engaged in the process because they believed the government would finally listen.
Foolishly, I did too.
And now they have turned around and slapped us in the face.
Commitments to changes in regulation and compliance are window dressing.
It is clear the Premier and Minister for Outdoor Recreation didn’t even open the front cover of our report, because this is exactly what we said.
Wounding can never be stopped, even shooters agreed on that.
No proficiency testing, increased monitoring or education will prevent thousands of birds being maimed, but not killed, and left to slowly suffer and die on our wetlands.
And due to the sheer amount of wetlands where duck shooting takes places, we know that
compliance is impossible.
Lack of enforcement from a handful of Authorised Officers has historically been the root of shooter noncompliance.
No amount of reform will fix this, as we have seen by multiple attempts over the past 5 years.
The commitment to reform is however, an acknowledgment from the government that there are clear problems and justifies a moratorium until they are in place.
Yet they are allowing a season to go ahead in April without a single one of them in place.
What a disgrace.
And despite continued evidence of long term native bird loss, they have upped the duck kill by two birds a day, and extended the season by a month on last year.
They made this decision with evidence in hand that it is guaranteed to drive up the wounding rate.
Jacinta Allan and Steve Dimopoulos have blood on their hands.
It is no secret that I took this decision as a personal blow.
Ending recreational duck shooting has always been my number one priority, and the reason I wanted to get elected.
Nothing means more to me than ending the senseless slaughter of native waterbirds.
Most of the Victorian population agrees with me too.
In fact, less than 1 per cent of Victoria’s population are shooters.
Half of that mere figure are active duck shooters.
There is definite secrecy around why the Premier is choosing to not only protect, but reward them.
The Victorian community deserves transparency, and I plan to get it.
I am expecting this season to be an absolute bloodbath.
Shooters will be emboldened by their win, but we will never give up.
That’s why I’ll be out on the wetlands with my team as a rescuer again this year, something I’ve done for the past decade.
We’ll be doing the job of a government, department and authority that they are unwilling and incapable of.
I will continue to prove what the government’s own inquiry confirmed.
I will fight until duck shooting is banned.
I won’t let them forget this betrayal.
And I won’t be the same person to work with when parliament resumes next week.
Originally published as Victorian MPs Jeff Bourman and Georgie Purcell share their views on the duck hunting decision
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