Victorian politics in 2024: Cannabis, duck hunting and animal welfare laws

The state government is balancing duck hunting and cannabis reforms, alongside new animal welfare laws, ahead of the next election.

Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell, who wants duck hunting banned, at the opening of the 2023 season at Lake Connewarre, near Geelong.

Legalising cannabis, duck hunting and new animal welfare laws are all about to be rolled into a game of political roulette in Victoria over the next six months.

Premier Jacinta Allan needs the votes of two Legalise Cannabis and four Greens MPs to push the government’s legislative reforms through the Upper House, with Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell as a back-up.

The Premier and her team have already started down the path of trying appease the Legalise Cannabis MPs, with Health Minister Ingrid Stitt telling parliament the “government is amenable to ongoing discussions with the Legalise Cannabis Victoria Party on this topic and a process that would take the advice of experts and engage with the community”.

Ms Allan must also find a compromise on the Greens’ and Ms Purcell’s demands for a ban on duck hunting, without incurring the wrath of Victoria’s 200,000 recreational shooters of who 59,682 are licenced hunters.

The Premier knows hunters will play a key role at the next election, given the number of game-licence holders exceeds the voter margin in the key marginal electorates of Bass, Pakenham, Hastings, Ripon and Yan Yean, with thousands more in outer urban and regional electorates, including her own.

After complaining their members were ignored by former Premier Daniel Andrews, Sporting Shooters Association of Australia’s Victorian division says they now have access to government, recently meeting Environment Minster Steve Dimopoulos and his staff to discuss hunting issues.

Victorian Environment Minister Steve Dimopolous has re-engaged with hunting groups.

In the meantime Ms Allan knows she must try to stop Labor voters defecting to the Greens in Northcote, Footscray and Preston, having already lost them in Richmond and Brunswick.

An obvious compromise on duck hunting is to introduce proficiency testing of hunters to reduce wounding rates, which is one of the key arguments anti-duck hunting groups have against the seasonal harvest.

Hunters are divided on the issue, with some vehemently opposed, while others see testing as necessary if they want to keep the tradition alive.

If adopted, the Game Management Authority faces a huge task organising a testing regime that is practical and effective, given an announcement must be made early in the new year on whether a 2024 season gets the go-ahead.

Some duck hunters see testing as necessary to keep the traditional alive.

Of course the Greens and Ms Purcell are likely to be satisfied with hunter tests.

But there’s no doubt the Allan government will try to shift the focus by rolling out a new Animal Care and Protection Bill in the new year that meets the Greens’ and Ms Purcell’s demands that pets, commercial livestock and game are recognised as “sentient beings” – able to feel fear, stress and other emotions.

The bill also introduces a new duty of care for animals, which is a major concern for farmers, hunters and even anglers, given it will be up to an “expert advisory committee” to define those duties.

Farmers will also need to keep a close eye on whether the bill exposes them to legal action from animal activist groups, over failure to meet their duty of care obligations.

All up it’s going to be a gamble for Victoria’s new Premier.