Hunters warn of electoral backlash against Labor lockout from 415,000ha of new parks and reserves
A boom in numbers has given hunters real firepower in Victoria’s most marginal seats, as Labor pushes to lock up more public land.
SHOOTERS are warning any push to lock them out of more public land or ban duck season could backfire on the State Labor Government, with 227,431 Victorians holding firearms licences across some of the state’s most marginal electorates.
Hunting is already under threat in Victoria’s central west, following the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council’s recommendation to Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio that 60,000 hectares of the regions forests be locked parks and reserves.
Hunters also fear Premier Daniel Andrews’ decision to phase out native forest logging by 2030 clears the way for 355,000ha of the state’s central highlands to be brought into a new Great Forest National Park.
Yet any lockouts pose an electoral risk to Labor, given the latest Game Management Authority data shows the state is undergoing a hunting boom.
The number of Victorians holding game licences has grown from 30,000 a decade ago to 52,144 this year, with four times as many again holding firearms licences.
The Weekly Times’ analysis of the GMA licence data shows the state’s hunting heartlands are in some of Victoria’s key swing-seat regions — with 2311 game licence holders in the Latrobe Valley and 1793 in Geelong.
But it’s in Melbourne’s southeast sandbelt seats where hunters hold the greatest electoral fire power — Frankston, Carrum, Bentleigh, Mordialloc and Cranbourne.
“These are the battleground seats,” Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MP Jeff Bourman said. “(And) we have the numbers to mobilise and change them.”
“We’re absolutely concerned they (the Government) don’t push ahead with the Great Forest National Park. And if we lose duck hunting it’ll be another step towards government cutting back all hunting, full stop.
“Labor’s industrial left has a lot of tradies, with a large percentage who hunt.”
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GMA figures show the hunting boom has been led by deer hunters, whose licence numbers have grown from just 17,000 in 2009 to 41,000 today.
Australian Deer Association executive officer Barry Howlett said hunters could make a difference at the next election and were concerned about losing access to public land.
“It’s access to places like the Central West and (the formation of) the Great Forest National Park,” Mr Howlett said.
Sandbelt seats such as Carrum have traditionally played a pivotal role in tight elections.
In the 2014 state election, Labor won Carrum by just 571 votes. That electorate has more than 2600 shooters, of whom 1250 have game licences.
The Weekly Times asked Ms D’Ambrosio if she could “rule out a Labor Government establishing the Great Forest National Park”
He office responded with: “We want to make sure everyone gets a fair go in our forests, including some activities which might not be permitted in national parks”.
However she stated: “The Government won’t be banning duck hunting.”
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