General News
7 November, 2022
Clubs band together to call for duck hunting ban
The Maryborough Field Naturalists Club has joined a growing alliance of organisations calling for a ban on bird shooting. A coalition of more than 90 First Nations Clans, unions, businesses, animal welfare and environmental organisations sent...
The Maryborough Field Naturalists Club has joined a growing alliance of organisations calling for a ban on bird shooting.
A coalition of more than 90 First Nations Clans, unions, businesses, animal welfare and environmental organisations sent a group letter to Premier Daniel Andrews and a number of government ministers with renewed calls to ban the duck shooting pastime.
According to Regional Victorians Opposed to Duck Shooting (RVOTDS), the lead group behind the alliance, the letter referenced the Labor Government’s 2019 vote to review its policy on recreational duck shooting, which has already been banned in NSW, WA, QLD and the ACT for reasons of animal welfare, biodiversity, safety and economics.
It’s an issue the Maryborough Field Naturalists Club have been passionate about for a number of years, with the club instrumental in introducing the duck identification test before a duck shooting licence can be obtained.
Club secretary Barb Thomson said the club ran a campaign at Cairn Curran in the 1970s and 80s to stop shooters from killing protected species, and has been passionate about the issue since.
“I think this shows the change in membership in our club because where our forebears worked to ensure hunters were shooting only ducks, our membership is now asking why there should be duck shooting at all,” she said.
“The group contacted us just a couple of months ago to see what our thoughts were and whether we would support them.
“I took it back to the group and the shift in membership was clear, particularly from younger members, that we oppose duck shooting and are happy to support the movement to ban it.”
While no response has been received from the government since the letter was sent in September, RVOTDS believes now is the time for duck hunting to be scrapped.
A Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions report from June 2020 found that spending by duck shooters had fallen 46 percent in Victoria since 2013 and according to RVOTDS, the percentage of the population who shoot ducks each year is declining, while birdwatching brings tourism and money to the regions.
RVOTDS project officer Sue Williams said the amount of support the push to ban recreational duck shooting had received showed the importance it has in the community.
“It’s fantastic to see so many First Nations Clans, business and conservation groups signed up to publicly support this cause,” she said.
“In less than a year the number of organisations signing up to the call for a bird shoot ban has gone from just over 60, to over 90, representing hundreds of thousands of Victorian voters.
It’s perplexing we have not had a response from the ministers.
“These days, recreational shooting of native birds is not acceptable to most. It’s cruel to the birds (a very high rate of injury vs kill) and its cruel to residents having to live with it in their backyards.”
Among the organisations taking part in the renewed push are Wildlife Victoria, Australian Conservation Foundation, Humane Society International and BirdLife Australia, among others.
Ms Williams said now was the time for recreational duck shooting to end.
“It’s time regional Victorians were able to enjoy their public waterways, and their birdlife, in peace. Ratepayers in particular, have legal rights to peaceful enjoyment of their properties,” she said.
“Killing native birds for recreation is not appropriate in 2022, an age where we are concerned for biodiversity and also public safety.”