AUTHORITIES are accused of using duck hunters as the “Poster child for (the Labor Government’s) green crusade” and engaging in “pure grubby politics” after “quietly” announcing arrangements for the 2023 duck season on Friday.
The 2023 season format was announced less than 48 hours after local hunter, Terry Houlihan, told the Casterton News he believed the end of hunting in Victoria was “inevitable”, after the Game Management Authority (GMA) had made no announcements regarding a 2023 season.
“I think our sport is in its last days, on its last legs,” Mr Houlihan said last week.
“This will be the last year, if not second-last year, if it even goes ahead this year.”
On Friday, the GMA posted a media release to its website detailing the rules regarding the 2023 season.
The arrangements include changes to start times, daily bag limit and game duck species that can be hunted.
The 2023 season will start at 8am and will close 30 minutes after sunset each day from Wednesday, 26 April, 2023 to Tuesday, 30 May, 2023 (inclusive), with a bag limit of four birds per day.
It is prohibited to hunt Blue-winged Shoveler and Hardhead across Victoria, with both species recently listed as threatened under the Under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988,
The GMA’s announcement stated the model had been “modified to provide a more precautionary approach to concerns regarding the rates of wounding of ducks, poor behaviour by some hunters, and the fact that waterbird abundance, breeding and habitat availability, all show long-term declines”.
In addition to the season reductions, on Friday afternoon the State Government also announced its intention to launch a select committee to “examine Victoria’s native bird hunting arrangements”.
A media release from the office of Outdoor Recreation Minister, Sonya Kilkenny, stated the terms of the committee.
“Over the past number of years, the issue of recreational native bird hunting in Victoria has become increasingly contested,” the release stated.
“Given deeply held views on the subject, the Andrews Labor Government will move to establish a Legislative Council Select Committee to examine recreational native bird hunting in Victoria.”
According to Ms Kilkenny’s office, the committee will have “wide-ranging terms of reference, including the operation of the annual recreational native bird hunting seasons, arrangements in other Australian jurisdictions, their environmental sustainability and impact on amenity, and their social and economic impact”.
“The committee will hold public hearings to hear from hunting associations, animal welfare groups and regional communities,” the statement advised.
“The motion to establish the committee will be moved by the Government in the Legislative Council during the next sitting week and subject to its passage, a final report will be due to be tabled by 31 August, 2023.”
Shadow Agriculture Minister and Lowan MP, Emma Kealy said the new, five-week season was a “stealth” move and “insult” to hunters across the state, who were “being punished by a government looking to shore up votes in the city”.
“Duck hunters are becoming the poster child of Labor’s green crusade,” Ms Kealy said.
“The Andrews Labor Government is mounting pressure on hunters that are doing the right thing, hitting them with restricted bag limits and shorter seasons.
“The government’s own compliance statistics show zero hunters of the 802 that were checked (last season) had exceeded their daily bag limit.”
“Victoria’s hunting community proudly takes a leading role in the conservation of our wetlands and environments to ensure the sustainability of wetland species.
“Yet year after year they’re punished by a Labor Government intent on stamping out a legal, legitimate recreational activity that helps generate $356 million for our state.”
The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party also began calling on the State Government earlier this month, to announce its season arrangements and let people get on with planning.
The party’s Jeff Bourman, said the “tiresome torrent of emails ignoring data and facts has become a yearly ritual”.
“It seems that no matter how many facts are presented, the (anti-duck hunting) activists will ignore them and send sensationalised emails based in emotion and mistruths to work on those members of Parliament too far removed from reality for support,” he said.
“The government has previously implemented the Interim Adaptive Harvest model which provides a sci-entific framework allowing for many factors in determining the bag limit each duck season.
“These facts are presented to the Game Management Authority (GMA) and subsequently forwarded on to the many ministers responsible for duck hunting.
“Based on the scien-tific GMA findings, the Government previously has and should continue to support a sustainable duck hunting season.”
Mr Bourman raised concerns about recent comments supposedly made by some ‘Labor ministers’, which had raised the spectre of a complete ban on recreational duck hunting.
“Recent comments made by the Premier have not quelled speculation of a complete ban,” he said.
“Going into the 2022 State Election, the Labor government supported recreational duck hunting and I’d be very disappointed if they fell at the first hurdle after the election.
“To do this would be nothing more than pure grubby politics, as their own data says the season is sustainable and their own government authority has confirmed that no hunters were fined for being over the bag limit last season.”
