Premier Jacinta Allan has absolutely no empathy for Victoria's sentient native waterbirds that are forced to suffer at the hands of recreational duck shooters. The Premier also lacks the vision needed to establish a First Nations nature-based wetlands tourism industry that would be as successful as the 1980s Cain Labor Government's Phillip Island penguin tourism initiative.
"The old days of 10,000 duck shooters on a single wetland in Victoria are a thing of the past", said Laurie Levy of the Coalition Against Duck Shooting, at the end of the 2024 duck shooting season. "Once again, this year, very few duck shooters were seen on the state's wetlands.
"Yet despite Victoria's serious financial problems, Premier Allan made a captain's call to continue with duck shooting and spend almost $12 million of taxpayers' money on the unpopular activity."
At the opening of recent duck seasons, around 20 compliance officers monitored the wetlands. This year, however, 130 were present, mostly brought to Victoria at great cost to Victorians from other states.
Levy said. "This army of officers wasn't to monitor the shooters. It was to put pressure on the volunteer rescue team to protect the interests of the government's dwindling number of duck shooting clients, who make up only 0.2 per cent of Victoria's population. Most rescuers were hit with banning notices and slapped with fines of over a thousand dollars each, simply for wanting to help protect Victoria's sentient native waterbirds", Levy said.
"Unfortunately, Premier Allan lacks any empathy whatsoever for Australia's sentient native waterbirds. She is also totally out of step with public opinion and out of step with Labor's Parliamentary Inquiry that called for duck shooting to be banned," Levy said.
"Duck shooters illegally cut down and burnt important heritage scar trees at Lake Boort (a Dja Dja Wurrung wetland), but on the final weekend angry compliance officers focused on handcuffing two duck rescuers to stop them from helping our native waterbirds. And heavy-handed compliance officers forced a 65-year-old female rescuer to the ground, which caused injuries to her arm and leg. She sought help at the Boort medical centre before going to the Kerang police station to lay charges of assault against the GMA officers", Levy said.
"Once duck shooting is banned, First Nations Victorians could develop thriving nature-based wetlands tourism industries. For example, the Kerang's internationally listed Ramsar wetlands and nearby Lake Boort could very easily become Victoria's Kakadu, attracting thousands of international tourists annually." Levy concluded.
Key Facts:
Premier Jacinta Allan has absolutely no empathy for Victoria's sentient native waterbirds that are forced to suffer at the hands of recreational duck shooters. The Premier also lacks the vision needed to establish a First Nations nature-based wetlands tourism industry that would be as successful as the 1980s Cain Labor Government's Phillip Island penguin tourism initiative.
