Last year the South Australian Government via the Select Committee announced an inquiry into duck and quail hunting in South Australia. RSPCA South Australia was among the groups to put in a submission strongly against the hunting of native waterbirds. You can read our submission HERE.
We're now waiting for the government to respond to the inquiry's recommendations. No timeframe has been set this for, however, it's unusual that it's taken more than six months, so we expect a response soon. During this time, our priority is to put pressure on Premier Peter Malinauskas and Electorate Members to ban this recreational activity, which is already banned in Western Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland. Victoria undertook a similar inquiry in 2023, with their Select Committee recommending that duck and quail hunting be banned on both private and public land from 2024.
Compelling evidence of birds suffering was brought before the South Australian Select Committee, however, in their final report, released in January of this year, it was recommended that this cruel recreational activity be allowed to continue. Despite our desperate plea to the state government to announce no season for 2024, South Australia's duck shooting season, which is the longest in the country, took place from March to June. As always, we continued to receive reports of ducks being wounded during the government's assigned shooting period.
Professional polling companies (ReachTEL 2020; Australia Institute 2023; uComms 2023) all found that approximately seven in ten South Australians want to see duck hunting banned. We're hoping that the government's impending response will reflect community sentiment and expectations.
As always, you can help take action to protect our precious ducks! We've said it many times before, but our voice is stronger together and our recent advocacy wins with jumps racing, pets in rentals, bow hunting, and live sheep export are a testament to this fact.
TAKE ACTION!
– Send our pre-written letter to Premier Malinauskas. An original letter from you can be much more powerful, so we encourage you to customise the letter to include your personal thoughts on this issue. You can access the letter HERE.
– Write an email letter to your Electorate Member. To help make this as easy as possible, we've prepared a letter for you – feel free to sign and send it as is. Again, to have even more impact, you could personalise the letter by including your own thoughts if you have time. You can download the letter HERE and find your MP's email address HERE.
– Organise a time to meet with your local MP OR attend one of their 'street corner' meetings. You can find your local MP HERE.
Want to know more? Visit our duck shooting blog HERE.
