Media Release 14 February 2025
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has ignored all the warnings by announcing a three-month duck shooting season with a bag limit of nine birds per shooter per day. Premier Allan has the blood of Australia's native waterbirds on her hands. Waterbird numbers are already low and the Premier risks spreading the deadly H5N1 bird flu as well as the highly pathogenic H7N8 strain by shooters and rescuers disturbing and handling any birds that may be infected on the wetlands, the Coalition Against Duck Shooting Campaign Director, Laurie Levy, said today.
"With the imminent threat of the deadly H5N1 bird flu, which has already killed hundreds of millions of birds and other wildlife on every other continent, and the H7N8 strain now detected on two poultry farms in northern Victoria, the Premier's call is totally irresponsible. These viruses could be present in native waterbirds on any Victorian wetland and disturbance by shooters would only spread them further afield.
"Allowing shooters onto the wetlands means that our volunteer rescuers and veterinarians must be present to help wounded birds. The danger for rescuers is that shot birds can display similar symptoms to H5N1 contaminated birds," Levy said.
Premier Allan, a supporter of duck shooting, has disregarded the October 2024 Eastern Australian Waterbird Aerial Survey, Levy said, which shows a collapse of overall waterbird populations. But the situation for some so-called 'game' species is even worse. Their numbers are well below the long-term average and have dropped by around 50 per cent compared with the previous year.
"The Premier's decision to allow duck shooting also disregards Labor's own Parliamentary Inquiry which recommended a total ban on native bird hunting from 2024. However, Premier Allan reportedly made a 'captain's call', under threat from two heavyweight union bosses, who threatened a mass walkout on all Big Build projects if duck shooting was banned.
"Premier Allan has ignored regional Victorians who lost millions of dollars when she cancelled the Commonwealth Games. They want investment in tourism. With Victoria's growing debt crisis, and the government languishing at around 22 per cent in the polls, Jacinta Allan should listen to regional Victorians who are strongly opposed to duck shooting and replace this outdated activity with a First Nations cultural, nature-based wetlands and waterbird tourism industry," Levy said.
"Premier Allan is already unpopular with the public on a multitude of issues and she isn't in tune with public opinion which has shifted on this issue. Duck shooter numbers on the wetlands have fallen from over 100,000 in 1986 and make up less than 0.02 per cent of all Victorians today. So instead of wasting taxpayer millions on propping up a dying blood sport, Premier Allan needs to follow the progressive Labor states that banned duck shooting up to three and a half decades ago (WA 1990, NSW 1995, and Queensland 2005)."
Dead birds will again be displayed outside the Premier's office, Levy concluded.
