In a startling development, the Minister for the Environment, Susan Close has confirmed that she intends to ban bow hunting simply because the RSPCA has been “vocal” in their concerns.
The Minister appears to have been incorrectly advised when she wrongly claimed that bow hunting was only allowed in Victoria and South Australia. Bow hunting is also permitted in, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Western Australia & Queensland.
The Minister claimed, “that was our election commitment, we would ban the use of bow and arrows for recreational hunting”. However, this commitment cannot be found published anywhere, including on Premier Malinauskas’ website which details the government’s policy commitments before the election.
Stakeholders and the community are entitled to know what election commitments have been made and to whom before an election. Just as they then expect those commitments to be met. This is fundamental in a transparent democracy.
The Minister claims she has only heard via the media that the hunters don’t wish to be deprived of bow hunting, the Australian Deer Association is awaiting a response to a meeting request sent early last week (when rumours of the ban surfaced) to discuss alternative arrangements that meet community expectations and are in practice without issues in other states.
Key Facts:
RSPCA appears to be the driving force behind the radical decision
Bow hunting is widely accepted across Australia, including on extensive amounts of public land in New South Wales, Victoria & the Northern Territory
This alleged election commitment appears to not have been published or communicated prior to the election
About us:
Founded in 1969, the Australian Deer Association is the country’s peak deer association, with nearly 10,000 members the association advocates for the effective management of wild deer and public land hunting access.
