Opponents of duck shooting have questioned the impartiality of the Select Committee inquiring into the hunting of native birds, after 4 of the 7 committee members were seen wining and dining with shooters. Members included committee chair, Reggie Martin, as well as Ben Hood, Nicola Centofanti and Sarah Game.
The annual Wine and Wild Food Dinner took place on September 23 2023, while the inquiry was still ongoing. Some members also praised the activities of shooters on their social media pages.
“We expect decision-makers to be impartial and fair,“ said South Aussies for Animals President Dr Suzanne Pope. “Judges disqualify themselves when there could be a perception that they might not bring an impartial and independent mind to a case.”
“Surely the same standard should apply to parliamentary committees,” Dr Pope added. “I don’t think the behaviour of these committee members passes the pub test. I don’t think we can have any confidence that this committee impartially evaluated the evidence placed before it.”
Dr Pope noted that the extensive evidence of cruelty presented to the committtee was all but ignored in its final report, except in the dissenting statements from Tammy Franks and Ian Hunter.
“It is completely unacceptable that this small group of people with links to shooters should determine the future of duck shooting in SA,” said Dr Pope. “We know that duck shooters represent only 0.1% of SA voters, and that a majority of the public is opposed to duck shooting. We saw further evidence of this opposition recently in the review of the Animal Welfare Act, where the primary theme in the “Other Feedback” section was support for a ban on duck shooting.”
“We call on Minister Susan Close to take into account the clear evidence of community expectation, and to reject the report from a group that cannot be perceived as impartial and independent,” Dr Pope concluded. “We can’t allow the large section of society that cares deeply about animal welfare to be effectively disenfranchised.”
