NEW HUNTING REGULATIONS
FOI UPDATE
HARDHEAD ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK
Did you know? Victoria has twelve RAMSAR wetland sites of environmental significance which our government has an international obligation to protect. Here is one of them - signposted as a State Game Reserve (hunting area which restricts access to non-hunters despite it being public land). Note the ammunition holes.
Around 200 State Game Reserves (SGRs) around Victoria appear to have been made SGRs with little if any public consultation. Altogether, native bird hunting is permitted across a seventh of Victoria's total area. Only about 1% of hunting locations are monitored by authorities.
Photo Geelong Duck Rescue.
Statement From Regional Victorians on New Hunting Regulations
New hunting regulations were approved by the Allan government this week. They will take effect from this weekend and be in force for the next decade.The one positive thing within them is that lead ammunition and electronic callers have been banned for quail hunting.
It’s disappointing the government has back-flipped on the proposed ban of toxic lead in all game hunting. There is permanent damage being done to our environment, our fragile ecosystems, and our own health.
It’s extremely disappointing there’s been no reduction in the length of shooting season or number of public waterways where native bird hunting is permitted. Less than half of one percent of the population participate in recreational native bird shooting. Why should this tiny minority be permitted to do so for a quarter of the year in so many thousands of public areas authorities can't estimate their number let alone monitor them? This is irresponsible, and shows no regard for residents, landowners, or other recreational users.
The Regulations make no mention of the millions of non-biodegradable plastic components being spewed into our environments each year from hunters' guns. Last month The Guardian reported a growing body of scientific evidence that microplastics are accumulating in critical human organs, including the brain, leading researchers to call for more urgent actions to rein in plastic pollution.
The Regulations also fail to mention the serious negative impact of hunting on highly vulnerable migratory birds, or the fact the three month native quail shooting season co-incides with the little birds’ breeding.
And as usual, shooting will be permitted in dim light and fog.
As for animal welfare, the government says it is "not aware of any animal welfare issues of bow hunting". Perhaps it missed all the news articles about arrows lodged in the heads of cockatoos and kangaroos. Even South Australia banned bow hunting.
Voters are wising up. The spin that hunting is safe, sustainable, or contributes positively to the regions is false. Where is the risk assessment or cost-benefit analysis?
In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, the government is hitting non-hunters with more than a quarter of its hunting-related costs. Spending millions more taxpayer dollars to support an unpopular recreational activity when critical causes (like our health systems and firefighting resources) are crying out for funding, is an insult to hardworking Victorians, let alone those who would like to enjoy their natural outdoors in peace.
Someone in the Victorian government appears clearly wedded to hunting, and this is at the expense of community health and safety, the public purse, and our struggling ecosystems.
Victorians deserve better, and we call on the Minister to provide better, by heeding the advice of regional communities, environmental groups and animal welfare experts re these regulations.
The new regulations can be viewed here.
As the Minister has been unable to visit any of the families/businesses around the state adversely affected by hunting, we have invited him to an online meeting, to hear first hand, the impacts of hunting from a social/ economic/ environmental and safety perspective.
We'll update you on that.
Hardhead On The Chopping Block
The Victorian Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos has also signed off on the removal of one of Australia's most unique native waterbirds, the Hardhead (Aythya australis), from the threatened species list, just three years after it was put on it. The removal appears to have been initiated by a request from Sporting Shooters (Victoria). The poor bird is known in hunting circles for its "table qualities".
Putting this duck in the firing line of hunters, is a blow to conservationists who want to protect the scarce bird.
And in another whack to Victoria's animal welfare credentials, the Hardhead is "hard to kill" according to duck shooting experts. "When wounded it swims and dives expertly and is hard to retrieve - perhaps more crippled Hardhead are lost than any other species" - (Waterfowl in Australia by H.J Frith, p 257).
See our submission to the Scientific Advisory Committee on the matter in conjunction with the Victorian Traditional Owner Land Justice Group, Animals Australia, Friends of the Earth Melbourne, Warringal Conservation Society, Environment East Gippsland, Warrnambool Field Naturalists Club, BirdLife Castlemaine District and The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, here,
The stunning Hardhead is Australia's only true diving duck. Photo Eleanor Dilley
Freedom of Information (FOI) Update
Sanctuaries. In April this year RVOTDS requested via FOI, a list or map, of sanctuaries (which prohibit hunting) in Victoria. The response is now three months late. Does the government not know the answer, or not want to divulge it? The Office of The Victorian Information Commissioner is now involved.
The Wildlife Act. Recommendations to revamp this fifty-year-old document have sat on Ministers' desks since late 2021. RVOTDS (and other groups) have requested a copy. Given the sorry state of our wildlife and ecosystems, this is absolutely in the public interest. Stay tuned.
Kill quota. The long awaited documents supposedly responsible for the GMA's recommendation to controversially more than double the kill quota in 2021, finally arrived. We can now see why the "independent" hunting regulator took their fight to prevent the documents' release all the way to VCAT. It appears the data used by GMA to justify increasing the kill quota was a first-ever trial helicopter survey with self-confessed limitations.
RVOTDS is committed to researching and bringing you the facts, at times going where others fear to tread. We will not stop until our precious wildlife, environment and regional way of life, is cared for, by those paid to care for it.
Please support us.
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