Thursday, 28 November 2024

 Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (11:29): Every gun club in Victoria, be it pistol, rifle range or shotgun, needs to be concerned about what is happening to the Echuca Gun Club at the moment. Echuca Gun Club is a national clay target range that hosts Victorian and national shooting championships. It has been located at its current site for more than 40 years. The club has invested literally millions of dollars in this great facility. It was badly flooded in October 2022, and the club had the heartbreaking job of repairing the damage from that. There is currently a vexatious attack on the club’s right to exist from two neighbours that chose to move near that particular facility – there was a gun club there when they relocated there. The EPA is now threatening to close the club unless they build a $500,000 sound barrier wall, with no guarantee that that will be enough to satisfy the two neighbours. This is another example of the Allan government using a government agency to attack the rights of hunters and shooters in Victoria, leaving the club and the Victorian Clay Target Association with a huge cost to defend their right to function. There is no natural justice for the Echuca Gun Club; they are considered guilty by the EPA and have to go to the expense of defending their right while the complainant does not have to justify anything. This is a multigenerational shooting facility. Kiara Dean, a world champion, actually grew up shooting at this site. If the Allan government closes it, there will be no more Kiara Deans learning to shoot in Victoria.