Tuesday, 7 March 2023

Duck hunting

Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (17:48): (74) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Premier, and the action I seek is for him to join me alongside Victoria’s volunteer rescue teams on the opening day of his annual duck-shooting season on 26 April 2023. This government have been insistent in their support for the recreational slaughter of our native animals. It is their policy that sees our waterbirds wounded or killed in the name of entertainment, and it is their policy that forces volunteers to deploy wildlife rescue services and mobile vet clinics as well as monitor for shooter non-compliance.

Last year, at opening, shooters walked around illegally with unbroken guns while they harassed and threatened rescuers. Despite being removed from the game species list due to their declining population, it was only a few hours before volunteer vets were working to save their first blue-winged shoveler. As shooters continued firing, dozens of swans abandoned their nests, and scattered eggs were found floating on the water’s edge. That same day, shooters were overheard bragging about shooting birds they did not retrieve as rescuers scrambled through dense reeds in desperate attempts to locate them. I was with a small team that spent hours following the cries of a wounded bird who had fallen from the sky into wetland grass so thick it was impossible to access. We never found her. As we walked hopelessly up and down the tracks, all I could think was: if duck shooters are required to retrieve the birds they wound, why then is shooting permitted on wetlands where this is not possible?

I had a similar thought as we watched shooters entering the water against warning from the EPA. The Wildlife (Game) Regulations 2012 require shooters to harvest at least the breast meat of the birds they shoot, but PFAS and blue-green algae contamination make birds on certain wetlands unsafe to eat. It is not possible to abide by the Wildlife (Game) Regulations while also following EPA warnings, so shooters decided to flout both. As the weeks go on, Indigenous sacred sites are decimated, with shooters removing scarred trees as firewood and leaving their rubbish and excrement behind. Genuine nature-based activities are put on hold as nearby residents are forced to listen to gunfire from morning through to night. Each year it is the job of unpaid and overworked animal responders and volunteers to monitor duck shooting, and yet each year they are ignored in their pleas to this government. It is time for the decision-makers to witness the carnage for themselves. In line with my calls to review the future of duck shooting in this state I hope the Premier can support my request.