Wednesday, 18 March 2026

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (09:52): I rise today with a deep sense of sadness because today is the first day of Jacinta Allan’s disgraceful duck-shooting season here in Victoria. As of 2 hours ago our wetlands and our regional communities have been turned into a slaughterhouse for the next three months. When I think about how we are here when we came so close to banning duck shooting in Victoria, when the government formed their own inquiry and when that inquiry told them to end duck shooting in Victoria, I am still in disbelief that just one person could get in the way of that. The government have done everything they possibly could since that day to cover up the cruelty of duck shooting, including threatening rescuers with $12,000 fines for going out on the wetlands. But despite this, there are many people out there today doing the job that the government should be doing of helping these waterbirds and rendering them assistance. I want to send them my love, my support and my solidarity. I wish I could be there with you all, but I will be joining you on the weekend. Even though we are not in the place we thought we would be right now, mark my words, we will end duck shooting in Victoria no matter how long it takes. One day we will look back at this disgraceful decision by Jacinta Allan and her government and at the suffering caused to our native waterbirds and we will be in disbelief. We will end it here in Victoria.