Thursday, 19 March 2026

 Jeff BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (18:48): (2434) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Outdoor Recreation, and the action that I seek is for the minister to update the house on how the new Outdoor Recreation Victoria will strengthen compliance and public safety, especially in light of the growing threat animal rights activists pose to Victorian families at duck season opening. Yesterday morning as the 2026 duck season opened, members of the Greens were standing outside this Parliament in front of people holding placards saying ‘I hunting accidents’. Just think about the outrage from those same people if, by analogy, we had a female Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition stood in front of a sign saying ‘Ditch the witch’ or worse. They would rightly call it hateful and disgraceful. Well, it is no less hateful and disgraceful when the target is hunters and their families. That protest was live streamed to a wetland where a repeat protest was actively hindering and harassing law-abiding hunters before protesters became resistant and belligerent with authorities.

For years people in and around this place have winked at, excused and at times glorified unlawful behaviour on our wetlands. Last night we saw exactly where that leads. Anti-hunting activists entered a family camp under the cover of darkness, spray-painted gendered, offensive abuse on boats and sabotaged motors, while parents and children slept only metres away. Nearby, a tree was deliberately dropped across a public road, blocking the only way in or out for dozens of families. If someone had needed an ambulance, the outcome could have been catastrophic.

Hunters are heavily regulated and heavily scrutinised, and by and large they do the right thing. When the rare hunter does not, groups like the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia and Field and Game – and I – condemn it immediately, and other hunters report it in real time, because they understand that with their rights come some responsibilities. So yes, I want an answer from the minister about compliance and enforcement, but I also want colleagues in this place to take a long, hard look at themselves. When illegal behaviour is brushed off because it is politically fashionable, it escalates. When thuggery is dressed up as activism, innocent people pay the price. Anyone in this Parliament with any sense of responsibility should be out there making it crystal clear: this conduct is criminal, it is dangerous and it must stop.