Duck hunting is anti-social
IN response to the article Hunters fire back (April 6, 2021, pg 6), I am a regional Victorian against duck shooting.
Since 1996, l have attended every duck opening weekend as well as subsequent weekends, rescuing wounded and dead birds, and have been utterly appalled by the cruelty, wastage and anti-social behaviour displayed by duck shooters.
Kerry Allen, a tireless regional campaigner against duck shooting is quoted as stating: “…the sport did not have a place in modern society, and that most in the community felt the same”.
Some 98 per cent of Victorians are in full agreement, and wish it banned for good.
On the other hand, Field and Game Australia, the governing group that supports duck shooting, states: “…since it’s inception 62 years ago, it had endeavoured to preserve, restore, develop and maintain waterfowl habitat in Australia”.
I live in Kerang and have never seen Field and Game Australia “…for 365 days a year, we’re focused on volunteering our time towards conservation efforts”.
If they mean putting up nesting boxes, clearing wetlands of lignum, counting (ever dwindling) bird numbers, this is only so they can go out the following year and kill as many birds, game or otherwise, as possible and destroy the wetlands they hunt on.
I laughed at the irony of the closing statement by FGA saying: “…it was the hunter’s ongoing vested interest that kept those efforts progressing”.
The only “progressing” that will occur is once this anti-social, cruel, outdated past time is banned permanently in Victoria.
It is time for these people to stop living in the past and get with the times and realise there is no reason for duck shooting in this state to sustainably continue.
Nature-based tourism is taking off more than ever before.
People want to get out of cities such as Melbourne come up to Kerang and surrounds and enjoy Victoria’s Kakadu.
People visit regional areas to enjoy nature.
They should not be subjected to the cruelty and danger of recreational duck shooting.
Kate Bossence,
Kerang
Region roads forgotten about
REGIONAL Victorians have been forgotten in the push towards zero road fatalities.
One fatality is one too many, whether on country roads or roads in Melbourne.
But new data shows country Victorians are being left behind in the push towards zero, with the regional road toll only falling about 20 per cent since 2000, while metro fatalities have dropped 47 per cent.
It’s not enough for the government to talk up spending millions on road safety and improvements if it’s not making a genuine difference in the lives of all Victorians.
Labor’s plan to simply lower speed limits, while leaving country roads in a dangerous patchwork of potholes and crumbling roadsides, doesn’t address the worsening condition of too many kilometres of our regional road network.
One of the first things Daniel Andrews did when he was elected was to axe the Country Roads and Bridges Program, despite the real difference it was making in helping local councils upgrade our state’s most deadly roads.
Each life lost is another family torn apart and changed forever.
This year’s state budget must include significant investment in improving the condition of the regional road network.
Country lives depend on it.
Peter Walsh,
Leader of The Nationals
Member for Murray Plains
