Media Releases Archive: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001
2002 Media Releases
TRAGIC DEATH OF A DUCK SHOOTER - DNRE NEEDS TO REVIEW SAFETY
15 April 2002
The death of a Victorian duck shooter at Lake Colongulac, near Camperdown, on Saturday, was a terrible tragedy.
Campaign Director Laurie Levy said today:
"The shocking tragedy is compounded by the fact that after the opening weekend of the duck season, there are no wildlife officers patrolling Victoria's wetlands, thus compromising safety and enforcement duties.
"Regional offices of the Department of Natural Resources & Environment are starved of finances to carry out their duties.
Also, both the previous Kennett Government and the Bracks Government have gutted the department where there are just not enough staff to carry out enforcement and safety duties throughout the season.
"The other problem is that wildlife officers, who are highly trained in firearm safety, are now not allowed to carry weapons.
So the Department of Natural Resources & Environment has just not disarmed their own highly trained wildlife officers, but the same department issues permits to hunt to any person in the community who wants to shoot without any safety or competence
checks whatsoever.
"Since having their weapons confiscated, wildlife officers refuse to put themselves in danger where weapons are carried by the other party. The Department of Natural Resources urgently needs to address these issues.
"I believe it is only a matter of time before the relatives of a victim of a gun accident or gun misuse sue the Department of Natural Resources & Environment for negligence, in what will be a landmark case, similar to the recent victory over a tobacco company," Levy said.
The Department of Natural Resources & Environment needs to be questioned why they allow shooters to wear waders. We won't allow our rescuers to wear them for the simple reason that if you walk into a deep hole or fall overboard, the waders fill with water and down you go," Levy concluded.
For further information contact:
Laurie Levy
Campaign Director Tel (03) 9645 8879 Mobile 0418 392 826
22c Napier St, South Melbourne, VIC 3205
email info@duck.org.au
MINISTER FOR CONSERVATION SHERRYL GARBUTT PLACES A TAXPAYER-FUNDED JUNKET AHEAD OF HER DUTIES
15 JANUARY 2002
The Coalition Against Duck Shooting has called on Premier Bracks to sack his Minister for Environment & Conservation Sherryl Garbutt.
Coalition Against Duck Shooting Campaign Director Laurie Levy today said:
"The decision to have a duck season was signed off a few days before Christmas by the Minister for Agriculture Keith Hamilton while the minister responsible, Ms Garbutt, was overseas on a taxpayer-funded junket.
"The decision was made before the bushfires took hold in New South Wales.
Waterbirds seeking refuge from the bushfires have flown to wetlands in Victoria that have been artificially filled by the Bracks Government especially to attract birds for shooters. So these birds have now become easy targets for Victoria's shooters.
"The decision to sign off on the 2002 duck season also ignores expert scientific advice calling for a moratorium on duck shooting in Victoria, because of critically low numbers of native duck species along the east coast of Australia. Instead, the government has made a political decision to placate a small minority of duck shooters.
"The Minister for Environment & Conservation Sherryl Garbutt did not have enough interest or concern to make the final decision that will decimate or protect Australia's native waterbirds," Levy said.
"Native waterbirds come under the Minister for Conservation, not the Minister for Agriculture. But Minister Garbutt was more interested in jetting around the world on a taxpayer-funded junket. She has failed in her duties and should step aside or be sacked.
"Because of the New South Wales bushfires, as well as the ongoing drought, the Coalition Against Duck Shooting is calling on the Bracks Government to declare a moratorium in 2002. If the Kennett Government could call a moratorium because of the drought in 1995, then surely Premier Bracks should be able to act responsibly now," Levy concluded.