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On 27 November 2010, to help Victoria’s native waterbirds
‘vote Greens first and Labor last’
The Brumby Labor Government has partnered Victoria’s duck shooters in brutalising Australia’s native waterbirds, including handing millions of taxpayers’ dollars to shooters.
A so-called modern day Brumby Labor Government in the 21st century has the same duck shooting policy that the Bolte Liberal Government had in the 1950s. In fact, in 2010, Brumby has the same policy as Peter Ryan’s National Party.
We are distributing 200,000 coloured leaflets in the Labor seats of Melbourne, Richmond, Brunswick and Northcote, asking voters to help native waterbirds by voting Greens first and Labor last.
These seats can be won by the Greens and we are working to help ensure a Greens victory.
The best result for native waterbirds is a hung parliament with the Greens holding the balance of power.
Laurie Levy
Campaign Director
Brumby sanctions another season of wetland violence in Victoria
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Rescue teams will again target Gippsland wetlands for the opening of the duck shooting season – Saturday, 20 March, 2010
The Coalition Against Duck Shooting will target wetlands in Gippsland at the opening of the Victorian duck shooting season this weekend.
Campaign Director Laurie Levy today said that rescue teams will be out on the wetlands to prevent the unnecessary, government sanctioned violence from duck shooters against Victoria’s dwindling number of native waterbirds.
Levy said: “How can Premier Brumby expect to curb knife and alcohol fuelled violence on our streets when he promotes violence against Australia’s native waterbirds simply for the enjoyment of duck shooters? With the stroke of his pen he could easily stop this government sanctioned brutality.
“Shooting native waterbirds for recreational purposes has no place in a modern society. Three other Labor State Premiers, Carmen Lawrence in WA, Bob Carr in New South Wales, and Peter Beattie in Queensland, banned the activity years ago. Victoria is sadly lagging behind these states.
“In this election year, the Brumby government has ignored the scientific evidence that waterbird numbers remain severely depleted after 13 years of drought. Even the shooters have admitted that bird numbers in Victoria are very low,” Levy concluded.
The rescue teams will target either Dowd Morass, Heart Morass or Clydebank, near Sale, on the opening morning of the 2010 duck shooting season. As usual, a Wildlife Victoria mobile veterinary clinic will be on site to treat wounded birds.
The rescue team will depart the Thomson River Caravan Park on the South Gippsland Highway, two kilometres south of Sale at 5.15am Saturday,
20 March.
For further information contact:
Laurie Levy
Campaign Director Mob: 0418 392 826
URGENT!!!
HELP PROTECT OUR NATIVE WATERBIRDS
SIGN UP FOR THE 2010 DUCK RESCUE TEAM
Despite of all the scientific evidence showing waterbird numbers are alarmingly low, the Victorian Brumby Labor government has called another recreational duck shooting season in 2010, commencing on March 20.
The Coalition Against Duck Shooting (CADS) is gearing up again to protect our native waterbirds on the wetlands and bring in the wounded and illegally shot, dead protected species. (Click on ‘Join Rescue Team’ page – left hand column, below.)
The Coalition Against Duck Shooting is calling for an Independent Commission Against Corruption (like NSW) to be established in Victoria to investigate the unhealthy relationship between the Victorian Brumby Labor government, the duck shooting organisations and the Hunting Advisory Committee (HAC) – a government sanctioned lobby group for duck shooters.
On native waterbird issues, the smell of alleged corruption permeates all the way through the Brumby government.
In 1989, the then Victorian Labor government established the Hunting Advisory Committee to appease the shooting organisations. This Committee is nothing more than a lobby group representing the interests of duck shooters and unfortunately, has more influence within government than the Department of Sustainability and Environment’s own Game Management Unit. For example, the Department advised against a 2009 duck shooting season, based on scientific evidence, but this was ignored by government in favour of advice from the pro duck shooting HAC.
The HAC provides the excuses for the Brumby Government to call duck shooting seasons for political reasons.
This year the HAC, with its new members, lived up to its old reputation. It ignored the best scientific advice that waterbird numbers are still seriously low and again recommended to government that a duck shooting season go ahead.
For your information – listed below are the names of the new Hunting Advisory Committee members who are responsible for the 2010 duck shooting season. This committee is responsible for the shocking brutality inflicted on Australia’s magnificent native waterbirds by recreational duck shooters at a time when waterbird numbers have declined by 82% across eastern Australia over the last 25 years.
The new Victorian Hunting Advisory Committee has now been officially elevated to a Ministerial Advisory Committee by the Brumby Government.
The HAC Shame File is listed below – Remember their names!
Chairman
Mr Ross McPherson
Scientific members:
Dr Rob Mulley
Dr Desley Whisson
Hunter representatives:
Dr Samara McPhedran
Mr Barry Oliver
Mr Clive Whelan
Mr Alex Krjstic
Departmental representatives:
Mr Terry Condie – Parks Victoria
Mr Steve Tait – DPI
Mr Ron Waters – DSE
Mr Alan Bowman – Victorian Farmers Federation
Footnote:
FGA’s long-time Gippsland spokesperson, Gary Howard, a member of last year’s HAC who supported the committee’s recommendation to the Minister to call a season in 2009, was then caught illegally diverting water from the Latrobe River to FGA’s private shooting wetland near Sale. The water had been diverted over a five-day period in the lead-up to the 2009 duck shooting season. Mr Howard pleaded guilty in Sale Magistrates’ Court on 23 June 2009.
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