Government should shoot down obscene Bill | Northern Rivers News | Local News in Northern Rivers

Sue Short | 19th June 2009

I AM outraged beyond measure the State Government is supporting a Parliamentary Bill introduced by the Shooters Party in the NSW Upper House that will allow shooters to hunt our native animals in National Parks, many of which are our country’s emblems.

The idea is to hunt and kill these animals for sport, claiming they are game animals. This is not feral pigs or wild dogs we are talking about; the targeted list includes the kangaroo – red and grey – the black swan, galahs, cockatoos and native ducks, amongst others. All these animals were here long before white settlement, and each one is a symbol of what Australia is all about.

The red kangaroo is the official emblem for the Northern Territory and is the world’s largest surviving marsupial.

The cockatoo is the emblem for the Australian Capital Territory, and the black swan is the emblem for Western Australia.

The Bill also introduces an amendment that will make it an offence to approach anyone who is hunting on declared public hunting land, or to interfere with persons lawfully hunting game animals.

In other words, the Shooters Party is prepared for the public backlash by making sure no one can touch them. Very sneaky.

It is hoped Independent MLC Fred Nile has more of a conscience than to allow this Bill to be passed, simply to make the Shooters Party happy. But I doubt it.

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