Without getting too much into the whole thing there’s a new authorised officer at WLB who has literally just started right as all this stuff has kicked off, so there’s a whole range of things he has to get up to speed on.
So far he’s been very approachable and willing to work with us; and to be realistic they’re not going to come after people who can’t make their participation requirements due to COVID-19.
WLB only ask to see participation records when someone’s club says they didn’t do enough shoots, or when they renew their licence - and they’ve already said that in the latter case, they just need a letter saying “I couldn’t make my shoots last year because of bushfires & Coronavirus” and everything will be fine there.
The Police have seen to be very reasonable to me. During the bushfires they announced a relaxing of rules a basic amnesty I think they said. if you needed to use a gun were you may not have been allowed by the rules they were not prosecuting. For instance putting down wildlife by the side of the road. Mostly they use common sense esp at the higher levels. It is only a new cop flexing muscles that can be a bit over enthusiastic.
With respect to Qld and the WLB concession, I was the SUA representative doing the negotiating on behalf of the entire pistol shooting community (not just SUQ), and it was very much clear that the Inspector in charge of WLB had to still meet the requirement of the Act (because a virus does not dissolve it unfortunately) and that he had the authority to make the concession.
We have it in writing and he knows me, Graham and others involved will not forget any time soon.