The SA labour goverment are planning to ban bowhunting in South Australia. This is despite a comprehensive public inquiry held last year (under the Liberal govenment) that made 12 specific recommendations, none of which identified that a ban was in the public interest.
The SA government are trying to do this quietly, hoping there will be little backlash or resistance. Hence there is precious little information in the public domain. Many people want to dismiss this as “just a rumour”, as a ban was not recommended in the review, and the Government has not yet made any announcement. However, on Monday I had a conversation with a senior representative of the relevant government department, and he confirmed that this is happening. They expect to release notifications to the key stakeholders in the next several weeks. The conversation wasnt, “this is what we would like to do”, it was “this is what we are going to do”.
If you are in SA or have friends in SA that are archers or a hunter or fisher, you need to (or get them to) reach out to your/their local MP. It is the only chance we have of not being run over by this freight train.
The easiest way to reach out to your local MP is through the conservation and hunting alliance of SA (CHASA) chasa.org.au and in the menu on the top right hand on the webpage, click on the email my MP, add your details and choose option 3, which is in support of bowhunting. There is a template email, or you can write your own. Note the website only works well on a PC.
You might think your email will do nothing, but every email sent this way will go to the local MP and all members of the upper house except the greens. In the public inquiry last year, only something like 87 submissions were made, approximately 1/2 of which were opposed to hunting, yet the committee did not recommend a ban. We need to do substantially better this time.
You might think this doesn’t affect you “because I shoot guns” but this undeniably the thin edge of a wedge that will put an end to your lifestyle choices if you do nothing. The major proponents of the ban are the Greens, RSPCA and the Animal Justice Party, all of which want an end to hunting and private firearms ownership.
Please get behind this, or expect to lose what you hold dear.
Thanks in advance