In January this year, we provided the government with a submission outlining specific areas of concern.  These can be summed up as relating to the accountability, efficiency, effectiveness and stakeholder engagement of the LSD. 

Our submission included significant examples of concern including shooters receiving licensing information relating to other shooters they don't know, and one shooter receiving 80 certificates of registration for the one firearm.  This is what our registry is producing.  

In our submission, we proposed significant reforms to the way our registry works including consideration of mirroring the arrangements for marine licensing and registration services.  However this is just one option that we are waiting to hear back from the government on.

Our concerns are not just about paperwork, but the underlying integrity Victoria's firearms registration system.  This can have serious implications for public safety and erode the confidence the community is entitled to have in the management of such an important system, particularly given the public debate that followed the Port Arthur tragedy.

 It is not about police resources. The LSD has enough resources and enough budget to deliver the registry that the community expects.  We know that for a fact.

What the LSD lacks is the right management structure, expertise, skill and aptitude.

We are still working through this with the government and won't be releasing our submission publicly just yet.  However the following questions will provide you with insight into what we are concerned about and some specific proposals that we are aware of that need clarification.

We have also submitted a Freedom of Information request to the government in relation to a report we believe has been prepared on the LSD.

COMBINED FIREARMS COUNCIL — Mr McIntosh to ask the Minister for Police and Emergency Services —

With reference to correspondence between the Combined Firearms Council of Victoria, the Premier and the Minister:

(1)   Why did the Minister not meet with Council representatives, as requested in their submission to the Premier dated 7 January 2009.

(2)   Beyond referring the matter to the Victorian Firearms Consultative Committee, what actions or decisions has the Minister taken or made since 21 April 2009.

(3)   Will the Minister restructure the management of firearm licensees and firearm registration in Victoria.

LICENSING SERVICES DIVISION — Mr McIntosh to ask the Minister for Police and Emergency Services —

Since 21 April 2009 what improvements to the accountability, efficiency, effectiveness and stakeholder engagement relating to the management of firearm licences and firearm registration have been or are being implemented by the Licensing Services Division.

LONG ARM LICENSEES — Mr McIntosh to ask the Minister for Police and Emergency Services —

With reference to the proposed introduction of mandatory attendances for long arm licensees:

(1)   Have there been any deliberations either within the Minister's office or the Victoria Police.

(2)   What are the Government's intentions regarding the proposal.

INTERNATIONAL SHOOTING EVENTS — Mr McIntosh to ask the Minister for Police and Emergency Services —

With reference to the rules governing international shooting events:

(1)   What expertise does Victoria Police have.

(2)   Is the expertise of Victoria Police superior to that within the shooting community.

LICENSING SERVICES DIVISION ACCOUNTABILITY — Mr McIntosh to ask the Minister for Police and Emergency Services —

What steps have been implemented to ensure the accountability of the Licensing Services Division since the commitment made in May 2006 by the former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police.

National Party MPs duped over hunting
- updated 13 October 2009

We're sure the National Party would disagree, but something has happened which calls into question their commitment to retain duck hunting.

The Member for Rodney, Paul Weller issued a media release last Friday basically attacking duck shooting in the Broken Creek area of his electorate - while saying he supports duck shooting.  

His media release says he has called for an investigation into duck hunting practices in the Broken Creek area of his electorate and that some duck hunters are paying little regard to nearby residents and homes. 

Later he says he supports duck hunting - but if he is going to pro-actively put out a release on a petition to ban duck hunting in Broken Creek and then say he supports duck shooting, then you have to wonder if he in fact does support duck hunting.

The problem for Weller is that he based his attack on information provided by the animal welfare lobby that has not been supported by any police reports and contains some obvious inaccuracies. He got conned.  

Andrew Landeryou's Vexnews has provided a great analysis of Weller's release and the precarious position he has now placed his party in, when it comes to its commitment to supporting duck hunting.

If that wasn't enough, on Monday, Ken Jasper, who holds the adjacent seat of Murray Valley, posted a media release calling for the end to all shooting on Ulupna Island which is near the Murray River.  

He too based his position on information provided by people who "run wildlife shelters" and who obviously have vested interests. For example, Mr Jasper's media release said eight koalas were found with gunshot wounds. We've checked - the eight koalas exhibited no signs of being shot and were all various stages of decomposition. There are apparently plenty of koalas on the island making the discovery of dead koalas hardly something that would be unusual.  

These were very silly if not irresponsible positions to advocate - just over a year out from the next state election in prime rural areas. 

In our view, National Party leader, Peter Ryan MUST set the record straight on where the Nationals stand in relation to the shooting sports by retracting the positions advocated by his party colleagues - so the animal welfare people who pulled this off get the message - and making it clear that the Nationals do in fact support the shooting sports (they made a commitment prior to the 2006 state election to retain duck shooting).  

There should be no room for confusion over where the Nationals stand on this matter. We're all human after all and increasingly at risk of being duped by animal liberationists. 

If he doesn't do it, he runs the risk of shooting organisations (including the CFCV) interpreting the media releases in ways he might prefer not to see.

In the meantime, have a read of the following, which are the Vexnews article and Jasper release:

PLUCK A DUCK: Nationals MP duped into opposing duck shooting by enviro-extremists
By VEXNEWS · October 12, 2009

A mediocre National Party Victorian MP has been oddly caught out pushing the agenda of an extremist environmentalist anti-shooting sect.

Paul Weller, the MP for Rodney has launched a campaign to ban duck shooting in an area in his electorate as reflected in this media release distributed on Friday.

By taking the side of 37 noisy NIMBY residents over local shooters, Weller might have been seen to acting pragmatically, reflecting his constituents' concerns.

BIRD PERVS SAYS BRUMBY IS LIKE SARAH PALIN
But sadly for the Nat, he appears to have been duped. VEXNEWS has learned what the Nats MP hadn't, that the anti-shooting petition he now champions was in fact organised by the Echuca Bird Observers Club, a front group of Bird Observation and Conservation Australia.

BOCA opposes all duck shooting and is linked to other militant groups who similarly oppose the sport and can reasonably be described as extremist environmentalists. A copy of the 2008 BOCA annual report makes it clear that one of its leaders Lyn Trakell is also involved in the radical group Coalition Against Duck Shooting, controlled by Laurie Levy.

Levy's group has alleged that Premier Brumby is the "soul mate" of "America's rootin', tootin' and shootin' Sarah Palin" for failing to adopt the Greens party anti-shooting agenda.

Weller's publicly stated position is that he supports duck shooting. He even says so in his release.

But his support seems to be a little shaky.

THE NAT HAS HIS FACTS WRONG
If shooters are acting in a dangerous manner near residents, sporting shooters' groups say, they should be dealt with by the fall force of the law. Sounds reasonable enough.

It appears Weller did not ask the 37 petitioners whether they had reported any careless shooters to the Victoria Police.

What locals are saying is that the petitioners are complaining about falling pellets which are fired from rifles from the creek bed nearby and can land on the roofs of houses on their downward trajectory. They're not dangerous, experts say and would only be noticed by the most finnicky, roof-monitoring precious home owner.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER
The Echuca wing of BOCA shows that the bird-pervs have evolved into quite the militant sect of enviro-fanatics. One of the groups they link to is "Save the Locust", which campaigns against fear of locusts and the use of chemicals against what they insist are most misunderstood little critter. They are of course a pest, a nightmare for every farmer. An Australian government website explains:

Locusts can cause widespread and severe damage to pastures, cereal crops and forage crops. In closely settled areas they may also cause considerable damage to vegetable and orchard crops. The Australian plague locust is the most serious pest species in Australia due to the frequency of outbreaks and the large areas infested.

The Echuca Club's website indicates that it is more a passive bird-watching club. It has some views that are not supported by science but are designed to tug at the heart-strings:

Another study on the breeding behaviour of Stubble Quail said that they mate for life and if they loose (sic) their partner they are quite reluctant to take on a new one. So for every SQ shot or killed it has s****d up the breeding lives of two.

Experts have told VEXNEWS this is simply not true. Nor is the Stubble Quail endangered. It is so abundant it is the only form of native quail that can be legally hunted in Victoria. BOCA claims that the quail numbers have dropped and their supporter Nationals MP Paul Weller has been agitating for a survey of the bird's numbers that could lead to a permanent hunting ban.

Some believe that a well-known enviro-militant retired Monash University academic Barry Hart who lives in or near Echuca might be involved in the shrewdly disguised extremist environmentalist push. Barry Hart was a member of the Victorian Environment Advisory Committee which recommended the locking up of the Barmah Forest. Hart publicly condemned Premier John Brumby when the Government rejected the radical plan that might have turned the Barmah Forest into the white-hot centre of a bushfire inferno.

Insiders familiar with the constant battles between sporting shooter patriots and tree-changing lefties in places like Echuca say that the recruitment of Weller, a notional conservative is a significant development. Even if just an occasionally "useful idiot", the irony of the situation is believed not to have been lost on the greenies in the Victorian National Parks Association who have had a good laugh about how the Nationals now oppose duck shooting.