Dreams and schemes and circus crowds

I recently attended the anti-hunting rally in Bega and I'd like to make a few observations regarding the rally and subsequent reporting in the media.

First, much was made of Australia’s long and proud tradition of proclaiming National Parks. The first, which is now known as Royal National Park, was proclaimed in 1879. Soon after, it was stocked with deer, foxes and rabbits for ‘recreational purposes’. I understand that some of the deer may even have been a gift from Queen Victoria.

A long and distinguished tradition indeed, which included hunting. Funny how these nuances can be forgotten by public speakers.

A spokesperson claimed that bowhunting was excessively cruel and should be banned. I do not suggest that being shot with an arrow is painless, but nor have I any obligation to ensure it is so. Nature is cruel…very cruel. All wild animals, save for the few that inadvertently hop over a cliff and die quickly by the fall, will die horrible deaths, whether by old age, disease or predation.

Predators have no concern whatsoever, for animal welfare.  Once an animal is unable to evade its predators it will fall victim to them, whether that predator be ants, crows, dogs/dingos, foxes or opportunist feeders. None of the inevitable death-by-predation scenarios includes passing away peacefully in the bosom of family and friends, nor painless euthanasia followed by tributes to the strains of Auld Lang Syne. A hunter’s obligation is to ensure that the death she/he metes out is not unusually cruel. All hunters I know and associated with strive for the swiftest and most humane kill possible, using equipment often far more efficient for the purpose than tooth, claw or talon.

If anti-hunters are serious about animal welfare, I am sure they will be happy to endorse the following proposal i.e. that the speed-limit on the highway between Bega and Canberra should be halved to 50km per hour. Doing so will double the reaction times of both driver and the profusion of native animals presenting themselves each week as targets for motor vehicles. The number is more than we see on the roadside of course, as many slip off into the undergrowth to die of broken hips, concussions and internal injuries which may not take them until days after the event. Of course this suggestion, however logical, will not win the support of the anti-hunters because while they have no use for bows or guns, they certainly do have a stake in getting to Canberra in under 5 hours.

We could go the whole hog of course and, taking a leaf out of The Greens’ and Anti-Hunters’ Rules for Community Engagement, decide that any one irresponsible driver who breaks the new speed limit will be taken to be representative of all drivers. She/he will be publically humiliated and vilified in a campaign aimed at creating a climate of intolerance and hatred towards drivers, culminating in the permanent closing of the Highway.

On to HuntFest and the misinformation disseminated at the rally. HuntFest has never, does not, and will not encourage people to hunt in National Parks or in the Narooma area for that matter. It is the equivalent of a camping and outdoors expo with a hunting element included. It ‘celebrates’ a legal activity steeped in thousands of years of history, tradition and culture. Intolerance towards that culture should be decried publically, along with all other forms of cultural intolerance and bigotry. If individuals don’t like the idea of HuntFest they can choose not to attend, but running it down publically, trying to fuel community hatred against it and its organisers, is simply irresponsible.

A great deal of time effort and money has been invested in HuntFest by members of the community whom many of us know and work with. Trying to destroy an event simply because you hold a philosophical opposition to it, or what it stands for, is irresponsible and inhumane to the many humans who will be disadvantaged as a result of hate-driven, sabotage and white-anting protests.

Attendance at the rally – I really have to wonder if getting 200 largely directly invited guests to the rally was actually indicative of broad community support for no-hunting in National Parks as the organisers have claimed? I would have thought the true measure of support lay in how many of the “average men or women in the street” were willing to join your rally, on the spur of the moment, on one of Bega’s busiest shopping days. If this is the true measure, the rally was a bit of a failure from the casual observer’s perspective.

Let me put it another way, had I turned up with even 500 hunters to march down to Andrew Constance’s office with a thankyou note for the O’Farrell government, would the anti-hunters accept that this was an indication of broad community support for hunting in National Parks and satisfaction with the O’Farrell government’s sound policy decisions? I think not! What the rally proved is that there are people in the community who are strongly opposed to hunting in National Parks, but we knew that, just as we know the 200 do not necessarily speak for the Valley’s 28,850 residents who did not join the rally.

Regarding the “Perverts kill animals for fun” sign hung on my gate in the wee smalls – I wish to thank a member of the media who approached me at the rally to say, “I am sorry about that sign hung on your gate.” The journo in question was not claiming responsibility, but simply expressing neighbourly concern for the impact of a cowardly attack on my home and family. I will not mention the person’s name; for fear that they too may come under attack. They know who they are and they have my family’s sincerest gratitude for their concern. What a shame that concern was not shared by other notables present. My partner approached one such notable, asking if, as a community leader, they would take the opportunity to denounce both the person who hung the sign and the act itself. The response? “Why should I? I didn’t do it!”  This person’s associate then accused my partner of being “just an unethical hunter.” That announcement resulted in a man barrelling towards my partner with what she describes as “burning hatred in his eyes.” My partner also informs me that had it not been for the intercession of the aggressor’s wife she fears she may have been assaulted. Bravo!

For the record, my partner will not so much as empty water from a bowl in the garden for fear mosquito larvae may be harmed.

To the person who declined the invitation to behave as a community leader should, I would point out that one does not have to be responsible for an act in order to denounce it. You’re certainly not backwards in coming forwards to denounce human rights abuses overseas for which you are not responsible. But you do have to be a responsible community leader.

Finally, I say again that I am neither in favour of nor against hunting in National Parks and I will not make up my mind until the detail of the proposal is released. But I am definitely dead against misleading the Valley, hate campaigns and sabotaging local community projects simply because they are not to your philosophical liking and I will continue to speak out against such activities regardless of the intimidation and bullying that may result.

Anyway, I'll get outa ya way now...