EXPLORING AN ARROGANT REFRAIN

The March 28th NSW State election looms ever larger on the horizon and as is to be expected, formal notices and less formal memes encouraging folk to Vote 1. Shooters & Fishers above the line are increasingly evident on websites and in a multitude of online fora. What is not so expected, at least for me, is the expression of anti-Shooters & Fishers sentiment these posts seem to incite. 

Rants along the lines of “what has the Shooters and Fishers Party ever done for me” abound, betraying a depth of ignorance about the Party’s purpose and activities that is, shall we say, disappointing. 

It’s also unproductively divisive at a time when the future of the outdoors activities we all claim to hold so dear, has never been in greater doubt. 

The extreme Greens continue to lobby with a fundamentalist zeal, against the interests of outdoorspersons – hunters, shooters, archers, fishers, 4-wheel drivers and trail riders, the list of pursuits on the Greens' hitlist is seemingly endless.

Their exploitation of events such as the Lindt Cafe siege in order to further their anti-firearms agenda, demonstrates there is nothing they won't say or do, no facts they won't stoop to twist nor circumstance exploit to further their cause.

Not since 1996 has it been more important that we stand together in defence of the activities, the culture and traditions we loosely refer to as our 'rights'. 

Many of us claim to hold these rights sacred, yet when it comes to demonstrating a genuine commitment to protecting them we are found sadly wanting. For the most part we are in fact all whiny indignation and moral outrage with little coordinated direction. 

Remind you of anyone?

Like the Greens we’re quite accomplished at setting up myriad small ‘representative’ not-for-profits, clubs and community groups in the mistaken belief that in doing so we are somehow ensuring our future by giving ‘voice’ to our concerns. With the best of intentions, these organisations meet on the first something-or-other of each month and discuss threats and develop strategies to rout the enemy’s advances, often listing them in great detail.

Then they argue about who gets to be boss of all the lists, they factionalise, launch coups, breakdown, reconvene, make new and even more impressive lists burgeoning with clever strategies to ensure a better, more democratic way of managing all the shiny new lists they’re creating, they argue about the nature of democracy, breakdown again, reform etc., etc....and so it goes, ‘round and around, with disillusionment and discord their only demonstrable products. 

All this leaves them little time for the practical business of lobbying law-makers, formulating and presenting eloquent rebuttals to outrageous claims appearing in the media and educating the public, all vitally important to the cause and all requiring some genuine skills and political savvy.

Rather than admit such skills are relevant let alone clearly lacking in their leadership, such organisations too often choose to concentrate efforts and limited resources on things such as defending their own inefficiency and procuring a pew on an assortment of national bodies and advisory panels with the potential to elevate and advantage a few individuals above their peers. 

When these 'representatives' do give voice to the burning issues of the day, they do so by preaching to the choir through a variety of newsletters, email lists and facebook pages, through which they pump out terminally inane propaganda justifying their continued burden on an increasingly disenchanted membership. 

Critics of these behaviours are marginalised and often quite mercilessly victimised, as all opposition is summarily crushed under the heel of an increasingly unaccountable executive committee’s jackboot. 

This is the nature of the many baskets in which our sector chooses to randomly distribute its representative eggs and nothing could better please the Greens' and the anti’s, or more ably serve their various shady agenda.

We are our own worst enemies, largely because we refuse to recognise and support what is potentially our most effective ally – the Shooters and Fishers Party.

As I said at the outset, the most common complaints seem to go along the lines of “what do I get for my $30 annual membership?” or “What has the Shooters and Fishers Party ever done for me?” and I cannot help but reel at the sheer arrogance inherent in such questions, not to mention the breadth of ignorance they betray.

It may be hard to see what voting for the Party might return for us in terms of tax breaks, better health care or a lower excise on beer, but that’s not why one votes for a special interest party such as Shooters and Fishers.

We vote for them not so much for the promise of what they’ll do for us, but rather for what they may stop others doing to us.

Having Shooters and Fishers Party representatives in Parliament and better still, holding balance of power, means that introducing new legislation or amending the old so’s to erode our rights, requires more than just a stroke of the pen.

Ask yourself, should Shooters and Fishers no-longer have a strong presence on the floor of Parliament, who will fill their pews and how motivated will they be to stand firm against attacks on your right to own firearms or bows, to hunt, to fish, to drive or ride in State Forests and National Parks? 

When the next terrorist attack occurs in Sydney and the Greens once again take advantage of the public’s panic and ignorance to call for a total ban on all ‘weapons’, and when a Premier struggling in the polls considers boosting his popularity by declaring NSW Australia’s first gun free State, there may be no-one to oppose the move. And have no doubt, with concern about domestic terrorism growing it would be a very popular move, at least in the short term.

If you believe this could never happen without long and detailed processes of public consultation and much debate, you are sadly mistaken!

There are approximately 250,000 licensed firearms owners in NSW, all of which the antis would like to strip of their firearms. There are around 750,000 licensed fishers (this figure doesn't include indigenous folk, pensioners or children who don't need a licence) and innumerable archers, 4-wheel drive enthusiasts, trail riders and sundry other people with a stake in the outdoors that the Greens would like nothing better than to lock-up for posterity.

Exactly how many registered voters there are in NSW I don’t know; I confess reliable advice on that subject was surprisingly hard to Google, but let’s say the number is approximately lots. The vast majority of those registered will vote either Labor or Liberal and we know that at the end of the day one of the two will govern NSW.

The question we need to ask ourselves is whether we honestly believe the race these two parties are engaged in will run so close that your vote or mine will decide the contest? Of course they won’t. Neither will the quality of government we receive be influenced or ameliorated to any great extent because we managed to vote our favourite local candidate into Parliament. Such beliefs are the stuff of ego and it is our obsession with ego that holds us back and endangers our future.

At the end of the day the majority will see that the outcome of the State election reflects the nature of the largely arbitrary popularity contest it actually is.  But as a specific stakeholder group, it is entirely within our capacity to ensure that regardless of whether Labor or the Liberals win the race, their activities will be scrutinised thereafter by a small group of people absolutely committed to serving our interests and ours alone - the Shooters and Fishers Party. 

Of course by going the whole hog and parting with the princely sum of $30 a year for Party membership (the equivalent of 3 carbon shafts or 2 boxes of high end .22 ammo) one also has an opportunity to determine the nature and shape of the interests one’s political representatives serve. It almost goes without saying there’s a far greater likelihood you’ll be able to help shape policy and direction through membership of Shooters and Fishers than will ever be the case with the alternatives.

As for me, I have assessed the many and various threats to our traditions and lifestyle and I am genuinely concerned, more so than in times past. On March 28th I will vote Shooters and Fishers, not because I believe they represent the best option for NSW government, but because I believe both Labor and Liberal are just about as good and as bad as one-another. Thus, I choose to put my vote to the best use possible, by striving to ensure that at least one thing that's important to me will be protected and perhaps even improved a little.

I will also volunteer at my local polling station in hope of encouraging other outdoorsfolk to Vote 1. Shooters and Fishers above the line, remembering in NSW no party referencing applies, so the only votes the Party gets will be our votes. 

At the end of the day what you do with your vote is your choice of course; that is the great virtue of the system known as democracy. But if you are one of the people who've been known to cry “what has the Shooters and Fisher Party ever done for me”, either on the internet or in discussions amongst friends, I hope you will at least reconsider your position in recognition that it’s not what they do for you that counts so much as what they might prevent others doing to you.

Anyway, I’ll get outaya way now...

Note: if you are interested in volunteering at a polling station near you, be sure to contact the Shooters and Fishers Party and let them know via the website here

You do not have to be a Party member to volunteer for polling station duty.  

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