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President message - February 2008 2008 - a new era for SSAA National This year marks the beginning of a new era for SSAA National and all Australian firearms owners. The new government is one prime area of change. The Federal Election in November last year saw the John Howard era end in an intense collapse, with Mr Howard losing his government and his own seat and leaving the Liberal Party in disarray. In swept Kevin Rudd with his seemingly new brand of leadership; leadership which we hope will be more supportive to the future of all Australian sports shooters. Kevin Rudd shares the national love of sport and sporting success and on the eve of the Federal Election, he seemed very positive towards all types of sporting events. As we have seen on many occasions, Kevin Rudd has freely shown his feelings towards the shooting sports, especially with his participation in a number of events at the Belmont range in Queensland (located in his electorate of Griffith). He was invited and accepted to officially open the 2000 International Metallic Silhouette Shooting Championships in Brisbane and it is pleasing to see his enjoyment of all types of shooting, especially clay target shooting. While Kevin Rudd seems to have a closer, more understanding relationship with shooters than the previous Prime Minister, only time will tell how his government will affect the shooting sports in this country. What is known, however, is that Prime Minister Rudd’s government is a clean slate for us all and we will continue to follow their policies in the coming months and lobby to achieve a fair go for firearms owners as we have always done. We will, of course, also continue to talk to politicians of all persuasions as we have done in the past. Throughout 2008 we will also be continuing with our ‘Sign up a junior’ campaign. Since the launch of our campaign in September last year, we have featured more and more stories on junior shooters and hunters in our magazines to emphasise the important role young people play in our sport. Our Junior Shooters webpage too acts as a hub and reference tool for junior members. There are stories and profiles on up-and-coming junior shooters, a photo gallery and junior-only competitions. For those of you who haven’t yet signed up your youngsters, the ‘Sign up a junior’ membership form is also available to download, so check it out here. Finally, SSAA National is also pleased to announce the impending opening of our new Sydney office. Many months of planning and hard work have gone into this new facility. Combining SSAA Membership, Accounts and Merchandise departments in one location, it will offer further developments for SSAA members and is physical evidence that SSAA National and its 120,000 members are here to stay. Bob Green |