August 2010 President message
Federal Election 2010
This Federal Election, we are asking just one thing of our members - to take the time to vote below the line in the Senate. The Senate or Upper House, being the Australian Parliament’s house of review, approves any legislation put forward by the House of Representatives or Lower House.
It is highly likely that The Greens will hold the balance of power in the Senate after the Federal Election, to be held on Saturday, August 21. This means that whichever party wins government, be it Labor or the Liberal/National Coalition, will be forced to negotiate with The Greens to pass its laws.
It is no secret that The Greens are openly anti-civilian firearm ownership and anti-hunting and have a lock-up-our-forests mentality. In short, they are a danger to our recreations and our way of life. This is why when voting for the Senate, it is essential to correctly number every candidate below the line and ensure that The Greens are placed last. To be honest, you need a masters degree to understand the complex web of preference flows, but if you vote The Greens last, you can rest assured that they won’t indirectly get your vote. You will control your preferences and not be subject to the backroom party deals of Labor or Liberal.
As in past elections, we leave it up to you to decide who you would like governing the country, be it Labor or the Liberal/National Coalition. Since the Federal Labor Government took office in late 2007, we have had positive relations under the Prime Ministership of Kevin Rudd and our main ‘minister of interest’, the Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor. This is not to say that they have agreed to everything we have asked of them or we’ve not had frustrating developments within their departments such as Customs. However, the door has always been open and we have made significant progress to the benefit of our members.
We have always had significant support from individuals within the Liberal and National parties too, but we have yet to witness a change in policy regarding private firearms ownership. Shooters have long memories, but with the benefit of hindsight after two very expensive firearms buy-backs and an influx of new ideas in the conservative ranks, we can only be hopeful of more enlightened policies on our chosen recreations in the future.
To read political party statements and policies in relation to recreational shooting and hunting, go to our special Federal Election 2010 microportal at www.ssaa.org.au
Bob Green
SSAA National President
Home > Notice board archive > August 2010 President message