 Found a word you're not familiar with? Double-click that word to bring up a dictionary reference to it. The dictionary page includes an audio sound file with which to actually hear the word said. |
Further implications
The Jacinta Allan Labor government in Victoria has been accused of making an political decision in allowing duck and quail hunting to continue in their state.Analysis has revealed that six outer metropolitan seats could potentially be lost to the Labor government if duck hunting were banned. They are held by margins that are smaller than the number of registered hunters in each of these electorates.
The decision has wider political implications than this, however, as there has been substantial union pressure on the government to continue to allow duck hunting. In August 2023, an alliance of powerful trade unions said it would ban state Labor MPs from visiting projects and walk off job sites if Victoria decides to end duck and quail hunting. The coalition, known as the Building Industry Group of Unions (BIG), represents more than 85,000 Victorian workers and includes the CFMEU, Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, the Electrical Trades Union and the plumbers' union. All four unions have key roles in signature government projects such as the Metro Tunnel and level-crossing removal projects. Many of these projects are already behind schedule and over budget. Further delays and cost blowouts could be politically damaging for the government.
The potential banning of duck hunting has been cast by the four opposing unions in class terms. In a statement issued by the unions in August 2023, they claimed, 'A government that truly respected working people would not yield to niche, inner-city activists but support the working activities of those it claims to represent.' This statement indicates the dilemma for the Victorian Labor Government. It is seeking to retain the votes of both union members and those that are here being falsely described as a 'niche' minority of activists.The decision to allow duck and quail hunting to continue is not without its own political risks. An estimated 11,549 Victorians went duck hunting in 2022 - just 0.17 percent of the state's 6.7 million people. By contrast, 66 percent of Victorians oppose duck hunting and 88 percent are concerned about the suffering of ducks.
This is not the minority 'activists' issue that the BIG unions have represented it as. The issue is perilous because hunting is opposed by such a substantial number. It is also politically hazardous because it is an important concern for Greens voters and those current Labor voters who could direct their primary votes or their preferences to the Greens. The Greens claimed the inner-city seat of Melbourne, in 2014, and Brunswick, in 2018. They are targeting other seats such as Richmond and Northcote where they believe environmental concerns are important to voters. 2022 Greens candidate for Richmond, Gabrielle de Vietri, has noted, 'Voters are seeing major flooding events ... we've . . . got fire warnings for summer. . .They are seeing that and that the major parties aren't doing anything about it. . . Looking at what [Labor] are doing and saying, they can't get away with this kind of stuff anymore.' The Victorian Government appears to be trying to strengthen its environmental credibility through banning the logging of native forests; however, its decision to import native forest timbers from Tasmania has been widely criticised. The decision to allow duck and quail hunting to continue in Victoria will not be well received by many Labor voters in both metropolitan and regional areas.