CFCV wins for Victorian shooters
In addition to its involvement in state and federal elections, the CFCV also lobbies on behalf of its member organisations, for the benefit of all Victorian shooters.
Here are some of the wins we’ve had over the years.
State Range Fund
We lobbied for, and secured, funding for a multi-discipline state shooting centre. The facility would have put Victoria on par with other states which have such a centre. It would help attract international shooting events such as world cups to the state, and cater for shooters at a more local level.
The program, which was launched by former Sports Minister, Justin Madden alongside our President, Bill Paterson, in 2006. The government then engaged a consultant who did a great job in sifting through the needs of Victoria’s shooting organisations, and identified potential sites for the facility covering small and full bore, shotgun and handgun shooting disciplines.
Importantly the state budget included an allocation of $12.5m to secure the land required and prepare it for the eventual development of the facility.
The Coalition Government, which was elected in 2010, scrapped the project but the CFCV didn’t give up. Key CFCV personnel were successful in having that money redirected to a new fund to upgrade existing ranges, which is now underway. More information on the program can be seen at http://www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/grants/find-a-grant/shooting-sports-facilities-program. This is not the same as having a state range, but at least the money did go to the shooting sports.
We’ll have another go at getting you a state range for you soon.
Firearms Consultative Committee
Until the mid 2000’s, the state government had very little if any contact with shooting organisations when developing legislative and regulatory proposals. A key concern with this is that the Victoria Police had a distorted influence over government policy.
The re-establishment of the Firearms Consultative Committee (FCC), which includes representation from shooting organisations, the Police Association, Law Institute of Vic and office of the Minister for Police, has been instrumental in enabling the government to consult key stakeholders before they progress to being signed off by the Minister.
Unfortunately the government hasn’t always gone through the FCC as we’ve seen on the lever action issue, which can only lead to a decline in the quality of decisions being made.
This underpins the need for the FCC to become a statutory body so all regulatory proposals can be tested with key stakeholders before Cabinet commits itself to the proposal.
Dealer fees
The previous Victorian Labor Government issued a Regulatory Impact Statement that would have rebalanced how firearm dealer fees were set. While this sounds fine in theory, it would have been to the significant detriment of smaller dealers, many of whom were servicing specialist markets rather than turning over a profit.
The fees for the smaller dealers would have increased by up to 600% which would have driven them out of business.
The RIS drew submissions from many shooters and their organisations, however this was not enough. Submissions usually amend rather than defeat proposed regulations, so the CFCV led a coordinated response among the major shooting organisations and lobbied for the retention of the existing fees with parliamentarians. The end result of negotiations was that the proposal was dropped, with the only increases being CPI adjustments.
Firearms Safety Foundation
Shooting is one of the safest activities around and the foundation’s work augments the efforts of Victoria’s major shooting organisations to keep it that way.
The CFCV secured funding for the establishment of a safety foundation which updated the Firearm Safety Code (the handbook given to those applying for their licenses), updating the firearm safety course and production of useful videos to help keep shooting safe.
The foundation has also become a useful reference point for reports on hunting accidents when they occur for advice, rather than be dealt with by bureaucrats. This is especially true of recommendations from the Coroner which governments normally accept without argument.
You can see the Foundation’s website at: Firearms Safety Foundation Inc Victoria The site also has links to interstate regulators and useful information on end of season gun care.
The government’s investment in the foundation is also symbolic in that it is an ongoing investment in the shooting sports, which is not often provided.
The CFCV is currently undertaking other work to see other investments take place.