Coalition Against Duck Shooting

01/06/2026

AJP MP, Georgie Purcell speaks out against the Victorian Labor Government for protecting illegal shooters and instead prosecuting duck rescuers for helping wounded birds.

Laurie Levy

31/05/2026

On Saturday May 30, 2026, this threatened Blue-winged Shoveler was illegally shot and wounded at Lake Murphy near Kerang, during a duck shooting competition where prizes are won for shooting various species.
This threatened bird was shot illegally and left on the wetlands wounded.
A rescuer was able to recover the bird which was quickly taken to veterinary care for urgent medical attention.
Sadly, this suffering is sanctioned by the Victorian Labor Premier, Jacinta Allan, who strongly supports duck shooting and fines rescuers thousands of dollars each year for helping native waterbirds.

Laurie Levy

Our purpose is to permanently ban the recreational shooting of native waterbirds in Australia.

26/05/2026

Big news: - the Victorian Labor Party State Conference votes to ban duck shooting.

Don’t get too excited though – the members voted to ban duck shooting at the 1990 State Labor Conference when there were around 100,000 duck shooters in Victoria. Yet today, when active duck shooter numbers make up less tan 0.2 per cent of Victorians, the recreational shooting of native waterbirds continues under Labor as it would under a Liberal or One Nation Government.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and the 1950s Liberal Premier, the late Sir Henry Bolte, would be extremely proud of Premier Jacinta Allan and her government for being so slow to act.

Laurie Levy

Below: CADS display, 23 May 2026, at the ALP Labor state conference in Melbourne.

24/05/2026

Under Premier Jacinta Allan, violent machete wielding offenders can walk free—yet brave wildlife rescuers trying to save injured native waterbirds, wounded by recreational duck shooters, are dragged through the courts for supposedly “hindering” shooters.

In 2024, an interstate rescuer received a banning order and was also recently forced to appear at Kerang Magistrates’ Court, accused of “obstructing, hindering and harassing” shooters who carried powerful weapons. She was fined $750, with six months to pay, no conviction, no court costs—and her kayak was returned. The rescuer was represented in court by barrister David Risstrom. Despite this excellent outcome, going to court is still an expensive process.

Even back in 2012, the late Magistrate Peter Mealy was surprised that caring for wounded birds and providing vet treatment was left to volunteer rescuers—saying he always thought the government would provide this service. Fourteen years on, nothing’s changed. Under Jacinta's rule more rescuers are still to face the court process.

Please donate to the Coalition Against Duck Shooting account (BSB: 063007, acc. number: 10047959) to help cover rescuers’ court costs (there are four more court cases pending).

18/05/2026

CADS wetlands coordinator, Dave, was booked on 1 June 2024 for hindering/harassing and obstructing shooters when 'yelling, singing, making noise' and paddling his kayak in shooters' decoys.
His case was heard in Bendigo Court on May 4 and 5.

Represented by Anthony Pyne, Barrister, and Daniel Beecher, Solicitor, Dave pleaded not guilty. But Magistrate Jarrod Williams found Dave guilty of being close to the shooters, close to decoys and for making noise.

However, noting that Dave is respected by all parties and despite the GMA pushing for an exclusion order and a hefty penalty, the Magistrate issued no conviction, no exclusion order and no costs. But Dave was ordered to pay $500 to the court fund and was given a good behaviour bond until March next year.

This was an excellent outcome for Dave, although it cost CADS $15,000 in legal fees. Donations to help cover the costs can be transferred to Coalition Against Duck Shooting Bank Code: 063007, Account Number: 10047959

21/04/2026

Another fantastic effort from this year's duck rescue team.

Laurie Levy

13/04/2026

RECREATIONAL DUCK SHOOTING IS CRUEL

• Labor recognizes that animals and birds are sentient
• Shooters are unaware of the cruelty as they have no empathy for the birds
• Because shotguns spray out around 200 pellets, wounding is inevitable
• According to US ballistics expert and shotgunner, Tom Roster, the wounding rate is at least one in four birds shot
• Shooters may not even know they’ve wounded birds when firing into groups of birds
• Birds flying overhead get pellets lodged underneath their bodies, which vets say is extremely painful
• Shooting out of shotgun range causes wounding
• Rescuers frequently witness birds flinching after being hit but continue flying
• Dogs sent to retrieve wounded birds cause further suffering
• Some shooters don’t know how to kill wounded birds – wind-milling is often ineffectual
• Rescuers see birds still flapping when thrown into punts, stuffed into bags or hung on shooters’ belts
• GMA say it’s impossible to determine if flapping birds are dead or not – we say it’s up to the shooter to prove the bird is dead not up to the observer to prove the bird is alive
• When shot and crashing onto land or into water, birds suffer further injuries
• Rescuers see birds flying away with bills shot off
• Shooters often target more birds before recovering wounded birds floundering in the water
• Rescuers have seen shooters using wounded birds to blood their dogs
• Shooting wounded birds at close range is sometimes ineffectual
• Rescuers see such appalling cruelty that they sometimes require counselling
• Cruelty prosecutions are in the hands of the GMA, who promote hunting, not the RSPCA
• Rescuers are fined over $1,000 for breaching regulations when rescuing wounded birds
• No government agency is responsible for helping the wounded birds
• For further information go to https://www.duck.org.au/cruelty/
• The only way to stop the wounding is to stop duck shooting

Jacinta Allan
Steve Dimopoulos MP

27/03/2026

23/03/2026

Here's me with Laurie Levy from the Coalition Against Duck Shooting before heading out on duck rescue on the weekend.

This was my 14th year as a rescuer, while Laurie has led the charge to end this horrific thrill kill of our native waterbirds for the last 40 years.

And it was the quietest we've ever seen it.

We visited multiple wetlands across the Kerang network, and I could count on one hand how many shooters we spotted.

Back in the day there were over 100,000 duck shooters in Victoria, and there would be tens of thousands of shooters at the very places we visited.

One of the most popular shooting areas is now a dead zone.

And the same goes for the rest of the state.

That's why Jacinta Allan's decision to ignore her own parliamentary inquiry that told her to ban duck shooting is so unbelievable.

Her decision angered the majority of Victorians.

And now for the next 3 months, tens of millions of dollars of tax payer money is being wasted on compliance efforts - while regional Victorians are locked out of the areas they have a right to enjoy too.

But who was she actually doing it for?

Because from what we saw out there - it was nobody.

22/03/2026

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