Conservation Australia, April 2024

For those who have been following the rewrite of the Firearms Act 1973 (WA), the headlines suggest that farmers have come out well with a provision for Primary Producer Licence holders to possess up to 10 firearms while recreational shooters/hunters are limited to possessing five firearms. As is often the case, the devil is in the detail and the provisions of the proposed Act and the intent of this Government’s Minister warrant further study.

Some key direct impacts of the intended legislation::

• It will be much harder for law-abiding and genuine recreational shooters to either acquire firearms for hunting or for existing licenced firearms owners to retain their licences under the new property letter system;
• A cap is placed on the number of firearms an individual can possess; and
• An increased legally mandated administrative load is placed on landholders if they allow shooters on their land.

Of at least, equal importance are, what we believe will be some of the indirect impacts on the management of pest and vermin animals in rural environments.

The Cook Labor Government is going down this path, claiming it is for “public safety” which will be served by reducing the number of firearms in the community. They also put a lot of blame of landholders who legally sold property letters. They have not, however, explained why even with purchased property letters the Commissioner can’t keep licensed firearms out of the hands of undesirable people already under the current legislation, or why a person with a genuine need for six firearms is more dangerous than a person with five.

This legislation appears to be more about appeasing people who live in the inner suburbs. What is not discussed by the Labor Government is the impact on the rural economy.

Firstly, there is the economic boost delivered by recreational shooters to rural areas in areas off the common destinations. How much this adds up to is variable though it is a noteworthy amount of money spent in towns that are often well off the tourist tracks.

Next is the control of pest and feral animals. While the control of pest and vermin animals in an important element in land management, it can be very time consuming and hard to achieve for time-poor farmers. Increasingly, there are large land holdings where the only labour is from the farmer and their family where it is the norm for the farmer to be working all day all through the week. The time put into pest and vermin animal control by recreational shooters is time the farmer doesn’t need to spend on it and any time that we can give back to the farmer and their family is invaluable.

Closely following this is the damage that pest and vermin animals do to primary producers’ crops, infrastructure and livestock both in direct attacks and in the competition for food and water. For example, every farmer is aware of the lambs lost to foxes that are endemic across the Western Australia. At the other end of the scale, while many view the feral camels with a level of sentimentality, the damage that a mob of 500 camels can to inflict upon fences, water supplies and food sources in already challenging environments is all borne by the primary producer.

Finally, there is the conservation of native fauna. Based on the studies available, a fox kills on average 52 native reptiles, 65 native birds and 217 native animals every year. Within our cohort, over the last year we have shot 387 foxes and 21 cats. This is from one small group of shooters. So when considered cumulatively across the entirety of the recreational shooting community, the contribution is significant. This is a contribution that is made year after year and it is done for free.

As mentioned at the outset, the impacts upon farmers and other rural land managers will be in the detail of the secondary impacts from the new legislation. The goal is to remove firearms from licensed firearms owners. Targeting those with more than five recreational/hunting firearms will disproportionately impact those who more regularly engage in hunting, reducing their availability to assist farmers. While there are exceptions, typically, the firearms owners who have more firearms are those who are more serious about their hunting and engage in it more frequently.

Further to this, future changes to the property letter system that have been announced are already forcing recreational hunters out. Under the intended legislation:

• the intent is to make all licensed firearms owners obtain a new property letter for their currently licensed firearms;
• limits will be placed on which properties can issue property letters for different calibres with WAPOL determining what calibres the property can support;
• limits will be placed on the number of letters that a property owner can provide; and
• there will be a requirement that properties issuing property letters for specific game are registered for DPIRD as having a problem with those animals.  

The actions by the Labor Government will further serve to reduce the number of serious recreational hunters available to assist land managers.

Apart from the loss of genuine hunters as WAPOL works to make the possession of a firearms licence increasingly difficult, there will be other impacts upon farmers. Under the provisions mentioned earlier, smaller landholders will struggle to obtain a licence for centrefire rifles with a focus on the suitability of the block size and terrain when deciding to allow a licence. Farmers not engaged in broadacre farming may struggle to licence any centrefire rifle.

Under new requirements of the new legislation, a primary producer firearms licence holder will not be able to just pop over to a neighbour’s block to help them without a written permission from the farmer or a permit approved by WAPOL. The ability of the neighbour to issue a written permission or the willingness of WAPOL to issue a permit may be hampered by limits on the number of letters that they can issue, the linkage of the size and terrain of the land.

Providing property letters will now have legally mandated record-keeping, reporting and administration for the farmer. These requirements will include the maintenance of a register of property letters issued, notification to WAPOL if they withdraw a property letter or dispose of land, and maintaining records with DPIRD of pest and vermin animals present on their land. There is also expected to be a level of involvement in the issuing of permits for when a shooter is permitted on the land but when a property letter hasn’t been provided.

One option to alleviate these impacts could be to acknowledge that the property letter system will never be fit for purpose and abandon it. The property letter does not confirm that a licence holder will use their firearms for recreational hunting, rather that they know a farmer who is willing to give them a letter. It has been suggested that a better approach would be an activity test that verifies that licence holders are actually engaging in hunting.

Rather than putting all of the additional administrative load onto farmers, WAPOL should consider the benefits of hunting clubs in administering and meeting the reporting requirements of recreational shooters, rather than farmers.

This legislation, if passed in its current form will impact the recreational shooters and farmers in equal measure. With Labor having the majority in both houses of the Western Australian Parliament, this will go through unless the current Premier can be convinced to modify it. Having shown no interest in doing so thus far, the options are limited, but to make your concerns over the content of the legislation known, your options could be to:

• sign the petition currently being circulated to ask the Premier to refer the legislation to the Legislative Council Standing Committee on Legislation;
• contact your local member; and
• contact the Primary Producers Firearms Advisory Board (WA Farmers Federation, Pastoralists and Graziers Association WA, Vegetables WA, Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen’s Association, and Wines of Western Australia).