No Hunting in National Parks - I didn't go, but many of my friends were there

The NSW Parliament has been the scene of a series of protests recently.

The biggest one I know of was the "Our Land, our Water" rally opposed to mining and CSG versus farming and the despoiling of rivers and aquifers. That was back on May 1.

A few days ago, it was opposition to large-scale sackings and redundancies of NSW Public Servants and my mates, the NPWS officers.

And today, many of the same people were there again, to protest the NSW Shooters and Fishing Party's proposal for hunting in National Parks.

Skippy amuses this Boy in Blue.
Good humour is important
when running a Revolution.
Nice work, Skippy.

I didn't make the trip, but I did send off some briefing notes to Cate Faehrmann MLC and her staffers (in response to their requests).
 

In particular, I was fascinated by the honesty of the New Zealand Hunters.

• HUNTING ACCIDENTS         INVESTIGATE: JUL 03 They act before they think, almost pre-programmed to shoot on reflex
• HAMISH CARNACHAN investigates the campaign to stop hunters killing each other in the bush
• An important factor, according to Green, is a little-known phenomenon he refers to as "buck fever", which he describes as "a psychological state whereby the hunter’s desire to shoot their quarry is so strong that it overrides all rational thinking".
  Speak to any hunter and they will invariably detail the concentration, often required for hours on end or even days, which goes into stalking a deer. Nerves are taut, the atmosphere intense, it’s all part of the primal thrill of the hunt. Green says when a hunter is "wound up" during the chase any unnatural distraction can draw a snapshot, in some cases with tragic consequences.
• Source: http://www.investigatemagazine.com/jul03hunt.htm

And those are not my words, but the words of New Zealand hunters.

And then there is a very powerful article entitled: "How to avoid shooting your Mate".

• In the Oct-Nov 2003 addition of “NZ Outdoor” Murray Dench wrote an excellent article titled “How to Avoid Shooting Your Mate”. If you read this article you would know that the hunter in my story acted questionably on at least two occasions. Finally, when considering the disturbing circumstance of the recent fatal shootings, I draw your attention to the title of this article. Title: "Shooting your mate"
• NZ Hunting Information
  http://www.nzhuntinginfo.com/printPage.php?pageName=./articles/could

If you wish to sign the petition or write to the relevant politicians about Hunting in National Parks you can go to this site: http://nohunting.wildwalks.com/

If you are on Facebook, you can view many photos in Cate Faehrmann's Photo Gallery here.