By ANEEKA SIMONIS
THE disgruntled Shooters and Fishers Party has La Trobe MP Jason Wood in their sights over his ongoing campaign to end the canned hunting of lions.
Robert Borsak, a Shooters and Fishers Party representative, announced the party will field a candidate for the seat of La Trobe at the next election frustrated that Mr Wood’s campaign to stop the importation of lion ‘trophies’ brought back by hunters who shoot captive lions in Africa.
He accused Mr Wood of failing to differentiate between ‘ethical’ and ‘canned’ hunting of lion, further announcing the party will direct its first preferences to ALP candidate Simon Curtis at the election.
“It is regrettable that throughout your campaign you have persistently failed to differentiate canned hunting from ethical, lawful and sustainable trophy hunting which is recognised by the IUCN, CITES and other conservation organisations as a “fundamental pillar” of wildlife conservation in Africa,” Mr Borsak wrote to Mr Wood.
Mr Wood said no amount of political threat would shake his opposition to the “abhorrent” killing of lions in Africa.
“A so-called fair and legitimate hunt is neither here nor there for me. It’s abhorrent that hunters are out there slaying lions. They are the alpha predator of the wild and they are being bred and degraded simply for one purpose,” he said.
“I don’t support it at all, and think it’s absolutely wrong to breed animals, especially animals listed as being vulnerable, just to be shot.
“Votes for me go toward protecting wildlife, particularly endangered wildlife whereas voting for the shooters party is a vote for lions being killed overseas. It’s about lions being bred, hunted and killed.”
It will be the first time the Shooters and Fishers Party has put forward a candidate for the south-eastern federal seat.
Legislation to ban the importation of lion trophies was announced by Environment Minister Greg Hunt at the Global March for Lions event in the CBD in March.
The import regulation does not discriminate between products gained by lions killed in a canned hunt or not.
Liberal Democrats Senator for NSW David Leyonhjelm recently advised he will move a disallowance motion in the Senate against the import regulations which he argued were “counter-productive” and increase poverty in low-income African villages.
“Whatever we might think of the practice, lions are not endangered by canned hunting. It is not cruel, and it is not a matter requiring government intervention,” he wrote in an online comment piece.
“It will make the conservation of lions less likely and cause harm to low-income farmers and villagers who benefit financially from hunting by overseas trophy hunters.
“The hunting industry puts a value on animals that might otherwise be killed by poor farmers (because of loss of cattle, for example), provides an alternative income to illegal poaching, and makes lion populations more sustainable.”
The disallowance motion is expected to be heard in the Senate within weeks.
