Australia’s first National Gun Conference was held on 4 August, with shooters from around the country tuning in for a live-cast roundtable discussion on the many issues facing law-abiding firearms owners in Australia.
The event, organised by Politics Reloaded and supported by Shooters Union, featured a number of keynote speakers: former Federal Senators David Leyonhjelm and Nigel Scullion, Shooters Union Australia vice-president David Brown, SSAA CEO Tom Kenyon, Politics Reloaded head Neil Jenkins, Katter’s Australia Party deputy leader Nick Dametto, Victorian Federal Senator Bridget McKenzie, and Libertarian Party of Western Australia state executive president Jake McCoull.
The conference’s aim was to start a conversation about how shooters in Australia can effectively address the many issues they face. It was held virtually via Zoom and YouTube.
Mr Leyonhjelm opened proceedings with a talk on the subject “Gun Control: It’s not about guns”, while both Mr Scullion and Mr McCoull spoke about the serious (and well publicised) issues affecting shooters in Western Australia and their implications for the rest of the country.
Mr Brown spoke about elections and gaining political influence, and Mr Kenyon spoke on the subject of becoming politically relevant.
Mr Jenkins discussed hunting policy in the Northern Territory, Mr Dametto provided insights on effective ways to communicate with politicians, and Ms McKenzie spoke on ways shooters can improve their political outlook.
The recurring theme of the conference was that shooters need to start working together and speaking to politicians and authorities with a single voice, followed closely by the fact shooters need to be electorally punishing politicians who do not support them.
Several of the speakers made the point that the only language politicians understand is votes and money – and the two are so closely intertwined as to be nearly inseparable.
The necessity of shooters effectively communicating to politicians with a common message and purpose came up several times as well, notably from the speakers with experience as elected members of parliament.
Western Australia Police Minister Paul Papalia was awarded the Conference’s inaugural “Hoplophobe Of The Year” award, but as expected was not in attendance to receive it.
Organiser Neil Jenkins said there had been a great turnout for the inaugural conference, and the interaction and recognition of work that can and must be done at a higher level was well worth it.
“We had two former senators and a current senator, and two senior representatives from major shooting organisations who were unanimous in concerns about the political environment,” he said.
“There is a real appetite out there for change, and it was encouraging to see people come forward.
“We’ll be using the outcome of this conference for the starting point for the next one.”
Shooters Union Australia vice-president David Brown said the event had gone well and he welcomed the opportunity to be involved.
“It was good to participate with former senators, along with a current senator, as well as our good friend Nick Dametto from KAP,” he said.
“It was remarkable how all of the participants were singing from the same hymn-book, and we look forward to seeing the conference evolve into a live or venue-based seminar in future.”
The entire three-hour conference is available to watch for free on Youtube:
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