5th March, 2024.

In July 2021, the Australian Deer Association (ADA) presented at the South Australian Parliament’s inquiry into Bow and Crossbow hunting.

Our presentation was led by local David Pope, who was also on the board of the ADA at the time. While presenting, Mr Pope addressed several items opponents had previously raised and countered that with facts and real-life examples to counter such misinformation and better inform the committee.

As a result, some unworkable recommendations were presented in the subsequent final report from the inquiry, but there was no ban. However, the risk was that after the 2022 election, they could resurface in a new form and be prosecuted anew.

Unfortunately, this became apparent in September 2022, as the government demonstrated a desire to ban bow hunting in South Australia after the election.

Through a media campaign, the ADA uncovered an undisclosed agreement between Environment Minister Susan Close and the RSPCA that had not been published or seen in the light of the day before the election.

An irony of the original proposal to ban bow hunting was that it would only apply to ‘native’ animals; therefore, wild deer would remain exempt.

However, due to the ongoing media attention that ultimately highlighted this, the government has now changed the means of implementing the ban with a revised approach.

Whereas before the ban was planned to be implemented via an amendment to the National Parks and Wildlife (Hunting) Regulations 2011, it will now be proclaimed through the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, resulting in no exception to using a bow or crossbow for hunting.

This is a disappointing outcome, and one done so without an evidence base. The driver behind this is politics, of which, a large part appears to have been played out behind closed doors.