From the Chairman

There’s really not much I can add about 2020 that hasn’t already been written.

I choose to focus on the positives of a difficult year, and there were lots of them. We saw the ADA be the only hunting organisation in Australia to grow strongly during the pandemic. This is testament, I think, to the strong work we are doing at a federal and state level and also to what ADA does at a very local level. Through lockdowns and restrictions our local branches found ways to keep our community together and engaged.

Newsletters were more frequent; events were re-jigged and re-imagined and the flag of ADA was still flown.

Great examples of this spirit were the Darling Downs Branch: with trips south canned because of border closures, the branch members turned north and swapped furred game for finned — and the important bit was that they were still in the great outdoors, still on the chase and still having that unique and special experience of sharing wild food with a group of like-minded people.

Down south, the Upper Goulburn Branch organised with the local council for Australian Deer Association signs to join other service organisations like Lions, Scouts and Rotary at the entrance to Kinglake, Yea, Marysville, Eildon and Alexandra, in the heart of Victorian sambar country.

Keeping connected with each other and with the community is what drives ADA’s growth and, more importantly, our influence. It’s what allows us to share our great values with more and more hunters, it’s what allows us to have conversations about what we do with local communities and it’s ultimately what allows us to convince governments that recreational hunters are worth supporting, worth listening to and, ultimately, worth giving more opportunities to.

This year I really hope to get around and see more of you at some of the great ADA events that we have planned all around the country.