Victorian Labor MPs are being canvassed on their views on duck hunting, as a deadline looms to respond to a parliamentary inquiry into the future of the “controversial” practice.
Several MPs told Guardian Australia the state outdoor recreation minister, Steve Dimopoulos, began ringing caucus members late last year about the issue and that he resumed calls after the Christmas break.
“He asked whether I would support a ban but he’s given no indication of where this whole thing is going to land,” one Labor backbencher said of a phone call earlier this month.
A minister described the calls as “standard practice” for “controversial issues” and said they expected cabinet would make a decision on duck hunting before parliament resumes in February.
“There’s a whole bunch of MPs on either side of this issue that are incredibly passionate; we don’t need to ask them where they stand. But there’s a lot of new MPs [since the 2022 election] whose views we don’t know,” they said.
Several Labor MPs, including Lizzie Blandthorn, Josh Bull, Jordan Crugnale, Darren Cheeseman, Katie Hall, Sonya Kilkenny, Gary Maas and Steve McGhie, have publicly called for an end to the sport.
But others oppose a ban, including Martha Haylett and Sheena Watt.
Watt was on the Labor-led parliamentary inquiry that in August recommended recreational duck hunting be completely banned from 2024, citing significant animal welfare concerns.
She broke ranks with Labor MPs to issue a minority report, in which she argued the evidence given to the inquiry by First Nations people about traditional hunting practices “was not given due consideration by members of the committee”.
One MP who spoke to Guardian Australia said the caucus was split “50-50” on the issue.
“If you had asked me in the previous parliament, I would’ve told you we were largely in support [of a ban on duck hunting] but now a lot of the newer MPs are quite ambivalent,” they said.
Another said unlike other policy debates, where MPs were guided by their faction, they had personal views on ducks.
“This includes the geography of their seat, whether they think there will be backlash in their area if there’s a ban or even their family history, if they used to go out hunting growing up,” the MP said.
“But I do believe we are in parliament to reflect the community and the community is wholly supportive of a ban.”
The government has until March to respond to the report, which is also when the hunting season usually begins.
In February 2023, the government announced a shortened hunting season to begin in April, as well as a bag limit of four birds a day.
Barry Howlett from the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia said that announcement was “incredibly late” and “diverged greatly” from advice provided by waterbird ecologists for the Game Management Authority (GMA).
“It seems like every year, the decision is getting later and later, even though they have this independent objective process informing it that should be making it easier,” Howlett said.
He urged the government to make an announcement on the fate of duck hunting soon.
“The majority of people who part take in duck hunting are working-class people, who live on the outer suburbs of Melbourne, who need to plan their breaks well in advance,” Howlett said.
“They have to plan things around their family, their work commitments, whether or not they have a rostered day off. Giving them a couple of weeks notice really doesn’t allow them to do that.”
The GMA’s 2024 interim harvest model, released on 19 December, recommended a full-length duck hunting season with a bag limit of nine birds a day for the upcoming season.
Georgie Purcell, an Animal Justice party MP, said the government must respond to the inquiry and ban the practice without delay.
“It is important to remember that it wasn’t the opposition or the crossbench that established this important inquiry – it was the government themselves,” she said.
“To ignore a government-led and government-established inquiry that received more public engagement than any other parliamentary inquiry in Victoria’s history would be an absolute disgrace.”
She said a ban would bring Victoria into line with New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland.
A government spokesperson said it was considering the recommendations of the committee and would respond “in due course”.
