Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party
The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFF) is a conservative Australian political party. It primarily advocates for increased funding and services for rural and regional Australia,[11] protecting the right to farm,[12] enhancing commercial and recreational fishing,[13] tougher sentencing for illegal firearm trade and usage,[14] and relaxing gun control for law abiding citizens.[15]
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party
SFF
2 May 1992
The party was formed in 1992, and was known simply as the Shooters Party. It initially operated only in New South Wales, but has since expanded into other states. It was registered with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) in 2007, and contested its first federal election the same year.[16] In July 2009, the party changed its name to the Shooters and Fishers Party,[17] and in April 2016, the name was changed to its current name.[18][19] The party has also gradually broadened its policy focus, with water and regional health care being its main focus during the 2019 NSW state and federal election campaigns.[20]
The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party currently has two members in the New South Wales Legislative Council and one in the Victorian Legislative Council. It has previously elected a member to the Western Australian Legislative Council.
In November 2016, the party won its first lower house seat in NSW, winning the seat of Orange in a by-election; subsequently increased to three seats following the 2019 New South Wales state election.[21][22] However, in 2022 all three NSW Legislative Assembly members of parliament left the party to sit as independents.
History[edit]
The Shooters Party was formed on 2 May 1992 by journalist and broadcaster John Tingle after the New South Wales Government proposed to tighten gun control laws after a number of Australian mass shootings. Tingle claimed the new laws would prevent citizens from owning firearms for self-defence.[23] Tingle was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council at the 1995 NSW election in March 1995 for an eight-year term, the party's first representative.
After the National Firearms Agreement came into force, Tingle and the Shooters Party encouraged and helped organise the formation of hunting clubs in many parts of New South Wales, and in November 1996 formed them into the Federation of Hunting Clubs. The Federation is a recognised umbrella group under the Firearms Regulations, and the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW) was amended to recognise membership of a hunting club as a "genuine reason" for a firearm licence. About 90% of all firearms licences were taken out for the purpose of hunting. In the Federation's returns with the Australian Electoral Commission since 2008/09, the Federation indicates that it is an associated entity of the Shooters and Fishers Party.[24] The Federation and the Shooters and Fishers Party share the same address, and most of the income of the Federation (about $30,000 in 2014/15) is donated to the Shooters and Fishers Party.[25] The Hunter District Hunting Club donated a further $42,000 to the party in 2014/15.[26] The total receipts of the party in that year were $148,256.[27]
Tingle was elected to a second term at the 2003 NSW election. In 2005, Tingle claimed that the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia had joined forces with the Shooters Party, with Brown being a life member of the Association. At the time, the association had more than 35,000 (now has 175,000+) members and the other mainstay of the shooting fraternity, the Federation of Hunting Clubs, had more than 50,000 members. It was the basis of the powerful gun lobby group.[23] Tingle in the Legislative Council served until 3 May 2006 when he, at the age of 74, resigned from Parliament before, allegedly due to illness believed to be cancer.
Robert Brown, the party's chairman since 2005, was nominated by the party to fill the casual vacancy for the remainder of Tingle's term which ended in 2011. Brown was re-elected at the 2011 NSW election for an eight-year term. In 2013 Tingle resigned his position as vice chairman of the party and has relinquished his membership of the party.
For the 2013 federal election, the Shooters and Fishers Party was involved in the Minor Party Alliance and its organiser, Glenn Druery, was on its payroll. The so-called alliance arranged a preference deal among the minor parties which enabled candidates with very small primary votes to win seats in the Senate.[28][29][30] At the 2013 election the party obtained about 1% of the national Senate vote.
In 2016, the party added "Farmers" to the party title,[18] with the name change formally registered on 12 April 2016.[19] The party has since adopted a much broader agenda, developing policies in areas such as water management; regional health care; education; mining and energy; local government and policing.[31]
From the 2011–2018 period, the party has received approximately $700,000 in political donations from pro-gun groups.[32]
Policies[edit]
Water management[edit]
In the 2019 NSW state election, the SFF Party campaigned strongly on the need to change policies and management around the Murray Darling Basin (MDB). This followed a water crisis across NSW, where several towns were left without safe drinking water,[33] millions of fish were killed in the Menindee Lakes[34] and there were widespread allegations of water theft, government mismanagement and corruption.[35]
SFF release a ten-point plan on water management, following consultation with farmers, water experts and regional communities. The plan called for:
Political activities[edit]
Federal politics[edit]
Before the 2004 federal election, the Australian Shooters Party was deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission for failing to contest a federal election for four years. It was re-registered after the 2004 federal election but was deregistered again on 27 December 2006,[42] along with a number of minor parties which did not have a representative sitting in Federal Parliament. Re-registration was achieved in August 2007. The Australian Shooters Party contested the 2007 federal election and received 0.28% of the national vote and 1.1% of the vote in NSW. The Party was instrumental in flowing preferences away from the Greens in NSW, Queensland and Victoria.[43]
Glenn Druery who was behind the 2013 federal election preference deal successes with candidate elections on 0.2 and 0.5 percent was remunerated by the Shooters and Fishers Party for assisting in organising preference meetings and negotiating preference flows between parties.[28] The party has been involved in Druery's Minor Party Alliance.[29][30]
In May 2018, it was reported that Senator Brian Burston of One Nation had attempted to defect to the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party; he would have been the party's first federal representative. Robert Borsak, the party's leader in New South Wales, said that "I don't think he'd be a good representative for us [...] we're not that desperate for a Canberra representative at the moment and when we do, we'll use our own people."[44] However, Burston subsequently stated: "The claim that I have approached the Shooters Party is totally and absolutely false".[45]