Revealed: The major shift over controversial NSW hunting laws

A controversial hunting bill introduced by the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party has been quietly abandoned by the government after weeks of pressure over claims the legislation would water down gun laws in NSW.

The move comes at the end of a tumultuous week that began with government MPs voting down criticism of the bill, before the Coalition split over the legislation, emerging from a joint party room meeting on Tuesday with the Nationals planning on supporting elements of the bill.

Gun control groups such as The Alannah and Madeline Foundation, established by Walter Mikac after his wife and two daughters were killed in the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, have fiercely opposed the legislation. The charity described the bill as the “most regressive firearm legislation” introduced into any Australian parliament in 30 years.

A spokeswoman for Premier Chris Minns on Thursday confirmed the government would not use its business time to support the passage of the legislation, meaning the Shooters would need to try to push the bill through a largely hostile upper house while dealing with the dozens of amendments.

“We have no plans to use government business for anything else other than government business, given the amount of legislation to get through,” she said. “Labor will never vote to water down gun laws – not now, not ever, and we have made clear we are not supporting a right to hunt.”

The move caps a major reversal for the Minns government after initially supporting the bill in June and allocating $7.9 million for the establishment of a new hunting authority in the budget.

Minns on Monday ruled out supporting the “right to hunt” contained within the bill, and the Liberals accused the government of supporting an “NRA-style gun lobby group”.

After initially indicating broad support for the bill, the Liberals also decided to oppose it.

Without government support, Shooters leader Robert Borsak faces a near-impossible task to have the bill turned into law. It would need to be passed incrementally through limited hour-long windows and it would face filibustering from MPs who were opposed.

“Without Labor giving them support, I can’t see how they get this done,” said one Liberal source, speaking anonymously to detail matters under negotiation.

When contacted, Borsak said he had not heard about the government’s position. He has previously denied the bill would increase the availability of weapons, describing criticism as misinformed and “anti-hunting lies and propaganda”.

The standing committee on state development is due to release a report into the legislation on Friday, but minutes of a draft version obtained by the Herald reveal how quickly the political situation has changed.

On Monday morning, the government voted against motions from opposition and crossbench MPs who were critical of the legislation.

After Greens MP Sue Higginson moved that “the committee does not support the bill proceeding to debate in the Legislative Council”, the four government MPs voted against the question.

Government members also knocked down a motion from Nationals MP Scott Barrett to insert concerns about the process that resulted in the Conservation Hunting Authority being allocated $7.9 million in the budget.

Invasive Species chief executive Jack Gough said: “There was a clear attempt to sneak this bill through parliament with no oversight, but fortunately the Coalition and the crossbench combined to force it to an inquiry.

“Once this sunlight allowed the public and politicians to understand that this bill has nothing to do with invasive species management and could actually make the feral animal problem worse, it appears to have rapidly lost friends.”

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