Coalition Against Duck Shooting

A doctor of literary studies recently sent this letter to Premier Carroll:

Dear Premier Carroll,

Please be the premier who finally puts a stop to the 'recreational' shooting of native waterbirds. I live near Lake Connewarre in Victoria and my daughter's high school is so close that the shotguns were audible for days at a time during duck shooting seasons.

I went to the lake to help transport injured waterbirds (those who are shot but not killed and left to die by the shooters). I arrived late, and alone. The men who were camped near the lake stared at me with open hostility as I drove towards the lake and I saw with a sinking heart that they had children with them - little boys as young as seven or eight years old, being taught that killing defenceless animals is a form of sport.

Those boys were also being taught to hate women. As I drove toward the lake a huge ute came towards me at speed, and because the track was so narrow I had nowhere to go. That ute was full of men with guns, and they forced me off the track and onto the wet grass, where my car almost became bogged. The men and boys in the camp nearby were laughing.

Premier Carroll, I thought I was going to be r***d and killed at that lake. Although I locked my car doors and was lucky enough to get away, that experience stopped me from going back to help transport more injured birds, and I know I'm not the only woman who has experienced something similar and feels this way.

Duck hunting is not an innocent sport. It is an expression of toxic masculinity which has no place in a democratic society. Research just published by the University of Melbourne shows that young boys who are taught to hate women are also more likely to hold extremist views: Young people more likely to hold hostile attitudes towards women, study finds and so the connections between violence against animals, against women, and terrorism are now clearer than ever.

As bird flu begins to wipe out our native birds and mammals, and One Nation looks set to fuel the misogyny, racism, homophobia and transphobia which will steer our country even further towards fascism, I beg you - use your influence to make decisions which will help stop the violence.

The hunters are not 'sportsmen'. Killing birds and teaching young boys to kill for fun, to run women off the road and laugh at them, this is not the same as 'playing a round of golf'.

Please stop the killing. Violence of any kind is not acceptable. And if we endorse one form of violence, the message is clear. Men think 'we are allowed to do this. This is state-sanctioned violence which gives me the right to kill.'

Do these men have the right to kill? And what other 'rights' might this encourage them to think they have?

Congratulations Ben Carroll on becoming Victoria's new Premier. Please urgently drop the retrograde Outdoor Recreation Victoria Bill 2026 and then ban the recreational shooting of native waterbirds.

Under Premier Jacinta Allan’s draconian measures, legendary rescuer Andrew Wallis was booked at around 1pm (rescuers are legally allowed to be on the wetlands after 11am) on the opening day of the 2025 recreational duck shooting season at Lake Boort.

Game Management officers resorted to the ridiculous, trumped up charges of being in possession of a dead threatened Freckled Duck, three dead Pink-eared Ducks and for having a net.

Represented by lawyer Daniel Beecher, Andrew today faced Magistrate Jan MacLean in Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court. He was given a Diversion which included a one month good behaviour bond. There was no conviction and no financial penalty and his net will be returned.

Magistrate MacLean noticed Laurie Levy sitting in court and said she was pleased to see him looking so well.

Photos belpw:

The dead Freckled Duck shot illegally by a recreational duck shooter.
Andrew's net with the dead Freckled Duck and Pink-eared Ducks which were shot and illegally left on Lake Boort.
Lynn Trakell, Laurie Levy, Andrew Wallis and Daniel Beecher outside Heidelberg Law Courts 21 July, 2026

Ballarat Courier - Bryan Hoadley 20 JUNE 26
Magistrate Timothy H***e said he had "serious concerns" about the case and questioned whether the prosecution was in the public interest.
"In my view Ms Lemmon was not doing anything wrong, not endangering herself and not endangering other
people," he said.
"(She was) literally seeking to rescue an endangered species of wildlife, a threatened duck which was shot by a hunter."
Eventually, the matter proceeded by diversion, meaning no criminal conviction was recorded against Lemmon.
As part of the diversion, Mr H***e instructed Lemmon to be of good behaviour for one month and imposed
no financial penalty, despite the prosecution arguing for the mother of five to be ordered to pay a donation.
"I'm not making it a requirement that you make any contributions or donations (as part of the diversion),
" Mr H***e said to Lemmon when sentencing.
"You're a person of impeccable character, you have no prior convictions (and) you have five dependent children ... I don't think it's appropriate to make any requirement for a diversion.

'It's distressing'
Outside court, Lemmon, who volunteers at all hours of the day and night as a wildlife rescuer, described the GMA's legal pursuit of her as a stressful experience.
"I was out there purely to rescue a wounded duck which is GMA's job, but they don't do it, so it falls to rescuers" she said.
"It's distressing knowing that they do come after rescuers like that and not the hunter that has actually shot the duck"
"I definitely will have second thoughts about rescuing protected species, purely because if this is the trouble Ican get in, it leaves you contemplating ... I've got a life outside of (wildlife) rescue.

BREAKING NEWS! It has just been announced that the H5N1 bird flu strain has been found in Western Australia. Laurie Levy

EXPERIENCED DUCK RESCUER WINS LEGAL CASE

At Lake Boort on the opening of the 2025 recreational duck shooting season, Coalition Against Duck Shooting rescuer, Em, was booked by Game Management Authority (GMA) compliance officers for the trumped up charges of taking and being in possession of a threatened Freckled Duck (one of the rarest waterbirds in the world).

Em saw a shooter wound the bird but then walk away after realizing he had illegally shot a threatened Freckled Duck.

She gently recovered the suffering bird to take it to our mobile veterinary clinic but unfortunately it died in her arms. When stopped by GMA compliance officers, Em pointed to the camp the shooter had returned to, but the officers focused on booking Em for being in possession of a threatened species rather than ensuring the shooter was booked for destroying a threatened species.

In Ballarat Magistrates’ Court today the matter was resolved with a one month diversion. There was no conviction, no fine and no court costs, but thanks to the GMA, the illegal shooter walked away free.

Laurie Levy

Photos: The dead Freckled Duck & Em recovering a Teal in 2024.