The Rally At Parliament House & The Firearms Disallowance Motion

Well as I type its the day after the Rally to Parliament House. So yesterday was a busy day for anyone no doubt.

Now I didn't get the Rally but I was talking with people there while it was happening & have spoken to a couple of MPs. No I'm not an organiser of the Rally.

As for the Disallowance Motion, nothing wrong with it & I was never against it but it was always unlikely to pass. Lobbying the Greens must have been furious from both sides.
But was the Greens vote a victim of horse trading? Probably but who knows?

That is, did the Greens make a play for a deal on another matter in exchange for their vote to kill of the Disallowance Motion? Maybe. We don't know. Yet.
There's that thing... the letter Greens MP tabled, from Reece Whitby MLA, the Minister for Police was dated the day before so we might guess if there was a deal, it wasn't signed off when the letter was sent.

History now, Greens sided with the Government so make of that what you will.

Would that motion be effective & good for all stakeholders or would it have created the anarchy that had been suggested? To the latter part no. Go back in time, but not too far & the WA Labor Government had, at the time, the worst legislative disaster in the history of the WA Parliament. The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act. On the Friday there were still Public Forums to educate people how it would work. And the following Tuesday without warning it was repealed & replaced. 

That Act was not written over the weekend. 

Fast forward to Dr Walker MLC's motion, the Government has known of this Disallowance for a very long time. If they did not have replacement regulations ready to go then it is peak recklessness on their part & probably more accurately dereliction of duty as the Governing party.
They would be totally unfit for parliament let alone Government.

To date, despite questions for clarity, the Government MPs won't say if they had replacement regulations ready or not because even if they did, why run a scare campaign that passing the motion would lead to anarchy? 
Recklessly failed to serve the public & have alternative regulations ready OR lie about public safety?

Did I support the motion? Well its up to Dr Brian Walker MLC to say (or not) what they strategy was. I assumed it could pass but likely wouldn't. In not passing it would then be reduced to being an act of political theatre. That sounds like an insult, but no. If there was a strategy & this helps to direct attention to a different action, all good with me whether it was passed or not.

There was another issue that passing the motion could in the end fail as it might be uncharted waters.
Last dissolution motion I'm aware of was in the Lower House and it was directed at suspending an Act not Regulations like this one. Yes you suspend an Act it renders the regulations dead but does it work in reverse? I have never considered that but some people did, claiming there was no legal grounds to allow it to work.
While I don't know if this parliamentary mechanism has ever been applied to regulations before or not, it doesn't mean it hasn't.

Interesting was chatter & talk of it having no grounds, was not valid if passed...and then the biggy, talk that there had been "legal advice says". I don't know what advice might have been sought from who.
When I heard that I naturally assumed that has to be tempered as its advice and not a ruling.
If its never been used against regulations ever before then we'd soon find out if its able to suspend regulations or not BUT only after such a motion is passed.

Likely bet...there were probably regulations ready to go. Why & how?
Some stakeholders may not be aware that an Act or Bill is an "act of Parliament" and regulations are an "act of Administration".
The difference there is, Acts of Parliament need to go through parliament to be debated, scrutinised, passed, amended, repealed etc where as Regulations need the Minister to sign off on them & then the Governor to sign off it.
My gut guess, if the Dissolution Motion had passed, the regulations would have been suspended & no the sky would not fall, 1000s of guns would not spill into the streets, no change in public safety. THEN the minister would jump in the car with a copy of the new regulations he's likely been sitting on "just in case" & get them passed. We'd probably be about an hour maybe two hours with no regulations.

They might only have the slightest of changes, signed off...done. Back to square one.
However attached to that is a ton of embarassment for the government because then it gets on the news big time, the faults, the flaws the facts & how 97% of the Bill was denied debate & regulations were ushered in with no regard or attempt at consultation with stakeholders. And that's not counting all & any very contentious issues that might not be corrected.
Oh wait, lets not forget the Henry the 8th Clauses which should never be allowed to stay in the Bill or the Act. 
NEVER EVER.

Now the Labor MPs have signalled they're 100% AOK with using & keeping Henry the 8th Clauses which now let the executive, public servants to change things unfettered, no restraint or discussion that should be going thru Parliamentary Debate.

We are seeing a horrible loss of purpose of the actual parliament. 
The purpose of the Parliament hasn't just been side stepped, the cornerstone of a proper democratic society has been, with great contempt, slapped & spat in the face.

Getting back to the Rally, I'm not against it but I was never convinced it would help sway MPs thinking or vote. Some will be concerned about the numbers that showed up & blame others that not enough turned up. Maybe it does represent around 2% of lawful firearms owners.

Well done, that helps the Wedge Politics, divide & conquer.

Best approach is support fellow law abiding shooters, groups advocates whether you agree with them on a matter or not. Perhaps, just perhaps, if you actually want to help perhaps remember if have a gripe email the group or person privately. Forget the Court of Social Media as we'll all be losing something whether you're right or wrong but you're sledging fellow stakeholders.
We would be seen as divided & divisive rabble.
Form one big united group or keep as many groups as happens but get them to be integrated not infighting.

I think those who have been advocating can to continue to advocate on shooter's behalf & likely secure some gains. Excluding the woeful member groups of the Minister's Primary Producers Firearms Advisory Board of course. They were duds & now they're silent except the Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemans Assoc that had their CEO on the ABC's "WA Country Hour" because the new rules aren't working out for them in regards eligibility for a licence.

Meanwhile a non farming advocacy group certainly helped with the Property Letters debacle.
Numbers of property letters now going from 5 to 15.
5 is really only as good as one letter as no one comes alone, there's usually a few & they'll all need a property letter.

Common sense arrived but it was a long time coming.

Had the legislation been built with all stakeholders involved most of the mistakes would have been avoided...and there's an awful lot of them.
Instead someone wanted full control with no sunlight or outside views involved until after its tabled.
By tabled, that meant the brief process before Labor control of both houses meant passed.

And here's another point. Its been made before but was lost. We're all lack patience for a fair & reasonable Act. We all want it fixed yesterday but at this point, the only instrument or mechanism to make the changes to a good Firearms Act is the Parliament. This will be a very slow process & we've really only seen the beginning of the journey. 
Again this point was made a long time ago & was lost when we had some pushing for a "class action" but a large group of people tipping in case, hire a QC to shut the Act down, pursue lawfare, constitutional breach. Yet no one could tell me on what grounds, state Constitutional Act or the Federal Consitution or lodge it in which appropriate court. It was angry yelling & that's is reasonable to expect, but you need knowledge and money, lots of it. However much you think you'll need maybe triple it a few times & except it to be tied up in the courts for however long it takes.
And then, do not expect a slam dunk or the legal path would have been done already.
The Judicuary ruling on the works of the Executive & the Legislature.
Don't have to hurry out & buy pop corn. Some might say hell will freeze over before you get a clear result we'd want but I'd more likely to think there's a better chances for a paper dog chasing an asbestos cat through hell that any final ruling will happen in under several years.
But don't mind me, I offer no professional legal advice. My guess is as good as yours.

The lawfare & crowd funding sounds great to those wanting an immendiate fix, but again the only fix coming is via the parliament.
Again it will be cruelly slow like a glacier.

Now IF, IF you're keen on it being fixed...

1) Keep emailing MPs, especially in the Upper House where there are no regions anymore, every Upper House has the same electorate. The entire State of WA.
Remember, make sure your emails don't look like a bulk email. Some MPs take no notice of them.
Start the email with "Dear..." and the recipient MPs name.
They see its likely a bulk Cc email...many put it in the bin.
Some will reply asking if what electorate you're in as they put those people first.
Odd when they make laws for all WA. Extremely bad when a Minister's office does that.

2) Join a shooting group or don't but please don't bag a group publicly. Join or don't and if you still have an issue with a group remember to contact them privately & get the real low down.

3) If you don't want to join a group, don't. But even if you don't agree fully with a group, they're not the enemy after us, LABOR IS.
None of use will get our way on mevery single thing the way we want it, sometimes we have to cop a turd sandwich. That DOES NOT MEAN GIVE UP. It means shove that peeve thing on the back burner & go for another change needed not people or groups trying to fix.
If you're livid because a group missed chasing something, shelve it & revisit the shelved item later.

There is nothing gained for anyone by angrily, publicly burning your angry jocks and firing insults at your own side. Chase the wins & relax on the losses til another day. You might even gather support in the process.

4) Return to 1) and repeat it regularly.

5) Maybe even consider joining a branch of a political party & helping out. Again approach this wisely. test out the parties & seek out if thats the right fit for you. You aren't going to get it all changed YOUR way in a short or long while. Again, remember to take a loss on a matter & seek out a positive improvement where you can. Seriously if you join a branch & you agree with 70-80% or more of things they pass at their meetings you're terribly fortunate & probably in the right mob for you.

If you think you'll get 100% or you should get 100% of things your way...well its maybe time to get over yourself. If you're that way inclined & you're very angry & think its the fault of everyone else you're probably the type who's never joined a group or party branch OR never been a member very long at all and you're the type on social media saying they're greedy, they take money & do nothing, they're just working for the government...blah, blah bullcrappy blah, blah, blah.
Go home, clean your bedroom, go to the smallest room in the house, tightly press a thick pillow against your face & scream. Then go to another room & clean that.

Be part of the solution, get into the process, be a part that builds the strength there instead of hoping to tear down people on your side which only helps the dud law makers.

Lastly, look out for Troll Farms. It'll be a few people a few people running multiple accounts on FaceBook etc who are flat out supporters of the MPs that oppose us. They'll whinge, whine about our advocates or lack of effort and yet they're not standing next to them

Don't be a negative screamer undermining all of us & don't play into the troll farm people pretending to be use but who's aim is to sow division & discord, to get people angry enough to say even worse things so we all look like a divided maniac rabble. Exactly what we DO NOT want average WA Mums & Dads who know zero about firearms owners, the culture, the heritage.
You won't agree with every single thing, but contact whoever it is privately & get the background.
 
Rant over...for now.
 

Firearms Motion - Been A Funny Week

So the Upper House voted unanimously to support the motion of Hon Nick Goiran MLC to refer the Firearms Act to the Upper House's Legislation Committee. Some are stoked that even the Greens voted in favour. Last year the then minister in one comment said they would be implementing the Law Reform Commission recommendations from their report from 2016...and in reality, in some cases they did the exact opposite. Numerical limits was just one example. And then there's a lot of people who think the representation efforts & individual's submissions were talking to deaf ears. Although in the case of the Primary Producers Firearms Advisory Board the Minister created & hand picked 5 member groups to the exclusion of all others & then decreed they would represent ALL primary producers. Yet no one Primary Producers were consulted nor was there in avenue to have any input...
So all this (and much more) in this mess of a debacle pointed to a serious dumpster fire that right minded people would want reviewed.
So it seemed no huge deal, seemed (finally) fair & reasonable it would be reviewed fully & properly.

For those MPs sitting in WA's Upper House this last week, it came down to a choice.
But a choice so serious voting against a review would really be a career defining moment for a legislator in WA's house of review.

They had virtually had only 2 choices.

1) Vote for it & get good recommendations for amendments to make it a proper, fit for purpose piece of legislation (as it should have been in the first place) OR...

2) Vote against the motion & publicly, personally sanction the incredulous idea that it's OK to pass a Bill after denying 97% of it ANY DEBATE WHATSOEVER & side step the proper purpose of our chamber of review & the the correct proper process of our Parliament.

The latter is what happened last year but made even worse because the Uniform Legislation Committee (that the Bill did go to) found the Bill had what they considered to be Henry VIII clauses.

So this week was simple. It was either fix the legislation or as a legislator say you think its ok to bypass Parliamentary process AND declare its OK to complete undermine of the Rule of Law.

Anyone voting against Nick Goiran's motion would clearly be unfit to sit in Parliament & would be professionally destroyed as an elected legislator and a purposeful reviewer of legislation.
The Upper House's job is to review legislation.

Labor, the Greens, everybody, none have any choice now. Fix this properly or you undermine & destroy the proper purpose of our parliament & make it a rubber stamp of a ruling party. 

No doubt some not in the Parliament who abandoned supporting the political process & sought to go a legal path will be a bit blind sided. Some of them claimed the only solution was contesting this in the courts. And no doubt in my mind some will falsely claim their threats of legal action helped this motion get passed.
I don't agree with them at all.

If they did go to court, or help others go to court, that legal action would be up against the bottomless legal resources of a State Government. Plus it would drag on for years.
To my knowledge one YouTube content creator has said to have sent one letter to the previous minister and now sent a letter to the Police Commissioner & the new Police minister Reece Whitby. The letters were described as legal letters & letter from the law firm.
To date those letters have not been made public & there's no evidence that the Minister shared these letters with the current members of the Upper House to urge them all to vote unanimously to review the Act they've been trying to protect & keep untouched. None.

There have been no briefings for Upper House MPs with the Police Minister, the Attorney General & representatives of the State Solicitors office let alone such a meeting advising Upper House MPs of the issue & the urgency to vote with Hon Nick Goiran MLC's motion.

Until we see that or hear that from Upper House MP's there has been lobbying alright. Upper House MPs have been lobbied about the grave seriousness of the motion & the darker outcome if it were defeated but that lobbying not likely to be anyone outside the political sphere nor within any legal law firm.

I'm no fortune teller but I'd say its a safe bet those on the outer will claim false credit and good chance some MPs not involved probably will too. Either jostling for political advantage with followers within or near their own party or...
Or the other reason.
As they say, never underestimate incompetence.

With luck some journos will seek the legal letters sent to the Police Commissioner & the previous and current Police Minister AND their replies. Someone will access them via a FOI.

Political path, those who stuck with it...well done.

I would also point out something else that's quite important.
Hon Nick Goiran MLC fulfilled his (and therefore the Liberal Party's) committment during the State Election campaign was to seek a review.
I would also point out they were roundly condemned & vilified for only promising to a review & not promising a REPEAL like the WA Nationals did.

That was odd then & moreso now. To repeal an act you need a review anyway but also, you need to control both houses of parliament. Government is formed in the Legislative Assembly. If every WA Nationals candidate won their seat they would not have had the elected numbers to form government let alone control both houses. Why did people turn WANats into deities for their promise they were never ever be able to keep & the Liberals were demonised for making an honest promise they could actually deliver.

This week they did deliver.

You can imagine my surprise to see the only 2 Upper House MPs from the Nationals post a video (link below) where they claimed THEY moved the motion. They also claimed there were "over 400 seperate clauses"...that's not wrong but there were were 492 with subclauses. Precision in words in Parliament is not just essential its vitally crucial. Picky? Yes, legislation requires picky precision.

They claimed the motion said "...send the Firearms Legislation & Regulations to the Legislation Committee and its about time that happened"
The motion actually doesn't mention Regulations & possibly because regulations are an act of administration not an act of parliament. That means that the minister can change the regulations anytime before during or after the Legislation Committee meets.

Closest it comes is 

"(c) report on:

(i) problems that have emerged from the implementation and operation of the legislation; "

They might review the regulations, I think they have to scope to (due to "(iv) any other relevant matter.") but its not a specific must do. It wasn't in the Motion.

Although not real serious there is another clanger "That's right because the last part of the motion yesterday was that the Legislation Committee needs to bring back its recommendations for amendments. So watch this space. Lets see what the committee comes back with"

That also was not in the motion AT ALL. That's what the Legislation Committee does & has to do no matter what. That was odd & a good dose of cringe for followers of Parliament.
I think we're seeing brand new, inexperienced Upper House MPs who previously may not have been even casual Parliament observers or political junkies. They will improve but was red flaggish.
What was in the "last part of the motion..." was,

(c) report on:

(i) problems that have emerged from the implementation and operation of the legislation;

(ii) whether all provisions are consistent with Fundamental Legislative Principles;

(iii) recommended amendments that will ensure the legislation’s workability and effectiveness; and

(iv) any other relevant matter.

(3) The Committee is to report within three months.

It's not a closed committee that concludes its findings & waits for instructions. It forms conclusions & reports them to the Legislative Council. They can't NOT do that. The end of the motion says it must be down within 3 months.

The 2 Nats MLCs failed to mention some of the very serious points.

• They did not mention the Legislation was not sent to the Legislation Committee prior to being tabled in the Upper House.
• They do not mention there was an ePetition (with 32,234 signatures) expressly asking for it to be referred to the Legislation Committee which was (as expected) ignored. Courtesy of petitioner Rick Mazza & Facilitating MP, Hon Nick Goiran MLC.
• They failed to mention that the Committee has been near on DORMANT since Labor formed Govt in 2017. Only upside is hopefully they should be able to dive into this very quickly.
• They did mention that the Bill was rammed through with only 11 clauses debated. However they did not mention that it is unacceptable in a democratic western nation that a Bill, any Bill is passed with 97% of the Bill denied debate. It is boldly & arrogantly spitting & stabbing the Parliamentary Process in face.
  
• They did not mention the findings of the Uniform Legislation Committee who reported they found what they considered to be Henry the VIII clauses that potentially undermine the rule of law. All these things are wrong but these last two are diabolical misuses of power.

As for the WANats saying during the campaign they were the only party supporting WA Shooters...that was patently wrong. In order to get elected some Nats may have rhought they'd need to score votes from both Labor & Liberal.
Liberal, Legalise Cannibas etc were also supporting firearms owners.

So the untrue point of difference was floated to the point where the Nationals Candidate for Geraldton (who won & was elected) said the massive ePetition (32,234 signatures) was a great Nationals initative when in fact the petitioner was Rick Mazza & the facilitating MP was Hom Nick Goiran MLC.

She had to say oops & delete it but they continued with the "only party..." point of difference.
Twice we saw the phrase "Under a Nationals Government"
There could never be a Nationals Government in the last election. Even if every single Legislative Assembly Nationals Candidate were elected they did not have enough candidates to form Government in their own right let nor begin to have a Nationals majority in a Liberal-Nationals Coalition Government. 
Nats need to stop the cringe & do an awful lot better for all of our sakes.

So where are we at?

Hurry up & wait.

Read the motion in full and write your submission to the committee that falls exactly within their scope within the motion. Will they call for public submissions? My guess is yes so be prepared just in case. I hope they hold a few public meetings to gather more of an idea of how many "Unintended Negative Outcomes" there were & how they're to be corrected.

Will you get a better outcome? Simple answer...

DON'T WRITE NONE, DON'T GET NONE

 Video Link - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=714682427606934

The very strange exchange on the WA Country Hour regarding death threats over firearms.

Several points regarding The WA COUNTRY HOUR guests interviewed. Trevor Whittington CEO of WAFarmers on Friday 31st of January & Bevan Steele from WA Firearms Traders Association on Monday 3rd of February.

Trevor Whittington claimed there were death threats from Rec Shooters/lunatic fringe that caused WAPol to pull out of the WAFarmers Firearms Roadshow.
WAPol hasn't said "death" threats yet. Nor is anyone saying who is responsible for any alleged threats...except Trevor Whittington.

Some have claimed Bevan Steele (WAFTA) rejected that & said it was farmers who made death threats. That is incorrect. 

Bevan said there is no way Trevor Whittington would be able to know if it’s Rec Shooters or angry Farmers or any other cohort. The only ones likely to know are Investigating Police Officers & fairly sure, if they knew who it was, they sure as heck wouldn't tell anyone whilst a matter is still "operational"
So Trevor is wrong or Trevor is right...Unsure which is is more deeply concerning. 

In his Friday interview Trevor said he & others had copped abuse/flak on social media from anonymous people. Bevan can only be referring to that when he said Trevor had brought it upon himself (paraphrasing) 

At no point did Bevan make any claim about death threats being from farmers or rec shooters. Bevan Steele did question quite rightly why Mr Whittington was speaking public for WAPol whilst WAPol has been largely quiet apart from a short statement ABC Country Hour Presenter read out. That statement did not mention death threats or what’s sometimes termed by some as “an imminent risk of a threat to life”.

WAPol press release read out on the radio said it was “operational reasons” & safety. 

Mr Whittington clearly said in the interview that WAPol had “received threats” and it was only when the interviewer asked Mr Whittington what sort of threats did he say death threats against senior police.

He indicated at one point that Firearms Branch were planning to attend. He said there was back & forth with WAPol & the minister’s office.

He clearly said WAPol attendance was cancelled by “higher up command”

Now if it’s an operational matter I’m deeply wondering why on earth the minister’s office was involved at all, let alone now during a very political election campaign.
I’m sure there’s a reason, we can only hope its forthcoming.

The WAFarmers Firearms public meetings are now going ahead. Apparently they're now about collecting questions to be forwarded to WAPol.

Good idea. That is, it would have been a GREAT IDEA to have public roadshow meetings BEFORE attending any Primary Producers Firearms Advisory Board meetings. It might have lessened the embarrassingly clueless looking “representation” they provided. 

It’s like the member groups were willing participants in divide & conquer. Something Mr Whittington seems to have repeated & amplified on the radio last Friday.

Now the PGA cannot comment. The chairman may but the operation of the PGA's business comes under the direction of the Voluntary Administrators. They may be rescued, they may face liquidation but currently they do not operate in the Ag Lobby space at all. 
 

The other 3 remaining member groups of the PPFAB are the Kimberley Pilbara Cattleman’s Association, Vegetables WA & Wines of WA.

All silent.

These roadshow meetings should have been PPFAB public meetings with the actual delegates from all member groups in attendance. Remember without any authority the Minister declared his hand picked PPFAB was to be the only representation for all primary producers. Where are they all & how did they actually consult with all non members through out Agriculture? They didn't.

Still unconfirmed, but although CEO of WAFarmers, Trevor Whittington is thought to have been Chairman of Wines of WA when the PPFAB was formed. 

If correct that is remarkably odd & more so if Mr Whittington was CEO of WAFarmers whilst the Wines WA delegate on the PPFAB (?)

We do know the Merino Breeders Association, WA Grains Group & other Ag groups were never invited to join the PPFAB.

We still cannot find any Landcare group, any Farm Improvement group or or ant stud breeder group, any Catchment group invited or consulted, no roo shooter group, none.

In fact we can’t find any group who was invited to join but didn’t

Its unconfirmed at this stage but it does look like 5 groups were chosen to the exclusion of all others.

If so why?

We might find out why, we might not.

Mr Whittingtons claimed that political parties largely stayed out of the debate. That was a total jaw dropper. There were several Firearms ePetitions to parliament. One with over 32,000 signatures. PGA & WAFarmers didn’t support nor promote it. Why?

492 sections in the Bill and it was denied passage by the Labor Party to the Upper House’s Legislation Committee. The PPFAB & its individual member groups silent. Why?
 

97% of the Bill was denied debate in the Upper House before it was bulldozed through into law. The PPFAB outrage at the sheer arrogant contempt for the Parliament…missing. Why?

I don’t know any Rec shooters who had a view on forming a primary producer licence. As a primary producer I didn’t want one. It’s unclear but primary producers that also compete in club sports will now have to have 2 separate licenses.
If they’re also collectors its 3 licences.
Having 3 seperate fees can never be ruled out with separate licences. 

This was made clear by many. But the PPFAB have not publicly commented on this debacle. Why?

The wedge was farmers get 10 firearms & rec shooters only allowed five.

We had genuine need & fit and proper person tests THAT HAD TO BE APPROVED BY WAPol before that the Law Reform Commission report clearly supported & it also clearly opposed setting numerical limits.
PPFAB supported numerical limits & extra licences, we didn't. Why?

Their correct move, “Sorry minister that’s contrary to the LRC’s Project 105, we can’t accept that” and when the minister got to a predetermined agreed number of  unacceptables, all PPFAB should have resigned from the minister’s board in protest.

Instead they look like willing, wiful origami, folding as directed & now trying to deflect their failure.

Some are claiming all sorts of theories why the PPFAB got so much wrong. Were they enablers, were they preparing for future career opportunities within Government circles

I’m not convinced of any of those & I’m reminded of the old saying…

Never underestimate 2 things

Incompetence & the extraordinary lengths some go to just to conceal it. 

But lets just circle back. Lets return to the allegation of death threats. I’m not police hierarchy but I’d have thought WAPol repsonse would be with step in and cancel the events or allow them to run with an extremely large police presence.

When we all attended the massive Live Export public meeting at Katanning some years ago, everyone was stunned at extraordinary level of Police presence in attendance. 

It’s like “there’s been death threats, we police aren’t coming but you go right ahead”

Sorry not buying that. That dog won’t hunt. 

Police aren’t scared of threats, they respond to threats. If WAPol has had actual death threats then they’d know by who. Those people would be in custody or detained for questioning then released if all is ok.

It’s not just what’s been said, it’s also what’s not being said.
Until WAPol's "higher up command" as Mr Whittington described them come forward with the facts of the risk and the threat I'm wondering how on earth he outside WAPol & CEO of WAFarmers knows what he alleges to know about risk & threat.

And what was the involvement of the Minister's office the Mr Whittington claimed was involved.

All very bizarre.
You can find Mr Whittington's interview on the ABC Radio archive. 

Gun Rally - Yes or No

If I say yes or no right now I'd guess a fair proportion of readers (however few they are in numbers) will log off this page & go look at some cool videos. That's likely to be summed up with 2 sayings that annoy some pople "Such is life" and "It is what it is".

So instead...

There is one & only one prime action left between the last day of the WA Parliament sitting & March 8th when it comes to Firearms Laws & Regulations. One. Just One. Vote Labor Out. As I type there are 37 days until Polling day. Even less when you consider Pre-Polling. There's an increasing number of people who use Pre-Polling. It's not long. Putting aside whether or not the Gun Rally is damaging or negative I'm not sure if the net gain benefits are there compared to focusing on the #1 ISSUE - Vote Labor Out. Perhaps the rally will help that priority but we can be certain what the speakers say will not be realyed in full without clever bias editing around the state. The rally is largely preaching to the converted, well a portion of them & whether they feel or genuinely are unrepresented or not at the moment, right now for that to change, they will have to change. I'm not sure if they mean unrepresented or not a direct input but right now the only task is Get Labor Out so they need to do their bit now & every day until Polling Day. The political dead zone is Last day of Parliament until Polling day. Not much happens except election promises. The representative groups can do nothing, no one will see them. Ministers are campaigning, making funding announcements that actually were decided before the last budget but are rolled out now for vote value. Local MP gets their picture taken with a massive LotteryWest Cheque for funding...stop, think & realise. THAT MP DID NOT MAKE THAT FUNDING DECISION. If they did that's a breach of proper process. They're the local big knob so they get asked to present it...you bet they will, vote points. Little is happening now except campaigning. There is no ability to improve anything in the legislature, there is not ability to improve the regulations via committee, minister or cabinet. THIS IS THE POLITICAL DEAD ZONE. Its the dead zone when a hostile to us govt would love for us to get stirred up & bang fingers at each other, jostle for position. Where we create our own wedges & we help the Government divide & conquer us. If there is 90,000 licenced firearms owners I don't what % the rally organisers are expecting but sadly the Labor Govt is not scared of anyone, regardless of the numbers Their arrogance and contempt for the Firearms ePitition was staggering. Over 30,000 people signed on to the largest ePetition & 2nd largest of ANY petition to Parliament in my lifetime. It was ignored. Some were pretty irate that there's 90,000 firearms owners & only 30,000+ signed it. THAT was a massive turnout. Remember it it called for was that the Firearm's Bill be referred to the Upper House Legislation Committee as it should have been automatically. Few bills have gone there, a committee which is usually VERY busy. Louise Kingston MLC was sworn in & she signed onto that committee because one MP stepped down because there was strangely very little to do. As if the committee was bound & gagged, thrown in a dark cellar & told "Shush now, we'll call you when we need you) The committee's roll is to drill down deeper into the Bill, test all the problem list & the risk assessments that should be stacked high in files (doesn't seem to be any), go through all the independent evidential research of problem-solution connections & the etrics that would be used to gauge success or otherwise after the Bill is passed. THEN the Legislative Council's Legislation Committee would make recommendations for possible amendments (and why) and the Legislation Council considers them during debate. THIS DID NOT HAPPEN. THIS is the stab in the face for the WA Parliament. Stabbed with an ice pick that was dipped in red hot contempt. Now if that wasn't enough to be bigger front page news every week since the Bill was made law here's some emphasis that should. 492 sections in the Bill. It was MASSIVE. The WA Labor Party pulled the procedure lever referred to the guillotine. Debate cut short. Less that 3% of the Bill was debated. Forget the topic of firearms. Can you imagine any bill not being fully debated & if it was so serious, so over due, so much an existential threat to public safety...why was it denied passage to the Legislation Committee & not fully debated It was bulldozed through. Now if you had a Bad Legislation Rally now, it would be a flop, we're in the dead zone until March 8th. We are shouting into a cyclone with our vocal cords removed. A rally on legislation now would be all colour, movement & some sound if you're there. Otherwise it really is akin to, a tree falling in a forrest but no one's there, did it make any noise? I'd guess yes, but it changed nothign out to sea & is patently ineffective. The number one priority is Vote Labor Out. If anyone thinks showing up at the rally is all they have to do they are mistaken. If they think they are unrepresented, marginalised and/or not heard perhaps go through the cupboard & put on some adult pants (whether you go to a rally or not, think its a good thing or not) Write to a MP now. Don't wait for a reply, send another one in 4 days time then repeat. Egos & peeing contests over different tribes is counter productive. Go join a political party, or if you don't like that, send a donation which will help Vote Labor Out. Contact the local candidates you align with, offer to wear their T Shirt on Polling day, help with door knocking now. I'm not going to the rally, but I'm helping others to try & get elected. By all means go to the rally if you think there's a Net Benefit Gain...but don't get all loud & grumpy if that's the only effort you put it. Spare any time you can helping to Vote Labor Out. If after there election you're one of those who is again loud & grumpy and all you did was rant on FaceBook...don't you dare point fingers at the group or groups that all the political parties recognise, that will open their doors to listen to. Its those impatient angry foot stompers that are helping the Labor Govt divide and conquer. I note some Rally advocates talk unity, stop divide & conquer but they're not saying go to the Rally, then write to MPs twice a week, help one or more candidates from one or more different parties with their door knocking or handing out how to vote cards, donating time & money. Are you willing to spare time on polling day in the T shirt of a non Labor Party to hand out How To Vote? You should if you want good things saved. We have a very big problem & we need a calm wise solution. That involves you being present & helping or absent & being the problem. You ought to be angry but you have to be wise, smart, focused & measured. FWIW you have one Lower House MP & 6 Upper House MPs representing you, no matter where you live in WA. It will be that way until March 8th. Keep writing to them because they aren't all pullong out of politics. This election the ballot, Upper House changes, there is now One Vote One Value (which is neither equal or fair) so on the Upper House ballot the only district/region/electorate is WA. Where are most voters? Wanneroo to Bunbury. Where are most Labor voters? Traditionally Wanneroo to Bunbury. It was to fix the Upper House result in Labor's favour, nothing else.  

Which party should you support? You work it out, you decide but remember these things

Govt is formed in the Lower House. There will be 3 parties who'll get MPs elected there.
Only Labor will elect in its own right, the other option is a Liberal-National Government. 
If you want people to only vote Liberal, good luck, there won't be a change of Government. If you want a Nationals only Govt, forget luck cannot happen. You need minimum of 30 seats to form Govt & Nationals to date only have 17 candidates & many of them are in seats the Nationals have never contested before.

You Need To Promote Both Liberal & Nationals.
Both have committed to fixing the Firearms Act & yet still there's firearms owners wanting to demonise the Liberal Party. They have committed to fixing it. In the Lower House promote & vote Liberal or Nationals.
Re that massive ePetition...who organised that? Petitioner was Rick Mazza. The facilitating MP was Hon. Nick Goiran MLC. Both from the Liberal Party.
Maybe stop trying to find reasons to destroy what you want & get on board 

Help, promote & Vote Liberal & Nationals
In the Upper House help, promote, Vote Liberals, Nationals & friendly independents or minnow parties

If you want to demonise anyone, pick Labor & Greens, pin your ears back & go hard.