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 And the following Tuesday without warning it was repealed & replaced.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.
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