My earth-shattering news this month? I’m probably the shortest serving councillor in the history of the Eastern Region Fish & Game Council.
I am not really a political animal but, if I’m involved with something, I like to have a say in how it’s done. But, clearly, me having a say tends to cause a bit of strife.
I served three terms in the ‘80s and stood down when I gave up guiding and got a real job. The two clashed and Lynne the Ruthless strongly suggested Fish & Game had to go as we actually needed the money the other job brought in. Twenty years later, being retired, I thought it was time again to give a bit back, so I put my name forward for the elections. Due to typical apathy from license holders, elections were not required and I again found myself at the council table.
The first meeting sort of went alright, even with me challenging the newly elected chair concerning an email he had sent out criticising another councillor. Probably not a good start. A few weeks later the unconfirmed minutes of that meeting were distributed. It was then my turn to send an email politely informing the chair of a glaring inaccuracy and several important points I considered should have been included in the minutes but were omitted.
His reaction was not what I expected from a chair, causing me to, rather pointedly, question his ability, which triggered a bit of e-argy bargy.
The exchange of emails indicated my future on the council would not do Fish & Game any good so I resigned. Fish & Game is way more important than a personality clash. Pity—I had the time, the passion and the experience to help.
My other real beef this month, apart from the continued inept decisions by the government, which would take up far more than my allotted 500 words, should concern every bona fide hunter who has a firearm license. The government are making things tough enough without a few idiots driving around at night poaching (read stealing) deer and anything else they can shoot at.
I keep an eye on a site called Poacher Watch and the reports and photos of deer on private land with just the heads removed are sickening. Even more so was the report on Facebook of someone’s horse being shot through the leg with a high-powered firearm. These scum bags wounded the animal and left it to suffer until it was found and destroyed. No bloody wonder access is getting harder and the police are making it as difficult as possible for us to get a firearm license.
I won’t go into my 24 hour ban from Facebook. That’s another story.
I’ll have another go next month.
