Finally, I hope you have come this far and question five here puts things into perspective. Please have a say and PM me if you don't want a name next to your voice. I appreciate all you have done!
You have all read and many have answered the four questions I have posed to date, there were many good and well thought out answers that came from different perspectives – a really good debate and one that showed we are all passionate at an individual level about our hobby, being given a fair go, the environment and the laws that govern it. Here is the kicker – Government’s DO NOT deal with small, unaffiliated groups and individuals. They may listen but they only very rarely act on them. They don’t need to and can in many instances treat you with contempt because – what can you do to affect them being re-elected? Write a letter and vent your outrage – BIG DEAL! There is no more relevant testament to this statement about how they treat you than the debate on this site about the cage sizes in NSW (see: http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-reptile-discussion-42/help-join-protest-new-oeh-205674/). However if this were taken up and addressed by a Representative Reptile Body that could boast many tens of thousands of members at both State or Federal levels you would have your say heard because as a voting collective you can influence outcomes.
Many years ago I was a member of AFANT (the Amateur Fisherman’s Association of the Northern Territory). This group represents the interests of fishermen in the NT and each state has a similar organization. It has a full time paid position that is funded by a grant from the NT Government each year along with yearly contributions from all fishermen that see their voice as important. There are many thousands of fishermen in each state that together ask for things to happen like new boat ramps, kids fishing clinics and a myriad of other ideas, and this group follows it up by addressing the Government. I was also a member of RecFish Australia, which as you can guess is the parent body that deals with recreational fishing in Australia and is based in Canberra and can access Federal Ministers for Fisheries among others almost on notice. With almost everything we addressed we made sure a favourable compromise was reached on behalf of ALL fishermen.
I know this is a tough concept to grasp and many times in the past we have come unstuck with poor or no outcome mostly because as passionate reptile enthusiasts we are fragmented, unorganized and above all just a heap of individuals who til now have remained that way. However many other passionate individuals with similar interests have put together a parent group to work for the wishes of the majority (ie: democratically) so why shouldn’t we? A simple example goes back to the fishing groups. Fishing varies from the mega rich that use million dollar boats to chase Marlin right down to the kid off the jetty with a hand-line catching garfish and everything in between. No doubt these diverse interest groups don’t talk to each other but they are prepared to fight for the others right to fish by being part of a larger group that supports this right. They are all passionate about their group as we would be, but they have the ability and means to effect change if they see inequity or poor allocation of resources or even bad laws. We do not even appear close to being able to do this – at this stage, but it is possible.
So question five is simple!
Can we put aside our many differences and fight for our right to keep and conserve reptiles?
We would need to put our hand in our pocket for, say, $10.00 each year, in order to put together a strong Australia wide group that can deal directly with ministers and Governments to address the many problems that we keep raising on forums like this. With all of you we can make a difference! Just look at the lengths politicians are going to right now prior to the September 7 election.
Kind Regards
Gavin Bedford
You have all read and many have answered the four questions I have posed to date, there were many good and well thought out answers that came from different perspectives – a really good debate and one that showed we are all passionate at an individual level about our hobby, being given a fair go, the environment and the laws that govern it. Here is the kicker – Government’s DO NOT deal with small, unaffiliated groups and individuals. They may listen but they only very rarely act on them. They don’t need to and can in many instances treat you with contempt because – what can you do to affect them being re-elected? Write a letter and vent your outrage – BIG DEAL! There is no more relevant testament to this statement about how they treat you than the debate on this site about the cage sizes in NSW (see: http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-reptile-discussion-42/help-join-protest-new-oeh-205674/). However if this were taken up and addressed by a Representative Reptile Body that could boast many tens of thousands of members at both State or Federal levels you would have your say heard because as a voting collective you can influence outcomes.
Many years ago I was a member of AFANT (the Amateur Fisherman’s Association of the Northern Territory). This group represents the interests of fishermen in the NT and each state has a similar organization. It has a full time paid position that is funded by a grant from the NT Government each year along with yearly contributions from all fishermen that see their voice as important. There are many thousands of fishermen in each state that together ask for things to happen like new boat ramps, kids fishing clinics and a myriad of other ideas, and this group follows it up by addressing the Government. I was also a member of RecFish Australia, which as you can guess is the parent body that deals with recreational fishing in Australia and is based in Canberra and can access Federal Ministers for Fisheries among others almost on notice. With almost everything we addressed we made sure a favourable compromise was reached on behalf of ALL fishermen.
I know this is a tough concept to grasp and many times in the past we have come unstuck with poor or no outcome mostly because as passionate reptile enthusiasts we are fragmented, unorganized and above all just a heap of individuals who til now have remained that way. However many other passionate individuals with similar interests have put together a parent group to work for the wishes of the majority (ie: democratically) so why shouldn’t we? A simple example goes back to the fishing groups. Fishing varies from the mega rich that use million dollar boats to chase Marlin right down to the kid off the jetty with a hand-line catching garfish and everything in between. No doubt these diverse interest groups don’t talk to each other but they are prepared to fight for the others right to fish by being part of a larger group that supports this right. They are all passionate about their group as we would be, but they have the ability and means to effect change if they see inequity or poor allocation of resources or even bad laws. We do not even appear close to being able to do this – at this stage, but it is possible.
So question five is simple!
Can we put aside our many differences and fight for our right to keep and conserve reptiles?
We would need to put our hand in our pocket for, say, $10.00 each year, in order to put together a strong Australia wide group that can deal directly with ministers and Governments to address the many problems that we keep raising on forums like this. With all of you we can make a difference! Just look at the lengths politicians are going to right now prior to the September 7 election.
Kind Regards
Gavin Bedford
