MaY 2012 Issue - Target Shooter Magazine

John Roberts, now Chairman, led NSWRA & Smallborejoined, before HH John Bryson. In court in 1994Sir Maurice Byers quoted: Defence Act, assertingGovernment to be bound to support and encourageRifle Clubs. He Added only Government couldconstruct a Rifle Range under modern planning laws.The judgement was for landlord in August, notingthe Shooters had tasted of the sweet but now couldnot take the sour! Again Government refused tonegotiate. Shooting was driven to appeal. As timepassed for the appeal, an election was due.Underpinned by Sir Maurice reasoning representationsto the Liberal opposition got sympatheticunderstanding. In February 1996, as election policy,the leader John Howard wrote to John Robertspromising if elected “The Association should not haveto leave until Holsworthy or another suitable placewas available for use”. Liberals were elected, JH kepthis promise. However, odd was that someone got anexpedited appeal in July, surely irrelevant?September 1998 Ministers John Fahey, Finance,Andrew Thomson, Sport, came before a packedauditorium of shooters on the range. A pressrelease announced a place for the future, $9M in theFederation Fund enabling never for any other use thesun seemed to shine. Contracts prepared by BlakeDawson Waldron were drawn up for six user groups,revised then signed in 2000 backdated to 1999. Thehard copy reiterated John Howards promise . Thelicences for big-bore and small-bore meant they wouldshoot on Anzac Malabar only expecting to moveseamlessly to a ready to use new location.From 2000 the Commonwealth worked with NSWRAtowards relocation. In 2002 a study by FitzwalterAssociates concluded Anzac Range Malabar was theonly place to keep the promise. That would havecatered for small-bore meeting the terms of thelicences at low to no cost. It was realistic as landaveraging twenty-five meters deep in unclassifiedcontaminated fill would not be suitable for change ofpurpose use. The knot was, no one knew so, lookingat the wide green acres eyed for high profit housing –all that glisters?The trail went cold by 2004 soon followed by shiftsin the political scene, the users wrongly thought itLATESTNEWS...was to the good. Local papers, local politics started aslogan: The land should be returned to the Australianpeople. It seemed to overlook who the Anzacs were.It followed about 2008 NSWRA and Small-bore weretold the land would go to the State of NSW. Ten yearsafter the announcement, twenty after the Army left,the landlord had let the roads, buildings, structuresrot.In January 2010, a Director of the estate was partof briefing assuring users the handover would takefour or more years, agreements would be respected,the road and other upkeep attended, some worksneeded would begin, these might interrupt shootingwhen work was carried out. Again masterly inactivityensued until in November a meeting was convenedat Sydney Police HQ, the Director present. It hadformed the view there were safety issues, it wantedresolutions, the users were the view was misplaced.However, this lead to changes in safety approval oforganisational aspects imposed, which opened theway to shut down the range.Who initiated the November meeting? Why it hadno briefing agenda? Why there was no concludingminute? These are questions let go unanswered.This was to be the way events unfolded after March2010. However, shooting, user activities were notinterrupted. In July, a visit to the area was arrangedto explain the intentions of the Government. Fromthe general and local residents, through to the users,the explanations were rejected and the aims seen asunacceptable.The next day a phone call from a person, who laterdisappeared, claimed that whilst in the danger area –trespassing – she, sitting on a rock heard a ‘whizz’. Asafety officer with little thought and no hard data said:“It must have been a ricochet!”The reporting, thoughtless assumption, coupled toabsence of police procedure to verify the claim speakto the conclusion that to close the range on suchfeckless ground is beyond belief. NSWRA tried tohave it reversed but was unsuccessful. Too late, theQueens shoot was cancelled. By the time shooting63