Victoria’s State Election is on this Saturday and while we know many of you have already voted, there’s still a large number who are waiting until polling day to cast your votes.

The reality is Victoria has a particularly complex political situation compared to the other states and this has made putting together any sort of voting suggestions very difficult for us.

Our broad advice for the Lower House is to Vote 1 for the LDP (who are a proven pro-shooting party), the Freedom Party (who have an extremely pro-gun policy) or One Nation (whose policies are at least committed to not making things worse for gun owners) then whoever you like in the intervening spaces, then put the Greens and the Animal Justice Party in the last two spots. Both these parties are avowedly anti-shooting/anti-hunting.

For the Upper House, it is critical that you vote BELOW THE LINE. You must number at least five boxes, but it won’t take a huge amount of time to fill a dozen or more of them in and this ensures YOUR VOTE GOES WHERE YOU WANT.

Unlike some other states, Victoria still has party-controlled preference flows for “above the line” voting, so if you vote above the line you may find your vote going somewhere else. Voting below the line prevents this. We suggest you vote for LDP or Freedom Party candidates first as both parties have excellent pro-gun stances, then follow that with whoever you like, again making sure the Greens and AJP are at the bottom of your list.

Your vote does matter and as we keep telling shooters: Don’t expect things to get better if you don’t vote for pro-gun candidates!
Authorised by J Linsley, 61 Arthur Street Dalby QLD 4405, for Shooters Union Australia.