NSW Liberals Split From Nationals Over “Trojan Horse” Hunting Bill

After days of tension, the NSW Liberals have split from the Nationals over a controversial hunting bill that would see the introduction of a new hunting authority, warning that the party cannot support a “taxpayer-funded NRA-style lobby group”.

At a shadow cabinet on Monday evening, the Liberals voted to oppose the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers bill that seeks to make hunting one of the “very rare” fundamental rights in NSW, and establish a new hunting authority, leaving the Nationals to pursue the bill on their own.

Premier Chris Minns backtracked his support for the bill’s “right to hunt” on Monday after public backlash, clarifying his concerns that “it might evoke this idea that there’s a right to bear arms, like we’ve seen in the United States”.

Labor not going far enough, says Speakman

After initially supporting the bill when it was introduced in May, Labor are now finalising their position for certain sections, but Opposition Leader Mark Speakman criticised them on Tuesday for not withdrawing support completely.

‘“Chris Minns and Labor have now walked back their support for a right to hunt, but otherwise they still support the Shooters’ hunting bill – establishing a taxpayer-funded NRA-style lobby group in a dodgy deal for support for unrelated government legislation,” he posted on X.

The Game and Feral Animal Legislation Amendment (Conservation Hunting) Bill 2025 has faced significant criticism by gun control groups, the Greens and the Animal Justice Party, with senator David Shoebridge telling The Guardian it was a “poor excuse from the Labor government to throw the gun lobby a bone”.

Organisers from Alannah and Madeline Foundation, founded in memory of founder Walter Mikac’s daughters who were killed in the Port Arthur massacre, described it as the “most regressive firearm legislation introduced into any Parliament in Australia in 30 years.”

“This Bill is nothing more than a trojan horse for the gun lobby, which has a vested, commercial interest in the proliferation of firearms in Australia,” the organisation wrote in its submission for the bill.

A spokesperson for NSW Nationals Leader Dugald Saunders told the Sydney Morning Herald the party was “supportive of parts of the bill” that would allow regional communities to “manage feral animals and hunt in a safe and responsible way.”

“There are, however, aspects we will not be supporting, including the right to hunt, and we will put forward amendments to address those issues,” they said.

Labor’s inclusion of $7.9 million in June the budget for the “Conservation Hunting Authority” prior to the passing of the bill indicated the Minns government had been collaborating with the Shooters on the bill, with Speakman last week accusing him of “US-style political horse-trading on gun rights”.

Both parties have rejected the notion, with Shooters leader labelling criticism “anti-hunting lies and propaganda”.