In Western Australia’s southwest, hunting is one of the vital cultural practices that gets the next generations on Country.
Traditional weapons such as boomerangs and spears are now banned for the use of hunting, which leaves firearms as the only choice for Noongar Traditional Owners hoping to maintain their culture.
“Using firearms, the technology of it, is very important for us" Jayden Boundry told NITV.
"To be able to take the life of an animal as cleanly and as quickly as possible.”
Jayden Boundry with one of his hunting boomerangs. The Noongar man is concerned about the impact of gun laws on his ability to hunt. Source: NITV / Credit: Kearyn Cox
“It’s going back to the old ways and connecting to our culture and our roots. It helps us with our identity."
But changes to the state's gun laws have people like Mr Boundry concerned.
WA’s gun reforms came under the national spotlight recently with the shooting deaths of three people in Perth by a legal gun owner.
Introduced to parliament in February this year, the government says the changes are the toughest in the country, and will get rid of 13,000 firearms.
A $64.3 million dollar firearm buyback scheme included in the legislation has already seen 10,000 guns surrendered in the first 10 weeks of the program.
But the bill contains no references to customary hunting, even though those rights are enshrined in Native Title laws.
Mr Boundry said the program could have wide-reaching ramifications for traditional life.
“Plants and foods that we have here, that’s what we are meant to be eating," he said.
"Taking that away, taking the guns away for us to be able to go and do, that is also taking a way a link for us to be healthy as well."
WA’s Minister for Police, Paul Papalia, said the new firearms bill will not affect customary hunting.
“The Firearms Bill does not impact s.211 of the Native Title Act, with hunting recognised as a genuine reason for the legal ownership of a firearm," he told NITV.
“An individual hunting license is being introduced to facilitate this activity.”
Remote communities hit hardest
Noongar man Aaron Williams is a professional hunter who works for Djilba, an independent Aboriginal land management company.
He said more rigorous licensing and storage provisions, changes to hunting licenses, and land access requirements will have an impact.
“They perhaps can say that with truth because they haven’t singled out customary activity ... but by default, with the changes that they are proposing, it is going to be impossible and completely impractical to do customary activities.
“Moving forward from here with the new legislation, the average Uncle doing customary activities will not be able to comply; they will just hand their guns back in,” said Mr. Williams.
Aaron Williams is the land manager at Djilba. He says remote communities rely on guns for food. Source: NITV / Credit: Kearyn Cox
“It’s completely different up there ... Other mobs up there need it; they don’t have Coles, Woollies, or IGA.
"Without customary activities, they are not going to process or harvest meat at all. They are going to be significantly impacted," said Mr. Williams.
Local Indigenous hunters are not the only group unhappy with the proposed changes.
A petition calling for the government to rethink the reforms already being proposed has broken all records by attracting 32,234 signatures.
It's now unclear when the new firearms bill will come into place.
