Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party

In the 2019 NSW state election, the SFF Party campaigned strongly on the need to change policies and management around the Murray Darling Basin (MDB). This followed a water crisis across NSW, where several towns were left without safe drinking water,[27] millions of fish were killed in the Menindee Lakes[28] and there were widespread allegations of water theft, government mismanagement and corruption.[29]

SFF release a ten-point plan on water management, following consultation with farmers, water experts and regional communities. The plan called for:

• Full standardised metering and inspections across the MDB – a "no meter, no pump" rule for water extraction.
• An audit, measure and evaluate environmental water – management of environmental water must be centralised in the one entity, and the water kept for environmental purposes only (not sold or swapped). The costs and benefits of environmental flows must be analysed and reported on.
• A federal royal commission into water mismanagement and a five-year pause of the Murray Darling Basin Plan (MDBP).

SFF argued a federal royal commission was needed to evaluate the flawed science, weak regulation and selective data undermining the MDBP; and flush out the corruption.

The party's policies were initially entirely focused around firearms, asserting that every law-abiding citizen should have the right to own and use a firearm for legitimate purposes, including self-defence, a position that remains relatively unchanged but broadened in that they now advocate for the tougher sentencing for illegal gun use and do not condone "American style gun laws".[30] In broadening the appeal the party now strongly supports recreational and conservation hunting, and laws giving shooters access to public land for hunting in a controlled ecological manner.[31]

The Party counts among its achievements a number of successful Bills in New South Wales. These include those giving rights of self-defence to any citizen, anywhere, with immunity from civil or criminal liability; providing extra penalties for attacks on vulnerable people; giving families of homicide victims the right to be heard in court; establishment of the Game Council New South Wales now disbanded, and legislation allowing specifically licensed hunters to hunt on public land; government funding controlled by the party for shooting clubs, and the establishment and control of regional shooting complexes; recognition of membership of a hunting club as "genuine reason" for obtaining a firearms licence; and extension of minor permits from ages 12 to 18.[32]

In 2019 NSW leader Robert Borsak stated that the party had no policies to weaken gun laws in NSW; although he called for a review of the functions and financing of NSW Firearms Registry.[3]

The leader of the NSW SFF, Robert Borsak, promotes climate change denialism, stating that "scientific research, reports and arguments supporting human blame for climate change, were wrong".[33][34]

In New South Wales, following the 2019 state election the party outlined its agenda that included calls for a NSW royal commission into water management, a "right to farm bill" to protect farmers against animal rights activists, and opposition to the Murray-Darling Basin plan, forced council mergers, and lockout laws in Sydney.[3]

In Victoria, the party opposes the creation of the proposed Great Forest National Park in central Victoria, while their Victorian MP Jeff Bourman unsuccessfully attempted to relax restrictions on gun silencers for licensed hunters.[35]

Before the 2004 federal election, the Australian Shooters Party was deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission for failing to contest a federal election for four years. It was re-registered after the 2004 federal election but was deregistered again on 27 December 2006,[36] along with a number of minor parties which did not have a representative sitting in Federal Parliament. Re-registration was achieved in August 2007. The Australian Shooters Party contested the 2007 federal election and received 0.28% of the national vote and 1.1% of the vote in NSW. The Party was instrumental in flowing preferences away from the Greens in NSW, Queensland and Victoria.[37]

Glenn Druery who was behind the 2013 federal election preference deal successes with candidate elections on 0.2 and 0.5 percent was remunerated by the Shooters and Fishers Party for assisting in organising preference meetings and negotiating preference flows between parties.[22] The party has been involved in Druery's Minor Party Alliance.[23][24]

In May 2018, it was reported that Senator Brian Burston of One Nation had attempted to defect to the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party; he would have been the party's first federal representative. Robert Borsak, the party's leader in New South Wales, said that "I don't think he'd be a good representative for us [...] we're not that desperate for a Canberra representative at the moment and when we do, we'll use our own people."[38] However, Burston subsequently stated: "The claim that I have approached the Shooters Party is totally and absolutely false".[39]

New South Wales MLA's Roy Butler (left) and Philip Donato at the 2022 Fire Brigade Employees' Union conference, prior to their resignation from the party

At the 2007 New South Wales state election, the Shooters Party received 2.8% of the primary vote for the Legislative Council (↑0.8%) and lead candidate Roy Smith was elected to the Legislative Council. On 30 July 2010, Smith died in his sleep and Robert Borsak was nominated by the party to fill the casual vacancy. As a result, the party holds 2 seats in the NSW Upper House. In 2009 an agreement was reached to allow hunters onto public lands in a deal with the government.[40]

At the 2011 New South Wales state election, the Liberal/National Coalition took government but with three seats short of a majority in the upper house. The Shooters and Fishers Party held two seats along with the Christian Democratic Party, with the balance of power shifting from the Greens to the two parties.[41] The Shooters and Fishers Party was reported to have created a "shopping list" of demands in exchange for legislative support of the now Liberal/National government, however the government "ruled out" any deals with the Shooters.[42]

In May 2012 the party negotiated a deal with the O'Farrell government giving recreational shooters access to national parks to cull feral animals including pigs, rabbits and deer by allowing the passage of laws through the NSW Upper House to sell the state-owned power generating assets of Eraring Energy, Delta Electricity and Macquarie Generation, that were claimed to yield up to A$3 billion.[43] Deals continue to have fallout.[44][45][46]

At the state by-election for Orange on 12 November 2016, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate Philip Donato became the party's first lower house member, defeating the incumbent National Party for the seat in the Legislative Assembly.[47]

In the 2019 New South Wales state election, the party made breakthroughs in the state's lower house, with candidates Roy Butler and Helen Dalton winning the seats of Barwon and Murray respectively.[15][16] On 3 March 2022, Dalton resigned from Shooters Fishers and Farmers due to disagreeing with the party's Legislative Council members not showing up to vote against a bill regarding water usage that she believed would "disadvantage communities and irrigators in the lower Darling and Murray river system".[48] On 12 December 2022, Butler and Donato resigned over the behaviour of leader Robert Borsak.[49]

At the 2006 South Australian state election, two Shooters Party candidates for the Legislative Council, Robert Low and Michael Hudson, preferenced the Family First Party as well as the One Nation Party. The Shooters Party received just under 6,000 votes, or 0.6% of the electors, with a 0.08 quota. Neither candidate was elected. The party also contested the 2010 (as Shooters) and 2014 (as Shooters and Fishers) elections, increasing the number of votes in each but not enough to achieve a quota. It was deregistered before the 2018 election.[50]

At the 2014 Victorian state election, two Shooters and Fishers candidates were elected to the Legislative Council: Jeff Bourman received 2.44% first preference votes in the Eastern Victoria Region and was elected on preferences from the other minor parties, and Daniel Young received 3.5% first preference votes in the Northern Victoria Region and was also elected on preferences. Bourman was re-elected in 2018, while Young was defeated.

The logo of the party's Western Australian branch.

At the 2013 Western Australian state election, Shooters and Fishers candidate Rick Mazza was elected to the Legislative Council with 3.09% of the vote in the Agricultural Region. Nigel Hallett was elected for the Liberal Party in South West Region, but changed to the Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers in June 2016.[51] Mazza retained his seat at the 2017 election, but Hallett did not. Mazza subsequently formed a 'conservative bloc' with One Nation and the Liberal Democratic Party in the Legislative Council.[52]

• Robert Borsak MLC, 2010–present
• Mark Banasiak MLC, 2019–present

• Jeff Bourman – Member for Eastern Victoria Region in the Victorian Legislative Council, 2014–present

New South Wales

• Roy Smith – New South Wales Legislative Council, 2007–2010
• John Tingle – New South Wales Legislative Council, 1995–2006
• Robert Brown – New South Wales Legislative Council, 2006–2019
• Helen Dalton, Member for Murray, 2019–2022
• Roy Butler, Member for Barwon, 2019–2022
• Philip Donato, Member for Orange, 2016–2022

Victoria

• Daniel Young – Victorian Legislative Council, 2014–2018

Western Australia

• Nigel Hallett – Western Australian Legislative Council, 2016–2017
• Rick Mazza – Western Australian Legislative Council, 2013–2021