‘A flash in the pan is’ (fittingly in this instance) an expression derived from shooting.
Back in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, in the days of flintlock muskets, an attempt to fire a musket that resulted in the priming gunpowder igniting but secondary ignition failing (hence the musket ball not firing) was referred to as a ‘flash in the pan’. Lots of light and smoke, but nothing of any consequence happened.
Yesterday, the Victorian Premier announced that Regional Victoria’s sweet Commonwealth Games dream had become a City based Government’s fiscal nightmare, so it would be dumped.
Amongst the flurry of press releases assuring Regional Victorian communities that this was somehow not a negative for them was this passage about shooting facilities;
“The Morwell Gun Club will get a new shotgun trap shooting range, all the equipment required for Air Rifle and Air Pistol, and new security fencing.”
The equipment required for Air Rifle and Air Pistol is minimal, and it is difficult to see how it would be relevant to a shotgun shooting club anyway.
The Morwell Gun Club is getting a new range and clubhouse, but that has nothing to do with the Commonwealth Games debacle.
The club had to vacate its former home back in early 2021 due to its landlord (Energy Australia – Yallourn) requiring the land for its mining operations. Energy Australia found the club a new site, and in July 2021, the club received a grant under the (now defunct) Shooting Sports Facilities Program (SSFP) to help to fund the first stage of its relocation project. In October 2022, the club received another grant under that program to help to support the second stage of its project. Morwell Gun Club’s spectacular new grounds and clubhouse are now near completion.
The SSFP had nothing to do with the Commonwealth Games. It was a pre-election commitment made to SSAA Victoria and the ADA in November 2018, two and a half years before Victoria committed to the Commonwealth Games. No additional funding was added to the SSFP because of the Commonwealth Games, and the Victorian Government did not commit to continuing the SSFP ahead of last year’s State Election or fund its continuation in the State Budget just under two months ago.
SSAA Victoria proudly joined the effort to lobby for shooting to be included in the 2026 Commonwealth Games. The Association met directly with relevant Ministers on the issue in support of Shooting Australia’s bid and, along with ADA and FGA, made it a focus of pre-election requests. SSAA Victoria made those efforts on the basis that the Games would be an opportunity both to showcase shooting and to see the establishment of more shooting facilities in Regional Victoria. We are left with some rhetorical sleight of hand, where the real legacy of what was a very beneficial program is being passed off as something else.
There are now around a quarter of a million recreational shooters in Victoria. The shooting community is looking for genuine, ongoing investment from its Government. Reinstating a grants program to keep community shooting facilities up to scratch would be a solid start.
