HOUDINI HUGH: Labor MP disappears over gun laws

on October 6, 2023

Just because you backed your politician doesn’t mean they’ll help you when you need them. That’s why you need to jog their memory from time to time…

The Labor MP with several local gun clubs

HUGH JONES is Labor’s MP in Darling Range, which is southeast of Perth.

There are six gun clubs in his electorate, the largest of which is the Jarrahdale Sporting Shooters Club with over 800 members.

Some of these members have come to us concerned that they can’t have a straight conversation with Jones over their concerns about the draconian changes Police Minister Paul Papalia is making to WA’s gun laws.

Need help? Then don’t come to me …

When one of his constituents who is a member of the club wrote to Jones (pictured left), this is what he got back:

“Whilst we are grateful for your consideration, Hugh is not able to comment on the firearms policy in this circumstance.

Your best point of contact for questions relating to the policy is the minister’s office.”

When we raised the matter with Jones, this is what came our way:

“I would like to make it clear however, our office and Hugh record and relay all of the correspondence we receive from our constituents no matter their perspective on the issue.

We always take the views of our constituents seriously, including [name of the constituent]”

The response tells us that Jones doesn’t want to rock the party boat, and is not interested in advocating for his constituents.

All he is prepared to do is pass any letters or emails received onto Papalia’s office – which will simply ignore them.

Live in Darling Range? Then it’s time to act

Jones needs to be reminded what his job is, so we wrote to the eight discipline captains at the Jarrahdale Sporting Shooters Club letting them know what happened and encouraged their members to write to Jones.

Some of the discipline captains have done that, and we sincerely thank them for doing so.

Clubs in WA, regardless of whether they are in Darling Range or elsewhere, need to get their local MPs to stand up to Papalia’s agenda.

That means getting their members to write to their local MPs – or call their offices and asking for appointments.

As for Jones, he needs to get the message that he needs to take the concerns of those in his electorate more seriously than he has done.

Either that, or he needs to go.

There are no excuses for this

Whether you are a shooter in WA or elsewhere, DO NOT ACCEPT weak positions from your local member.

They are there to represent you – so push them to do that.

Don’t forget, Jones is part of the government that wants to reduce the number of guns you have, make shooting more expensive and difficult, and subject you to regular mental health checks.

While your local MP may belong to a party, their primary responsibility is to the electorate that pays their wage. That’s why you should NEVER let your MP get away with simply being a post box for a minister.

DEMAND that they act on the issues that matter to you – and make sure you vote that way so they get the message.

Why Jones’ seat may not be ‘safe’

The seat of Darling Range attracted a 2PP (‘Partly Preferred’) vote of 55% at the 2017 WA state election.

2PP means that’s the outcome after all the preferences have been distributed to the last two candidates (so it means Labor won that seat with 55% of the vote over the Liberals who got 45%).

At the 2021 State Election, Labor won the seat with 63% (against 37%), however that was with the statewide swing pushing Labor anyway.

In other words, if the Coalition can get it’s act together, there’s a good chance Jones’ seat could again become marginal.

What this means is that if enough shooters vote against Jones, he can get voted out.

That does not mean the Liberals will be any better.

However getting rid of your local member of Parliament sends a powerful message that NO MP should ever treat shooters in their electorate this way.

We’re a long way away from being in that space, but we’re urging members of any club in the Darling Ranges electorate to help make that happen by sending this article to their fellow members – and get writing now.

We’ve done the maths: shooters’ votes can easily matter

Jones has at least 2,000 shooters in the clubs we wrote to in his electorate.

Add to that their spouses who often tag along and help out at shoots, and you can see how important the shooters are to the electorate.

Approximately 20% of shooters belong to a club.

That means that for every shooter who is a member of a club, there are another four recreational and professional shooters who live in the electorate who might also vote for their sport, if they get to see this article.

Let Jones know NOT to ignore shooters

Here’s a chance for every shooter in the Darling Range electorate to tell their member what they think about his lack of willingness to help them.

Even if you aren’t in his electorate, you can help out to convince Jones to change his tune.

Let him know that he can’t think he can get away with ignoring those who pay his salary. We’ve prepared an email you can send to him below.

Click here to send an email to Jones