Greeting to all fellow Members.
I’m Les Gardner and I am proud to have been elected as President of SSAA (NSW) Sydney Branch Inc.
I thank the Branch Committee for having faith in me to continuing to pursue a direction for our Branch activities that was set by our last Annual General Meeting in June 2019.
Our Branch is some 33,000 members, which is the largest Branch in NSW.
Our Branch has a reputation for being “Loud and proud” and it is my goal to continue that tradition.
We will face many challenges in the future – legislation changes, attacks by anti-shooters, political mistrust, poor communication, lack of consultation, poor interpretation of appearance laws, misguided risk management and an unwillingness to put members interests first.
Sydney Branch has 4 outdoor shooting ranges open to all Branch members – Silverdale, Holroyd, Hornsby and ANZAC – as well as an excellent indoor facility at St Marys – St Marys Indoor Shooting Centre.
We should recognise that urban development will eventually impact on some facilities and we need to look to replacing those facilities. This will be an enormous challenge.
In looking to the future, I often reflect on the following quote “There is no past we can bring back by longing for it. Only a present that builds and creates itself as the past withdraws”.
We should reflect on that as we look to and plan for the future.
I have been a hunter all my shooting life. It is time for me to give that hunting life away and focus in improving and strengthening Sydney Branch to build for the future of our shooting fraternity.
Hoping to catch up with you at the range or at our meetings.
