Echuca is on target to be a competition host for clay target shooting at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
But there is only one snag — shooting has to be reinstated as an official sport well ahead of the Victorian games.
And the Riverine Herald and Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh have today launched a campaign to get the sport back in the games and get the clay target shooting to Echuca.
Shooting Australia and the Victorian branch of the Australian Clay Target Shooting Association have backed Echuca for the event, with all other shooting disciplines to be held in the Bendigo hub.
And it’s not just Australia complaining about the decision to cut shooting, which has appeared in every Commonwealth Games since Kingston in 1966 (with the exception of Edinburgh in 1970), until it was not included for Birmingham.
India has also expressed its outrage and is backing every campaign to have the shooting brought back.
Mr Walsh said shooting remained a high-profile Olympic sport, at which Australia has been a successful competitor and it simply makes no sense for it to be dropped from the Commonwealth Games at a time when its popularity is growing.
“Echuca is perfectly set up with world-class facilities, and with a slice of the Victorian Games funding to upgrade its rooms and catering facilities, it will be a showcase setting for the Games,” Mr Walsh told The Riv.
“And it will also put Echuca in the national and international spotlight as well as bringing plenty of people to town while the Games are on.”
Shooting Australia has until August 19 to register its case for the inclusion of shooting in 2026 and The Riv’s campaign is calling on people to get on board by registering their support via Shooting Australia and the Commonwealth Games social media — and all Victorian Government social media as well as protesting by writing directly to the Premier at daniel.andrews@parliament.vic.gov.au
“There is still time to secure this event for Echuca and it is our primary objective to remind the Victorian Government, the Commonwealth Games Association and the wider public that the target shooting sports have a strong and important presence in the community, especially across regional Victoria, and a critical role to play in the medal success of the Australian team at a home Games in 2026,” Mr Walsh said.
It comes as the Victorian Coalition promised to bring Commonwealth Games events to the Goulburn Valley if elected at November’s state election.
The Coalition said it would make Shepparton a fifth hub across regional Victoria, also upgrading any facilities used as part of the 2026 Games.
Despite the idea for a regional games originating in Shepparton, the city was snubbed by the Victorian Government, which announced Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Gippsland as hubs for the games.