ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
By ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
MORWELL Gun Club was ecstatic when it heard that the 2026 Commonwealth Games were to be held in regional areas – but nothing could compare to that feeling of pure elation when they were told they would be the ones to host Shooting and Para shooting for the international event. The shooting events at Victoria 2026 were due to comprise shotgun clay target trap, 10-metre air pistol and 10m air rifle with para shooting. However, the secretary of the Morwell Gun Club, Kenneth Balcombe, said they were “really disappointed” at the state government’s announcement. “We had a site meeting with some Commonwealth Games representatives last Friday (June) the 14th and some Shooting Sports Australia people. It was a really good meeting on-site – at our new site over in Morwell, and everybody left feeling quite positive about what was happening,” he said. “To get that announcement (on the following Tuesday) was a real big shock. “I was in contact with the Commonwealth Games people (on the day of the announcement), and they were just as shocked as we were, so the state government has just pulled the pin.” Yet to hear from government officials directly despite being promised infrastructure and upgrades in the lead-up to the 2026 Commonwealth Games, the Morwell Gun Club feels as if it has been left in the dark – with no official reassurance coming. Though the club had yet to complete any cost analysis on the financial benefits they could have received from the Commonwealth Games, it said the promised upgrades would have benefited them immensely in expanding the support and publicising the club on the world stage. “There was a lot of chat in the background throughout Gippsland about how good it would be for the Commonwealth Games to come to Gippsland,” the club secretary said. “It would have been absolutely amazing for a country club like ourselves to have something like that, and we were ready to go with that and have it with open arms. “We were approached in the early part about if this (the Commonwealth Games) did get off the ground and if we did get the infrastructure, the possibility of holding state and national shooting events at Morwell.” The state government promised in a statement released last week that it would continue with its infrastructure commitments in lieu of the Games. This would include a new Olympic shotgun trap shooting range, all equipment required for Air Rifles and Air Pistols and new security fencing. “The Olympic trap is the pinnacle of all trap shooting across the world, and the closest infrastructure that we’ve got here in Gippsland is either you go to Melbourne or you go to Canberra, so there’s no infrastructure like that for juniors or anyone to shoot that discipline anywhere in Gippsland,” explained Mr Balcombe. Whether the state government will still follow through with their promised funding for the club has yet to be clarified. “It would be enormous to get that infrastructure, and it would’ve been absolutely amazing and fantastic to have the top commonwealth teams come to Morwell to compete,” Mr Balcombe said. While official plans had yet to be issued, the club had already begun earthworks in unison with Energy Australia – owners of the land – to get the range primed and ready for the 2026 event. In 2021 the state government awarded the club $319,780.10 in funding to help build a new gun club and clubhouse. Construction on the new facilities is well underway. Shooting Australia said they were shocked and bitterly disappointed at the Commonwealth Games decision. Adam Sachs, Chief Executive Officer of Shooting Australia, said an enormous contribution of time and effort went into Shootings’ bid to have our sport reinstated into the Commonwealth Games program. “It is extremely unfortunate that this opportunity will now no longer be available to our athletes and our sport,” he said. “I want to take the opportunity again, to thank Shooting Australia’s Member Organisations and the wider target shooting community for their support and contribution over the previous 18 months. Our sport will continue to benefit from this type of collaboration moving forward as we work towards the opportunities ahead of us.”
