By ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
AFTER a long three-year hiatus, the Morwell Gun Club is back in business.
On Saturday, January 20, hundreds of people gathered to see the ribbon cut on the new facilities for the club at 50A Buckleys Track, Hernes Oak.
Having faced the potential of going under and the shock of the cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games after being listed as the shooting location, the Morwell Gun Club has prevailed.
The grand opening of the new range was a monumental effort mixed with determination, grit and teamwork.
Morwell Gun Club President, Todd Malone thanked everyone for coming to start the club’s next chapter off with a bang.
“It’s great to see so many faces back at our club after three years of being closed. It’s been a long road, and a lot of people have written us off, but as you can see – with the right team and commitment, this is evidence of what can be achieved,” he said.
The Morwell Gun Club was forced to leave their Old Melbourne Road location by the end of 2020 due to the Yallourn Mine expansion.
Not willing to fold, the grassroots shooting club always planned to pack up and relocate, but fundraising became a major factor. Thanks to EnergyAustralia, they were able to find a new home on the energy company’s land in Hernes Oak.
The Morwell Gun Club has run for more than 50 years, with strong membership, history of hosting excellent competition days and producing some extraordinary talent, including Lucas Furlan, who has represented Australia overseas.
At the grand opening, the Morwell Gun Club had many people to thank, including the investment from the state government, EnergyAustralia and Latrobe City Council.
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Steve Dimopoulos, spoke on the state government’s investment into the project.
“This investment has been over a couple of different financial years, about 330,000 a piece, so 680,000 odd at the end of infrastructure investment from the state government through the Shooting Sports Facilities Program,” he said.
Morwell Gun Club received multiple state government grants but also community grants from council.
Latrobe City Mayor, Darren Howe said, “We are grateful we had the opportunity to contribute to this important local project and look forward to seeing it used as a social and recreational hub for both locals and visitors.”
Representing Minister Ros Spence and the community sports portfolio, Minister Dimopoulos said he was glad to see so many turn out to the gun clubs’ big reveal.
“Sports – it’s not just footy and soccer and netball. It’s all sports – particularly the sports in regional and rural Victoria … it’s important to have sporting clubs and assets in all of Victoria that suit all types of interests,” the Minister said.
“It’s not only a local sporting club. It’s a sense of community, but it’s also a pathway for young kids and others who want to be the next national champion or represent Australia in the Olympics.”
The Latrobe Valley Express understands that the state government has reconfirmed their Commonwealth Games cancellation package investment into the Morwell Gun Club, with work expected to begin next year.
Despite sparing details, it was rumoured that the Morwell Gun Club would still receive Olympic standard upgrades to put this regional club on the map regarding quality and facilities.
“There’s more to come next year. There’ll be more news to be announced by the club to make this club the envy of pretty much most clubs in Victoria, and I think given the commitment and the leadership of the club, you deserve this investment and more,” Minister Dimopoulos said in his ribbon cutting speech.
This original investment that the state government promised in the lead-up to the club hosting the Commonwealth Games included 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, which would make Morwell a centre to train for the Olympic shooting sports discipline.
Yallourn EnergyAustralia’s civil and environmental engineer, Sam Lineham, said he was pleased Morwell Gun Club could now enjoy their new home.
“Our mining license (at the time) … meant that we we’re going to have to mine through the land that (the gun club) was currently on,” he said.
“Three years ago, we informed the club we would have to relocate them. We chose this site because it’s quite a good area.”
With The Morwell Field & Game Club just through the tree line, Lineham said Hernes Oak has now become a shooting recreational hub.
“It’s been a bit of a long journey – setting up in the new area, working through the council planning permits to get all this established,” he added.
In addition to the peppercorn lease, EnergyAutralia Yallourn has worked on the site’s fencing, car park and other significant earthworks.
Before the state government boarded the project, EnergyAustralia planned to gift the club old eco-huts to form a clubhouse.
The Morwell Gun Club was off to a shooting start, as what better way to celebrate the re-opening of the club than a competition day?
In Event 1, the 60tgt mixed targets championship first place in the open division went to Shayne Whelan of Woods Point with a perfect score of 100/100. In the AA division, Rowen Foote from Korumburra went home with a sash after hitting 98. In A Grade, Tiny Loveridge from the MCC Clay Target Club went home a winner.
In Event 2, the first place went to James Climas from Mt Bogong.
To top the day off, in the High Guns class, Morwell Gun Club President, Todd Malone took out the first place of the open draw. Adam Beechey from Bairnsdale was the winner in AA, and Melbourne’s Robert Nash was A Grade’s High Guns winner.
Morwell Gun Club Secretary, Ken Balcombe said the club had positive reviews of their new facilities.
“The design of the trap layouts, clubhouse and carpark worked really well together. We got some fantastic feedback on the day about the new club build and its facilities,” he said.
“Overall it’s great to have the relocation project done and up and going again for all our members.”
