WA Election 2025: Shooting groups bankroll $100k donation to unseat Labor MPs, including Minister Paul Papalia

Opponents of Labor’s firearm reforms have bankrolled a $100,000 donation designed to unseat key Government members, including Police Minister Paul Papalia, in a bid to overturn the laws. New disclosure records show the WA Shooting Association has made a series of donations this week to the Liberals, the Nationals, and the Australian Christians. So far, the group had donated $32,000 to the Liberals, $28,500 to the Nationals and $3800 to the Australian Christians. The West Australian can also reveal a $23,000 donation to the Legalise Cannabis Party, dedicated for sitting MP Brian Walker and their candidate in Mr Papalia’s seat of Secret Harbour, Jim Matters. WASA president Ralph Folie said the group had identified seats that “with a bit of help” could lead to a Labor loss. The group, an umbrella organisation for a range of shooting organisations, has contributed the money towards Nationals candidates in three regional contests — Pilbara, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie. All are three-cornered contests with Liberals against sitting Labor MPs, where the group believes there are a high number of firearm owners. In Wanneroo — held by Labor’s Sabine Winton — WASA has donated to the Liberal candidate Joshua Kingshott. In the Upper House, where minor parties are set to benefit from a lower vote threshold, WASA has supported all the parties, as well as the Shooters, Farmers and Fishers. “The laws are wrong. They do not target the criminal element sufficiently, they are an attack on the licensed firearms owner,” Mr Folie told The West Australian. “To get a license, you’ve been vetted by the police. So that process has already occurred, and people have been issued their license, and then they’ve gone out and bought a firearm. “Now there have been attacked and said, ‘no, hang on, we’ve got a problem with you guys’.” Mr Folie said he was also concerned about an “explosion” of feral animals as a result of the laws, as well as a number of gun shops going out of business. Labor’s firearm laws imposed tough limits on firearm ownership in WA — between five and ten depending on license holders’ purposes. Owners will also face tougher health and mental health checks, storage requirements, and changes to the property letter system, which allowed licence holders to be endorsed for gun ownership by farm owners for vermin control. Mr Walker told The West Australian that Labor’s reforms needed to be amended. “What the Cook Labor Government failed to do, however, was to consult properly, and to take feedback from genuine, law-abiding firearms owners into account,” he said. “It was their way or the highway, and that approach has left us with an Act which I honestly suspect is not fit for purpose.” Mr Walker said the buyback needed to be extended and the Act needed to be sent to a Parliamentary committee for “proper scrutiny”. The money could prove crucial in the Nationals’ bid to win regional seats from Labor — especially Kalgoorlie and Geraldton — while the minor parties will benefit financially with a stronger chance to win a crossbench seat in the Upper House. Last year, amid fierce debate on the laws, the Sporting Shooters Association donated a further $50,000 to the Nationals — who opposed Labor’s reforms. As part of the new Upper House system, a minor party needs just 50,000 votes to get elected — with Legalise Cannabis, the Australian Christians and Shooters, Farmers and Fishers all hopeful of making gains. Mr Papalia and Labor were contacted for comment.