Well, the Victorian machete ban is now in full force, complete with its utterly absurd machete disposal bins and all of the nonsense that goes around the public messaging of it.

And of course, it hasn’t really done anything to reduce violence at all in Victoria. But what it has done is given bureaucrats more to do. And if there’s one thing Victorian bureaucrats love, it’s exercising power. And can you believe this story crossed my desk and I had to get Nick Dametto MP onto my show to talk about it because the Victorian government has seen fit to reach out into Queensland with its machete ban. I couldn’t quite believe it at first, but I looked and verified and sure enough, uh, Nick Dametto MP joining me from the from Queensland, this is true. The Victorian government is trying to intimidate a Queensland gun shop. Why?

[From video]

Chris, They certainly are. And the fact is uh there’s been a warning notice sent to a Queensland firearms dealer uh saying that they’ve breached their advertising standards in regards to advertising machetes on their website reminding everybody this is a Queensland based actually in Townsville North Queensland business. [End video]

I’m sorry to interrupt this interview with Nick Dametto MP. We will get back to that very very shortly. But first, my name’s Topher Field. This is the Topher project and this is what I do. I bring you stories that you might otherwise have missed because, well, to be honest, the mainstream media doesn’t really have a lot of incentive to keep people like you up to date with stories like this one. Particularly not given that we’re going to talk in a minute in this interview about the Castle Law petition that is doing now extremely well up in Queensland. And of course, there are petitions in other states as well.

However, the only way that I can support what I do because I don’t have any advertisers and I am 100% viewer supported is by you guys getting behind me. You can do that in two key ways. The first one is to buy me a coffee via the buy me a coffee button that you’ll find on my website topherfield.net. But also, you can check out my books and my DVDs and my merch at goodpeoplebreaklaws.com. That’s the web address there. There is my first best-selling book, Good People Break Bad Laws. This is a modern look at civil disobedience and its role in a civilized society. Then there is Good Christians Break Bad Laws. This is about the theology of civil disobedience. Lots of people during Covid said to me, Topher, I thought you were a Christian, but you’re disobeying the government. I said, yes, it’s because I’m a Christian that I am disobeying the government, and this book explains why.

Uh, and then, of course, you can get the DVD of my documentary, Battleground Melbourne. Now, you can watch this for free online by going to battlegroundmelbourne.com. You don’t have to sign up. You don’t have to give me your email address. It is there. It is in trust essentially. I don’t view this as my documentary. I had the privilege of directing and telling this story, but actually, it doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the people of Victoria, the ones who wrote the incredible story of courage during Covid lockdowns. So, it is available for free at battlegroundmelbourne.com. But if you’d like to support my work or just have a copy on the shelf in case anything ever happens to it online, then I’d really love it if you would grab a DVD while you’re shopping at goodpeoplebreakbadlaws.com.

There’s also, of course, my merch. There’s a range of different designs of my Good People Break Bad Laws slogan, but there’s also a bunch of other designs. Some are designed to be funny, some are designed to be provocative, and all of them are designed to be conversation starters. You’ll find that it in t-shirts and hoodies all at goodpeoplebreakbadlaws.com. All right, that’s enough about me. Let’s get back to this interview with Nick Dametto MP.

[From video]

Uh they advertise all over the internet. Obviously, their website is accessible probably throughout the world. So, for the Victorian government to pick on this one gun dealership that sells machetes, uh I’d ask the question, have they sent the same uh notification across to BCF? Any of the hunting stores or um camping or outdoor places uh places to advertise across the world. Uh there’s no geographical pen on most of the websites unless you’re in China, of course. [End video]

Well, I think Victoria might be trying to model themselves after uh China. I’ve got you put up a photograph here. This is yourself with I presume one of the staff or the owner of of the gun shop there. Obviously, you’re a pretty popular bloke in the uh in the area. If you have a look at the signage that’s just behind you there uh in that photo. I want to read the text of your post though. This is what grabbed my attention.

Victorian government overreach thinking their laws apply in Queensland. Pagan firearms in Townsville have received a formal warning from Consumer Affairs Victoria for advertising legally available machetes in Queensland on their Queensland website from their Queensland-based business. Someone in Consumer Affairs Victoria sent them a formal warning instead of just ignoring it as this business in a different state and doesn’t sell prohibited items in states where they are banned. Surely focusing on Victorian problems should be the focus of their states resources. In many ways, I’m starting to view Victoria as a failed state. This one reinforces my views.

I’m sorry to say, Nick, as a former Victorian, only moved out about two years ago, two and a half years ago, it is starting to look more and more that way, but I have to say I’m actually quite relieved to see this because clearly if Consumer Affairs Victoria are pursuing Queensland businesses, it must mean that all of the problems in Victoria have now been solved.

[From video]

You know, you’re absolutely right. I have no idea why they feel like, you know, picking on a small family who owned business up there in North Queensland has any weight on what’s happening in Victoria right now. A failed state in many ways. I continue to view it as such. I’ve been down there personally um in the last six months and it’s not the Melbourne that I um I remember visiting in my 20s and 30s where I quite enjoyed the place and a lot of people are moving north.

We’ve actually got a lot of Victorians living in Queensland now just trying to get away from the regime and like like you said they must have fixed all the problems down there because now they’re venturing out of what would seem as their jurisdiction u maybe to fill their days. Now, people might say, “This is just a warning. Uh, push it to the side and don’t worry about that.” This is a firearms dealership. They need to be actually viewed as fit and proper to hold some of their licenses. And with bureaucrats, you know, gauging how they view fit and proper when it comes to the firearms industry here in Queensland, that could actually be seen as a blight against this business moving forward. So, that’s why we’re pushing hard for the Victorian government to drop the warning altogether.

[End video]

Yeah. And what was the response to your questions around are they warning everybody? Do you do you know how far reaching this is or is this genuinely just this weird isolated case?

[From video]

You know, it’s so interesting. Uh everyone who’s been trying to get in contact with with CV uh the advertising standards there in Victoria, uh you can’t phone them. You there’s no direct line to them. Uh there’s no direct email. Uh there’s a consumer uh feedback hotline where sorry, email address where you can email them and then send a paper copy to uh to try and dispute this. So, not only are they a faceless bureaucrat, it’s almost impossible to speak with them. That’s why we’ll be uh making representation directly to the minister. [End video]

Yeah, it sounds like that might be necessary. Now, I just want to touch base with you. I interviewed someone else from the Katter Australia party, Robbie Katter, a little while ago talking about the petition for Castle Law in Queensland. That, if my memory serves me correctly, had some 30 odd thousand signatures at the time. Give us an update. How is that petition going now?

[From video]

Well, it’s been knocked out of the park. We’re way past 30,000 now. We’ve got 88,000 signatures so far on the parliamentary petition, making it the third largest Queensland parliamentary petition ever to be tabled in the Queensland Parliament. We’re aiming for 110,000. So, if you haven’t signed the petition so far and if you live in Queensland, you’re watching this uh this show, please get on there. Just Google search Castle Law Queensland. It’s the first thing that comes up. Sign the petition. Let this Queensland government know what we need. [End video]

And look, if you don’t live in Queensland, but you know people who do, then please make sure that they are aware of it and that they’ve signed it and that they’ve also passed it on. Obviously, this is only available to residents in Queensland. That’s how it is with any of these state level petitions. But if you do live in New South Wales or Victoria, then there are other equivalent petitions in your state as well. So, do take the time to look those up. And if you’re in other states, just have a quick look. There might be some petitions that I’m not presently aware of. So, do get behind this push for Castle Law in Australia.

Well, Nick, I wish more power to your arm. I would love to stay in touch and to get an update from you should you get a response from Consumer Affairs Victoria and see just how deep this rabbit hole goes. I mean, I’d love, I would love for Consumer Affairs Victoria to be reaching out globally. Would they would they reach out to a Russian gun store and try and get Vladimir Putin to shut them down for selling for selling machetes? I wonder.

[From video]

It’s a good question. Uh but we’ll um we’ll continue to keep them busy. If they’re going to try and keep our small businesses busy, we’ll be backwards and forwards debating this one with them and just trying to get uh the the relevant parties to drop this because it’s just ludicrous that they’re chasing this while they’ve got so many problems in Victoria right now. [End video]

Yeah. Well, Nick Dametto MP, thank you so much for joining me from Queensland. Thank you for taking up this fight on the behalf of your constituents and I look forward to staying across it as it progresses.

[From video] Most appreciated and thank you for getting the messages out. [End video]

Cheers.

[From video] Cheers. [End video]

Well, thank you for watching this interview with Nick Dametto MP, all about this absurd overreach by the Victorian Consumer Affairs and of course a little bit there about the Castle Law petition. I’m super excited about how well that is going. My name is Topher Field. This is the Topher project and you can support my work by buying me a coffee via the button at topherfield.net or you can check out my books, my DVDs, and all of my merch available at goodpeoplebreakbadlaws.com.

It’s you guys that are keeping the Topher project going and I’m incredibly grateful. Thank you for watching all the way to the end because the algorithm loves you and so do I. Please like, comment, subscribe,

And as always, think free.