It’s just been announced: Victoria has a new Premier.

And today, his first major test could shape the future of wildlife protection in our state.

In just a matter of hours, the Outdoor Recreation Victoria Bill is expected to return to the parliamentary agenda in the lower house – legislation that would hand even greater power to the same officers exposed for targeting duck rescuers, helping shooters dodge safety laws, and ignoring illegal behaviour. Increased penalties for wildlife rescuers. The threat of imprisonment for volunteers who film wildlife cruelty. All while the regulator's own culture has been proven, on tape, to be rotten.

We need to stop this from happening immediately.

Jacinta Allan tried to ram this through. It was one of the last acts of a government that had lost the confidence of its own party room.

If the Bill isn't withdrawn from the parliamentary agenda in this window, it will be pushed through before the election, locking in a corrupt regulator with expanded powers for years to come, regardless of who Victorians vote for.

Urge Ben Carroll to immediately withdraw the Outdoor Recreation Victoria Bill from the legislative agenda.

The future of wildlife protection in Victoria depends on what happens today.

If this bill passes, it will become significantly harder to make progress on issues like ending duck shooting, protecting kangaroos and defending our public land and wildlife.

There will be many issues to raise with Premier Carroll in the days and weeks ahead – but this is the one that cannot wait.

The animal welfare case against this Bill is damning on its own. But it also happens to be one of the easiest calls a new Premier could make. Even MPs who've never thought twice about duck shooting should be uncomfortable fast-tracking more power to a regulator that's just been caught, on tape, admitting it targets the volunteers exposing cruelty.

We only have hours to make a difference. Send Ben Carroll a message right now.

Urge Ben Carroll to immediately withdraw the Outdoor Recreation Victoria Bill from the legislative agenda.

Delaying this Bill doesn't kill it forever, but it does stop it from being locked in without scrutiny before Victorians go to the polls at the November state election.