It primarily advocates for increased funding and services for rural and regional Australia,[13] protecting the right to farm,[14] enhancing commercial and recreational fishing,[15] and relaxing gun control for citizens.

The Shooters Party was formed on 2 May 1992 by journalist and broadcaster John Tingle after the New South Wales Government proposed to tighten gun control laws after a number of Australian mass shootings.

[24] Tingle in the Legislative Council served until 3 May 2006 when he, at the age of 74, resigned from Parliament before, allegedly due to illness believed to be cancer.

The so-called alliance arranged a preference deal among the minor parties which enabled candidates with very small primary votes to win seats in the Senate.

[20] The party has since adopted a much broader agenda, developing policies in areas such as water management; regional health care; education; mining and energy; local government and policing.

[33] In the 2019 NSW state election, the SFF Party campaigned strongly on the need to change policies and management around the Murray Darling Basin (MDB).

The plan called for: SFF argued a federal royal commission was needed to evaluate the flawed science, weak regulation and selective data undermining the MDBP; and flush out the corruption.

The party's policies were initially entirely focused around firearms, asserting that every law-abiding citizen should have the right to own and use a firearm for legitimate purposes, including self-defence, a position that remains relatively unchanged but broadened in that they now advocate for the tougher sentencing for illegal gun use and do not condone "American style gun laws".

These include those giving rights of self-defence to any citizen, anywhere, with immunity from civil or criminal liability;[citation needed] providing extra penalties for attacks on vulnerable people;[citation needed] giving families of homicide victims the right to be heard in court;[citation needed] establishment of the Game Council New South Wales now disbanded,[citation needed] and legislation allowing specifically licensed hunters to hunt on public land; government funding controlled by the party for shooting clubs, and the establishment and control of regional shooting complexes; recognition of membership of a hunting club as "genuine reason" for obtaining a firearms licence; and extension of minor permits from ages 12 to 18.

[40][41] In New South Wales, following the 2019 state election the party outlined its agenda that included calls for a NSW royal commission into water management, a "right to farm bill" to protect farmers against animal rights activists, and opposition to the Murray-Darling Basin plan, forced council mergers, and lockout laws in Sydney.

"[45] However, Burston subsequently stated: "The claim that I have approached the Shooters Party is totally and absolutely false".

On 30 July 2010, Smith died in his sleep and Robert Borsak was nominated by the party to fill the casual vacancy.

[47] At the 2011 New South Wales state election, the Liberal/National Coalition took government but with three seats short of a majority in the upper house.

[49] In May 2012 the party negotiated a deal with the O'Farrell government giving recreational shooters access to national parks to cull feral animals including pigs, rabbits and deer by allowing the passage of laws through the NSW Upper House to sell the state-owned power generating assets of Eraring Energy, Delta Electricity and Macquarie Generation, that were claimed to yield up to A$3 billion.

[22][23] On 3 March 2022, Dalton resigned from Shooters Fishers and Farmers due to disagreeing with the party's Legislative Council members not showing up to vote against a bill regarding water usage that she believed would "disadvantage communities and irrigators in the lower Darling and Murray river system".

Nigel Hallett was elected for the Liberal Party in South West Region, but changed to the Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers in June 2016.

Mazza subsequently formed a 'conservative bloc' with One Nation and the Liberal Democratic Party in the Legislative Council.