A THIRTY year ban on fireworks sales in Victoria should be overturned, according to a minor party contesting the November state election.
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Australian Country Alliance is calling for the return of Cracker Night, a tradition that fizzled out in the early 1980s after restrictions were placed on the sale of fireworks.
Country Alliance spokesman Robert Danieli said the loss of the fireworks evening was the result of overprotection by the state government.
"Many families had a great fun night yet this was taken away from us," Mr Danieli said.
"I agree that there should be some controls such as having regard to the fire danger period, type of fireworks and age of purchaser, but these are easy things to put in place."
Country Alliance upper house candidate Garry Kerr said the policy was not set in stone but sympathised with Mr Danieli's arguments on the issue.
"What Robert is trying to say is that Victorians are over-regulated and fireworks is an example of that," Mr Kerr, who is standing for Western Victoria, said.
Cracker Night, also known as Bonfire Night and Guy Fawkes Night, is traditionally celebrated on November 5 and emanated from a failed plot to detonate explosives at London's House of Lords in 1605.
Fawkes was a member of the Gunpowder Plot which was aimed at taking the life of King James I and because the monarch's life was spared, bonfires were held across London to celebrate.
The tradition transferred to Australia during the colonial era but started to wane in the early 1980s.
The Cain government banned the unfettered sale of fireworks in Victoria in 1985.