Australia launches biggest gun buyback in 30 years after Bondi beach terror attack | Gun control

The federal government will launch a new gun buyback scheme in response to the Bondi beach terror attack, which Anthony Albanese said would be the biggest gun collection since the Port Arthur massacre nearly three decades ago.

The costs of the buyback, which is expected to destroy hundreds of thousands of weapons, will be shared between the federal government and the states, the prime minister said on Friday.

States and territories will collect surrendered weapons, while Australian federal police will oversee their destruction.

Albanese, who declared Sunday a national day of reflection for the 15 victims of the Bondi attack, confirmed intelligence from the Office of National Intelligence showing the attackers used regular online video game streaming from the terrorist group Islamic State.

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Albanese has faced questions over whether intelligence failures contributed to the killings. He said there was no information that data sharing could have prevented the massacre.

The buyback comes as state governments are preparing to tighten gun laws through the national cabinet; It is expected to see gun licenses issued only to Australian citizens, as well as better background checks, limits on the time period in which licenses can be issued, and limits on the number of guns individuals can own.

The long-awaited national firearms registry, first proposed after the Port Arthur massacre, is being accelerated but won’t be ready until 2027 at the earliest.

“We know that one of these terrorists had a firearms licence, and even though he lived in the middle of a Sydney suburb, he had six guns. There’s no reason why someone in that situation would need that many guns,” Albanese said.

The number of guns legally owned in Australia is more than 4 million, an increase of more than 25% since groundbreaking law reforms introduced by the Howard government. 35 people were killed in Tasmania’s tourist town Port Arthur In 1996.

The subsequent buyback and amnesty saw approximately 650,000 weapons destroyed.

The new buyback would allow gun owners whose collections exceed the new laws to surrender their guns and could include voluntary surrender.

The Prime Minister has called for bipartisanship on gun law reform, although members of the Coalition, One Nation and smaller parties such as Labor supporter and Olympic shooter Dan Repacholi have said the changes are not necessary.

Albanese praised Repacholi’s record as a Hunter member but warned tougher rules, including maintaining safety in the suburbs of Australia’s biggest cities, were long overdue.

“If a man in Bonnyrigg needs six high-powered rifles and can get them under the current licensing scheme then there is a problem,” he said.

In a lengthy post on social media on Friday, Repacholi said the new rules should not target responsible and law-abiding firearm owners.

“From what we have learned, the focus should be on information sharing, risk identification and enforcement of existing powers, not arbitrary restrictions that punish people who have done nothing wrong,” he wrote.

“NSW police already have significant powers to suspend or revoke licenses where a person is unfit and unfit.”

New South Wales premier Chris Minns and his West Australian counterpart Roger Cook are leading reform proposals for the national cabinet, but the Coalition has accused the government of using gun laws to distract from Labor’s record on tackling antisemitism since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley told Sydney radio 2GB on Friday that the Coalition would provide a reasonable and proportionate review of any proposals on weapons, but called for the focus to remain on antisemitism.

“It’s…disingenuous and it’s not right to divert the issue to that point because what we have to deal with here is the rising tide of anti-Semitism,” he said.

Nationals leader David Littleproud, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and the Shooters’ Association have all stated their strong opposition to tightening gun laws.