NSW Coalition splits over gun laws as parliament resumes
Nationals MP and opposition police spokesman Paul Toole said he would vote against the bill because of gun reforms, which he described as a move away from antisemitism.
“The failure of federal and state Labor governments over the last 2.5 years has done little to stop this growing climate of hatred and division,” he said.
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“And now they want to rush through gun law reform that attacks our law-abiding citizens, farmers, landowners, sport shooters, gun shop owners, etc.”
One National MP, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the decision to put terrorism, guns and protest laws all in one bill was clearly designed to squeeze the Coalition.
“But lumping them all together is clearly political and unworkable for us,” the MP said.
While the bill was expected to be debated extensively in parliament on Monday, there was an expectation that two MPs from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party might try to filibuster the bill during the two days of parliament.
Shooters MP Mark Banasiak told the ABC the party had drafted around 50 amendments. Banasiak said the two Bondi attackers could have been prevented under existing laws from obtaining the weapons used in the attack and there was little to stop those with “hate in their hearts” finding a way to inflict violence on society.
Senior government sources said Labor was prepared to keep parliament running until Christmas Day if it faced intense resistance to the legislation.
A Liberal source bemoaned the Nationals’ decision, saying the party had fallen into a trap set by the government to talk about gun control rather than radical Islam.
Labor Friends of Palestine issued a statement on Sunday urging the government to reconsider the protest element of the bill. Members of Minns’ cabinet, including ministers Jihad Dib and Penny Sharpe, attended the pro-Palestinian march on the Harbor Bridge earlier this year.
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