Albanese to take campaign bush as Nationals revolt exposes rural divide
“Changing firearms laws will not stop terrorist attacks,” said NSW Nationals leader Gurmesh Singh.
Federal Nationals leader David Littleproud praised the NSW Nationals and said Albanese’s gun reforms targeted law-abiding gun owners, arguing the prime minister was hiding his reluctance to recall parliament and pass legislation to crack down on antisemitism and “Islamic extremism”.
Former Nationals leader and Riverina MP Michael McCormack also said gun reform was a distraction.
“I really worry that what we’re going to see now is farmers and recreational shooters being unfairly burdened with new, burdensome laws that do nothing to address the real problem, and that is radical Islam,” McCormack said. “I think, as always, the country people are being forced to take the blame.”
But independent rural MP Helen Haines, who represents Indi in Victoria, where Dezi Freeman is accused of killing two police officers in August, said firearms controls needed to be tighter. However, he warned the government, saying it must reassure the public that it will not restrict the legitimate use of weapons.
Member for Indi Helen Haines says sensible changes to gun laws are needed, but she also heard from her constituents that people need guns to do their jobs.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“[Freeman’s] His gun license had been revoked, but he still had firearms, and we saw where that went. “We have a problem to solve,” he said.
Primary producers who operate certain livestock operations, such as feedlots, are required to use guns to euthanize cattle for animal welfare purposes, and licensed pest controllers may own a variety of weapons to hunt different species such as deer, pigs, horses or goats.
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“I receive hundreds of emails from rural people who are concerned about their ability to use guns as a tool of commerce,” Haines said.
National Farmers Federation chief executive Hamish McIntyre told this outlet he would take a “very sensible” approach to working with the government on gun reform that would benefit everyone, including rural and regional communities.
McIntyre said the federation wanted to ensure governments held appropriate consultations.
“We all want to make the whole community feel more comfortable and safe,” he said. “We are very ready to engage in any reasonable dialogue. We do not want to get caught up in politics.”
Resolve Political Monitor’s polling in the days after the Bondi attack found three-quarters of Australians believe the law should be strengthened, while 10 per cent are satisfied with current regulations.
The NSW parliament has introduced the first legal changes since the Bondi tragedy after the legislation was passed in the NSW upper house in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The number of guns people can own will be restricted to a maximum of four, with the number limited to 10 for farmers and sport shooters.
The NSW Farmers’ Association has reacted angrily to the state reform, arguing the 10 firearm limit for farmers could force people who own more than one property to carry guns between farms. They argued that this would create “dangerous consequences” and described the reduction of the license renewal period from five years to two years as “ridiculous” bureaucracy.
Gun reform was a contentious issue for previous state Labor governments. Before the NSW state election in 1988, Barrie Unsworth’s then Labor government sought to tighten gun laws in response to the mass shootings on Hoddle Street and Queen Street in Melbourne the previous year.
The laws included annual registration of firearms, a ban on semi-automatic weapons, and restrictions on who could own a gun. Already facing electoral problems, Labor has seen huge swings of up to 20 per cent against it in regional seats, including the Hunter Valley and Riverina, where traditional ALP supporters oppose the government’s reforms.
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NSW Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Mark Banasiak told state parliament on Tuesday his party would nominate a candidate for the seat of any politician who voted for the Minns government’s Liberal Party-backed gun reforms.
The federal government’s reforms will include a national arms buyback, controls on firearms imports and moves to increase intelligence sharing among security agencies on the possession of weapons in society.
Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam said the Liberal Party was open to tougher rules but warned they would not prevent future antisemitic attacks.
“If we want to reform gun laws to protect Australians, to protect society and to make it safer, then let’s talk about this seriously. But if anyone believes that reforming gun laws will prevent this from happening again, they’re kidding themselves,” he said.
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