State rejects national gun buyback, another undecided
While one state publicly rejected Australia’s biggest gun buyback since the Port Arthur massacre, another left the door open.
Queensland’s Liberal-National government confirmed it would not support the plan just hours after it passed federal parliament.
“Queensland will not pursue a gun buyback because it has not tackled anti-Semitism and hatred and focused on keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists and criminals,” Prime Minister David Crisafulli said on Wednesday.
The legislation enabling this plan, along with stricter firearm restrictions, was rushed through the Senate following the December 14 Bondi terrorist attack.
Fifteen people were killed when two gunmen opened fire on Jewish celebrations, making it the deadliest attack in Australia since the 1996 Port Arthur tragedy.
The Queensland government is preparing to introduce its own gun control legislation in the first session of the state parliament in February.
“We did this really calmly and took our time… our response will focus on the heart of the problem: anti-Semitism, hatred and the fact that weapons are in the hands of terrorists and criminals,” Mr. Crisafulli said.
“I saw what was going on in Canberra; most Australians looked at it and thought it was a very confusing debate, some might even say a bit chaotic, and I don’t want that in Queensland.”
Tasmania’s Liberal government appeared less committed, working on gun reforms, saying they “meaningfully improve public safety and are based on evidence”.
“Tasmania hasn’t said they’re against it,” state minister and former federal MP Bridget Archer said.
“Tasmania has said we’re open to reform, but it’s also said we need to work on this and have these discussions in a measured and considered way.”
The Northern Territory government has previously said it would not support a plan under which states and territories would share buyback costs and encourage gun owners to surrender their firearms in exchange for payment.
“If the federal government wants to introduce a national buyback plan, it should fund it,” NT Premier Lia Finocchiaro said in early January.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Mr Crisafulli’s government needed to justify its position.
He said the Prime Minister’s conduct was not in the “interests of Queenslanders or the nation” and that there needed to be a uniform response similar to what followed Port Arthur.
The federal Labor government first tried to pass gun laws with separate anti-hate provisions, but split the bill after failing to get the numbers through the Senate.
The arms supply was approved on Tuesday with the support of the Greens.
More than four million guns are in circulation across the country, including more than a million each in Queensland and NSW, according to Home Office figures.
Victoria’s Labor government threw its weight behind the plan on Wednesday, saying the cost of the buyback would not be an issue.
“We can afford to do what is necessary,” Deputy Prime Minister Ben Carroll told reporters.
“I’m on the Labor side of politics and I’ll always give credit to John Howard for what he did on the gun buyback in ’96… that gun buyback is really important and we’ll do everything we can to support the Commonwealth.”
Home Secretary Tony Burke said gun laws addressed the method of the Bondi massacre but said they could only be as strong as the weakest state.
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
