Prime minister announces 'largest' gun buyback scheme since Howard era
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a national gun buyback scheme. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
In short:
The federal government has announced it will fund a national buyback scheme to reimburse gun owners who hand in surplus, newly banned or illegal firearms under tougher gun laws being proposed in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.
Labor will first have to get legislation through parliament to provide funding for the scheme, which it said would be split 50:50 with the states, with the Coalition yet to formally commit its support for gun law reform.
What's next?
The Coalition has called for parliament to be recalled next week in response to the attack, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that wouldn't be practical.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced the government will fund a national gun buyback scheme, labelling it the largest such measure since John Howard established a similar plan in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre.
The buyback initiative would be consistent with the 1996 approach, Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Friday, and target surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms.
Strengthening gun laws was the government's first major commitment in the immediate aftermath of the deadly terror attack on Sydney's Jewish community, in which 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl, were killed.
Labor will first have to pass legislation to provide funding for the scheme, with the Coalition yet to formally commit its support for gun law reform as it calls for parliament to be recalled next week.
Speaking after a meeting of the National Security Committee, Mr Albanese said the Commonwealth would split the cost of the buyback with the states and territories on a 50:50 basis, with further details of the scheme to be worked out from next week.
The prime minister is facing some internal resistance to tougher firearm restrictions, with Hunter MP and Olympic shooter Dan Repacholi taking to Instagram to declare he does not support changes "that unfairly target responsible, law-abiding firearms owners".
Mr Repacholi, who is a licensed firearm owner, said he had received thousands of emails and calls after New South Wales Premier Chris Minns announced he would recall parliament to consider limits on the number of guns a person can own.
Reforms to gun laws in Australia after the Port Arthur massacre were celebrated, but also resisted. (Supplied)
Gun laws are primarily the responsibility of states and territories, which would also be tasked with the collection, processing and payments under the prime minister's proposal, while the Australian Federal Police would manage the destruction of the weapons.
Mr Albanese said there were more than four million firearms in Australia, which is more than at the time of the Port Arthur massacre.
"The terrible events at Bondi show we need to get more guns off our streets," he said.
"We know that one of these terrorists held a firearm licence and had six guns, in spite of living in the middle of Sydney's suburbs.
"There's no reason why someone in that situation needed that many guns."
National cabinet — which is made up of the prime minister and state and territory leaders — unanimously agreed to look at ways to bolster gun laws on Monday.
Accelerating the launch of a national firearms register, limiting the number of guns a single person can own, making Australian citizenship a condition of holding a gun licence, and further restricting the types of weapons that are legal are among the options being explored.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the buyback scheme "makes everything else possible", flagging that if limits were imposed on the number of guns permitted per person, Australians would be forced to forfeit their surplus weapons.
"In 1996, the then-Howard government did the right thing — intervened to have a scheme which Australians have been rightly proud of. We need to go further," Mr Albanese said.
Earlier this week, however, Mr Howard warned that the renewed focus on gun reform was a distraction from a conversation about underlying issue of antisemitism.
He said he did not want to see guns "be used as a pretext to avoid the broader debate about the spread of hatred of Jewish people".
In a statement, a spokesperson for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the Coalition supported a "sensible and proportionate examination of current gun laws", but was waiting to see details before pledging support for any reforms.
"The government says this won’t be determined for months, but there are laws that the parliament could pass today to directly eradicate antisemitism, combat extremism and strengthen counter terrorism measures," the statement read.
Sunday declared a day of reflection
The announcement comes a day after the prime minister unveiled sweeping reforms to hate speech laws, which the government said would lower the threshold for charges.
The opposition has called for parliament to be recalled next week so laws can be passed, but Mr Albanese has refused, telling reporters "it's not practical".
This Sunday has been declared a day of reflection to honour the victims of the Bondi attack, a week to the day after it occurred, with Australians urged to observe a minute's silence.
Flags on all New South Wales and Australian government buildings will be flown at half-mast on Sunday, Mr Albanese said.
He added that the government would also work with the Jewish community to arrange a national day of mourning to be held next year.