Only two jurisdictions are poised to participate in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s “nationwide” gun buyback, as a senior South Australian minister slammed the federal government for failing to properly consult the public on the scheme. Source: The Australian.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns yesterday became the first politician to confirm the planned buyback would likely only include his state and the ACT, with other states refusing to participate.
Mr Minns said the buyback “came up briefly” at the last meeting of National Cabinet in June, despite the looming July 1 deadline for states to move legislation supporting gun reforms.
With that deadline passed, Mr Minns yesterday acknowledged the national buyback would likely consist of only two jurisdictions.
“To be frank with you, it does look like it’ll be NSW (and) the ACT,” he said, adding Western Australia had already undertaken a similar reform. “But that’s likely to be the only states. Nonetheless, we’re going ahead with it.”
Mr Minns claimed his state had an announcement on the buyback that was “imminent”. He added that while he would prefer other governments “come on board”, he couldn’t “genuinely influence the policies of other jurisdictions”.
SA Police Minister Michael Brown said the Malinauskas Government would not sign up to national firearm reforms if it involved no consultation with the public. He added SA could not sign up to a scheme with no national consensus.
An ACT government spokesman confirmed the jurisdiction would participate in the buyback alongside NSW. The Territory has introduced legislation but not yet passed it.
Tasmania is considering its own version of a buyback that would cover only certain types of guns, after the state rejected caps accepted by the ACT and NSW.
Queensland Police and Emergency Services Minister Dan Purdie also reaffirmed his state’s opposition to the scheme.
“As we have stated previously, Queensland will not be progressing a gun buyback as it does not focus on keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists and criminals, which was at the heart of what we saw at Bondi,” he said.
Western Australia completed a buyback earlier this year, while the Northern Territory has rejected participating in the national scheme.
FULL STORY
National gun buyback criticised as NSW Premier confirms only two jurisdictions remain (By Lachlan Leeming, The Australian)
