The NSW parliament will be recalled on Monday 22 December in the afternoon and Tuesday 23 December. The only items of business will be a condolence motion and legislation arising from the Bondi tragedy.
It is understood this includes stronger gun laws that will set the pace for national reform in the wake of the horrific antisemitic mass shooting in Bondi.
The Australian Gun Safety Alliance, made up of Australia’s leading public-health, community-safety and firearm-harm prevention organisations, have released a ten-point blueprint for gun reform.
Greens MP Sue Higginson has written to the Premier and to Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane offering to pass the reforms contained within the Alliance’s ten-point plan through NSW parliament.
Greens MP and Spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson said, ‘The guns used to inflict the horrifying antisemitic killings and violence on Bondi beach should never have been in the hands of the hate fuelled depraved shooters and the fact that they were, is a failing of our gun laws and their implementation.
‘The Premier has identified reforms to enable greater consideration of intelligence by police when licensing firearms. What he has not mentioned is that the Firearms Act already provides for consideration of criminal intelligence, but it has been limited in its application,’ she said.
Evidence-based plan
‘Police need to be able to undertake and rely upon a broad range of intelligence from all intelligence agencies when we are talking about gun safety,’ said Sue Higginson.
‘The organisations working to curb gun violence have put forward an evidence-based plan to ensure some of the world’s tightest gun laws in the wake of this horror, and it’s time for us as lawmakers to unify around these reforms.
‘Now is the time to heed the advice of experts, advocates and survivors and rule out recreational hunting as a genuine reason to own a firearm. We must not forget that we came very close in NSW this year to relaxing our laws around recreational hunting. It was the work of the experts and the community who stopped this/
‘It’s essential that we outlaw political donations from the gun lobby. Public policymaking on an issue as serious as gun reform cannot be affixed to politics or political donations in any way.’
Racism
Sue Higginson MLC said, ‘It is very concerning that the gun lobby and their allies are using racism to obfuscate the failures of gun control and laws in this moment, which is exactly what we see in America. Australia is not America and we cannot go down America’s path in our rhetoric or our law.
‘The Greens stand willing to work with the Government and the Opposition to pass world-leading strong gun law reform through the NSW parliament.
‘In the wake of the Port Arthur Massacre we came together and walked in the right direction on gun restrictions, and now is the moment that all sides of politics must unify to walk in the right direction again.
‘Of course we must also tackle antisemitism and extremism at its root, but the reality is that antisemites have used guns to murder innocent people. Removing those guns is the most immediate action we can take to curb violent extremism.’
Background
The parts of the ten-point plan relevant to NSW that have the full support of the Greens include:
- Further restrictions on high-capacity firearms, including magazines and rapid-reload capability.
- No metropolitan home storage for non-occupational firearms.
- Strict limits on the number of firearms, no more than one firearm per person unless circumstances justify more.
- An explicit prohibition on children using firearm.
- Robust, regular renewals of firearm licenses which must be in person and subject to intelligence checks.
- Removal of recreational hunting as a ‘genuine reason’ to obtain a firearm license.
- An end to unlicensed shooting at ranges.
- A total ban on political donations from the gun lobby in NSW.
The Greens federally are calling for fast-tracked implementation of the National Firearms Register, strict limits on the number of firearms people can own, with exemptions only in exceptional circumstances, and a fresh national buy-back scheme to remove high powered and excess firearms from the community.
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