Australia’s Gun Laws Set to Be Strengthened in Wake of Bondi Terror Attack: WA Premier Reveals Blueprint for Nation as PM Vows to Take Action
- Australia’s gun laws are set to be strengthened in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, with WA Premier Roger Cook and NSW Premier Chris Minns leading the charge.
- WA’s new gun laws, introduced last year, could provide a blueprint for the nation, with restrictions on who can own a firearm and a national firearms register on the table.
- The Bondi terror attack, which left multiple people injured, has sparked a national debate on gun control, with advocates saying the country’s laws have been weakened since the Port Arthur tragedy.
- WA Premier Roger Cook has flagged better information-sharing with federal authorities and uniformity across the country on the types of weapons allowed as a key priority.
Australia is set to strengthen its gun laws in the wake of the devastating Bondi terror attack, with WA Premier Roger Cook and NSW Premier Chris Minns leading the charge. The two premiers have vowed to take action, with WA’s new gun laws, introduced last year, providing a blueprint for the nation.
According to WA Police Minister Reece Whitby, the state’s laws are the “strongest and safest” in the country, and are now being used as a model for the rest of Australia. “We in Western Australia have Australia’s leading, strongest and safest gun laws, and we are in a position now to share our experience and our knowledge with the rest of Australia,” Mr Whitby said.
The Bondi terror attack, which left multiple people injured, has sparked a national debate on gun control, with advocates saying the country’s laws have been weakened since the Port Arthur tragedy. The father involved in the shootings had been a licensed gun owner for a decade and had six registered firearms, which NSW Police said were recovered from the scene.
Mr Cook has flagged better information-sharing with federal authorities and uniformity across the country on the types of weapons allowed as a key priority. “It’s those high-level, automatic weapons, high calibre weapons, which quite frankly I don’t see any need to be in Australia,” he said.
The WA government has consistently pitched its changes as being focused on public safety, using that focus to justify moves to limit the types of weapons that can be owned. The legislation also gives the police commissioner broad discretion when considering whether a prospective firearm owner is a “fit and proper person”, allowing them to consider everything from their “conduct and behaviour” to their “views, opinions and attitudes”.
Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jonno Duniam has said while changes to gun laws are important, the opposition would wait to see the detail of any changes. “What the change to gun laws won’t do is stamp out antisemitism, and that was the driver behind these attacks and we can’t forget that,” he told the ABC.
The Greens have indicated broad support for changes, creating a potential pathway through federal parliament for any changes. National Cabinet has tasked the nation’s police ministers and attorneys-general to look at opportunities to go beyond WA’s laws, including accelerating work on a National Firearms Register and making Australian citizenship a condition of holding a firearm licence.