❓ A member of parliament questions the Police Minister about the firearms buyback program, specifically the transportation of firearms and associated costs. The Minister defends the program's success and accuses the opposition of spreading misinformation.
AnsweredQoN 477Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FIREARMS BUYBACK PROGRAM
477. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the firearms buyback
scheme with the $63 million budget and the minister's latest media
publicity stunt on the weekend that saw firearms loaded into a truck and dumped
on the ground.
(1) Who came up with the idea to
transport these firearms in the back of a truck?
(2) What was the cost of staging his
latest political media stunt?
(3) Which government agency will be
making this payment?
(4) Who authorised that payment?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Minister for Police, before I give you the call. Minister for Education, please
do not interject while questions are being asked.
477. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the firearms buyback
scheme with the $63 million budget and the minister's latest media
publicity stunt on the weekend that saw firearms loaded into a truck and dumped
on the ground.
(1) Who came up with the idea to
transport these firearms in the back of a truck?
(2) What was the cost of staging his
latest political media stunt?
(3) Which government agency will be
making this payment?
(4) Who authorised that payment?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Minister for Police, before I give you the call. Minister for Education, please
do not interject while questions are being asked.
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(4) I
thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question, which gives me the
opportunity to raise yet again with the people of Western Australia,
particularly those who have the opportunity —
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please. I
asked for silence while you asked the question. The minister is fewer than 15 seconds
into his answer and you are already interjecting. I would like to hear the
minister's answer.
Mr P. PAPALIA : It gives me
the opportunity to raise again with the people of Western Australia the success
of the government's response to introducing the toughest gun laws in
the country and toughening firearms legislation, which has been relatively
untouched for 50 years. What we have seen with the buyback, which has now been
underway for a little over five months, is 20 000 firearms being taken out of
the suburbs and towns of Western Australia.
There are 20 000 fewer guns, making the community safer and reducing the
opportunity for those guns to find
their way into the hands of criminals or people who would do harm with them. It
is making the community safer. It is a wonderful thing to see that the
people who held those licences and have willingly and voluntarily taken
advantage of the firearms buyback have benefited. They have been able to
receive funds in return for returning those firearms and getting them out of
the community. That is a good thing.
The
purpose of our recent media about the level of the return of firearms was to
bring it to the attention of people who are being misinformed and misled
by the Leader of the Opposition and the appalling behaviour of the National
Party and some members of the Liberal Party who are encouraging gun owners to
retain firearms that will not be able to be held when the laws come into
effect. People are believing the misleading and completely false information being peddled by the Leader of
the Opposition and his colleagues in a very divisive and dangerous manner on many occasions. When those people believe that information and choose
not to take advantage of the buyback, which will end at the end of this month,
they will find themselves in the position when the laws come into effect of
being in possession of a firearm that is no longer lawful. They will have to
lawfully divest themselves of the firearm before that time. They might be able
to sell it elsewhere in the community. If they sell it in Western Australia, it
probably will not be worth as much as they could get through the buyback. They
will have to lawfully divest themselves of
the firearm or they will be breaking the law, and they will not want to find
themselves in that position. The modelling suggests that many thousands
of people who are currently in possession of firearms will not be able to get a
licence when the laws come into effect because if they are not a farmer or a club
shooter and if they do not really know the person they have a property letter
from, which is their only genuine reason for having a firearm, they are
unlikely to have a genuine reason to have a firearm after the laws come into
effect. Right now, they should take advantage of the buyback; it is in their
interests to do so because they will lose their firearms at the end of this
process and there will not be another buyback program after the buyback ends.
thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question, which gives me the
opportunity to raise yet again with the people of Western Australia,
particularly those who have the opportunity —
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please. I
asked for silence while you asked the question. The minister is fewer than 15 seconds
into his answer and you are already interjecting. I would like to hear the
minister's answer.
Mr P. PAPALIA : It gives me
the opportunity to raise again with the people of Western Australia the success
of the government's response to introducing the toughest gun laws in
the country and toughening firearms legislation, which has been relatively
untouched for 50 years. What we have seen with the buyback, which has now been
underway for a little over five months, is 20 000 firearms being taken out of
the suburbs and towns of Western Australia.
There are 20 000 fewer guns, making the community safer and reducing the
opportunity for those guns to find
their way into the hands of criminals or people who would do harm with them. It
is making the community safer. It is a wonderful thing to see that the
people who held those licences and have willingly and voluntarily taken
advantage of the firearms buyback have benefited. They have been able to
receive funds in return for returning those firearms and getting them out of
the community. That is a good thing.
The
purpose of our recent media about the level of the return of firearms was to
bring it to the attention of people who are being misinformed and misled
by the Leader of the Opposition and the appalling behaviour of the National
Party and some members of the Liberal Party who are encouraging gun owners to
retain firearms that will not be able to be held when the laws come into
effect. People are believing the misleading and completely false information being peddled by the Leader of
the Opposition and his colleagues in a very divisive and dangerous manner on many occasions. When those people believe that information and choose
not to take advantage of the buyback, which will end at the end of this month,
they will find themselves in the position when the laws come into effect of
being in possession of a firearm that is no longer lawful. They will have to
lawfully divest themselves of the firearm before that time. They might be able
to sell it elsewhere in the community. If they sell it in Western Australia, it
probably will not be worth as much as they could get through the buyback. They
will have to lawfully divest themselves of
the firearm or they will be breaking the law, and they will not want to find
themselves in that position. The modelling suggests that many thousands
of people who are currently in possession of firearms will not be able to get a
licence when the laws come into effect because if they are not a farmer or a club
shooter and if they do not really know the person they have a property letter
from, which is their only genuine reason for having a firearm, they are
unlikely to have a genuine reason to have a firearm after the laws come into
effect. Right now, they should take advantage of the buyback; it is in their
interests to do so because they will lose their firearms at the end of this
process and there will not be another buyback program after the buyback ends.
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