❓ The Minister for Police outlines the Cook government's support for the WA Police Force in removing firearms from criminals, highlighting Operation Larkman and recent operations targeting sovereign citizens and illicit firearms. The opposition's previous attempts to disallow safer gun laws are criticised.
AnsweredQoN 573Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Firearms—Police operations
573. Mr Mark Folkard to
the Minister for Police:
I refer to the Cook
government's commitment to keep the Western Australian community safe.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how the
government is supporting the Western Australia Police Force in removing
firearms from criminals?
(2) Can the minister outline any significant recent
operations?
573. Mr Mark Folkard to
the Minister for Police:
I refer to the Cook
government's commitment to keep the Western Australian community safe.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how the
government is supporting the Western Australia Police Force in removing
firearms from criminals?
(2) Can the minister outline any significant recent
operations?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the good
question. If anyone in the house knows about the issue of firearms and the work
that police do to protect us, it is the member for Mindarie. He has given many
years of service to the community, in the Parliament in latter years but
certainly before that in the police force. His voice is one to be respected in
the chamber.
We are committed to keeping
firearms out of the hands of some of the country's worst offenders. As at 17
October, 4,005 seizures occurred under Operation Larkman. Members will remember
that Operation Larkman was enabled by our safer gun laws. Those regulations
support Operation Larkman and the ability of police to seize firearms from
criminals, members of outlaw gangs and family and domestic violence
perpetrators. Those are the same laws and regulations that every opposition
member in this chamber tried to disallow twice. We know where those members sit
on this very important issue.
As I said, these guns were seized
from very bad people who were a risk in the community, putting the lives of not
just the public, but also police officers at risk. Just this month, Western
Australia police removed over 100 guns—in fact, it was 135 weapons from
members of the so-called sovereign citizen movement in a five-day operation. I
applauded the Commissioner of Police for taking that proactive action to avoid
some of the appalling criminal tragedies that we have seen in the eastern states.
We all, in this government, stand behind the commissioner and his action in
that regard. These are people who literally believe that the law does not apply
to them. The commissioner made the right call to take their guns away.
In addition, just last week the Western
Australia Police Force made another significant contribution during the
national illicit firearms week of action. It was a seven-day joint nationwide
operation that was coordinated by Australian Border Force and implemented to
target illicit firearm activity and reduce the availability of illicit firearms
in the community. Even the member for Mindarie, as a former police officer,
would be amazed at what this series of raids across the nation came up with. In
Western Australia, police executed 32 warrants that resulted in the seizure of
94 firearms and 223 firearm parts and several other weapons. All of those
weapons are now off the street, making the community safer. Twenty people were
arrested and 141 charges were laid. This included the execution of search warrants.
On 14 October in this operation, detectives seized a
stolen rifle, ammunition, pepper spray and a handheld electric shock device.
They also seized a homemade shotgun, parts used to manufacture firearms and a
manual entitled Expedient Homemade Firearms: The 9mm
Submachine Gun .
Point of order
Mr Lachlan Hunter: I want to remind you about your statement
on Tuesday ensuring that ministers keep their answer to a minimum. This has
gone on now for far too long.
The Speaker: Thank you, member for Central Wheatbelt. I
will not uphold that point of order.
Mr Roger Cook interjected.
The Speaker: Premier! Points of order will be heard in
silence, members. The minister is responding to the question and will start to
wrap up his comments.
Questions without notice resumed
Mr Reece Whitby: Absolutely, Mr Speaker. I understand why
members opposite do not want to hear about this. They do not want to hear about
it because they voted to undermine what is happening here.
I have some interesting photographs here from the
police. One shows a construction booklet for a submachine gun. These are
photos of handguns; derringer assembly instructions for a handgun or a revolver;
and, again, a nine-millimetre machine gun for defence and pistol resistance.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Reece Whitby: This is a photo of a handheld
electric shock device of some description.
Our police are to be
congratulated for the work that they do. They are getting real results across
Western Australia. When we talk about the legislation that we need to support
our police, I point out that members opposite tried twice this year to
undermine it, to rip the guts out of our safer gun laws and to put up
disallowance motions—
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Reece Whitby: This is what is at risk from what
they do—
Mr Lachlan Hunter interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Central Wheatbelt! Keep going,
minister.
Mr Reece Whitby: This is what is at risk, so we will continue
to do what we have done with safe gun laws. We will continue to give the police
the support they need to seize weapons from criminals and we will continue to
make Western Australia safer.
question. If anyone in the house knows about the issue of firearms and the work
that police do to protect us, it is the member for Mindarie. He has given many
years of service to the community, in the Parliament in latter years but
certainly before that in the police force. His voice is one to be respected in
the chamber.
We are committed to keeping
firearms out of the hands of some of the country's worst offenders. As at 17
October, 4,005 seizures occurred under Operation Larkman. Members will remember
that Operation Larkman was enabled by our safer gun laws. Those regulations
support Operation Larkman and the ability of police to seize firearms from
criminals, members of outlaw gangs and family and domestic violence
perpetrators. Those are the same laws and regulations that every opposition
member in this chamber tried to disallow twice. We know where those members sit
on this very important issue.
As I said, these guns were seized
from very bad people who were a risk in the community, putting the lives of not
just the public, but also police officers at risk. Just this month, Western
Australia police removed over 100 guns—in fact, it was 135 weapons from
members of the so-called sovereign citizen movement in a five-day operation. I
applauded the Commissioner of Police for taking that proactive action to avoid
some of the appalling criminal tragedies that we have seen in the eastern states.
We all, in this government, stand behind the commissioner and his action in
that regard. These are people who literally believe that the law does not apply
to them. The commissioner made the right call to take their guns away.
In addition, just last week the Western
Australia Police Force made another significant contribution during the
national illicit firearms week of action. It was a seven-day joint nationwide
operation that was coordinated by Australian Border Force and implemented to
target illicit firearm activity and reduce the availability of illicit firearms
in the community. Even the member for Mindarie, as a former police officer,
would be amazed at what this series of raids across the nation came up with. In
Western Australia, police executed 32 warrants that resulted in the seizure of
94 firearms and 223 firearm parts and several other weapons. All of those
weapons are now off the street, making the community safer. Twenty people were
arrested and 141 charges were laid. This included the execution of search warrants.
On 14 October in this operation, detectives seized a
stolen rifle, ammunition, pepper spray and a handheld electric shock device.
They also seized a homemade shotgun, parts used to manufacture firearms and a
manual entitled Expedient Homemade Firearms: The 9mm
Submachine Gun .
Point of order
Mr Lachlan Hunter: I want to remind you about your statement
on Tuesday ensuring that ministers keep their answer to a minimum. This has
gone on now for far too long.
The Speaker: Thank you, member for Central Wheatbelt. I
will not uphold that point of order.
Mr Roger Cook interjected.
The Speaker: Premier! Points of order will be heard in
silence, members. The minister is responding to the question and will start to
wrap up his comments.
Questions without notice resumed
Mr Reece Whitby: Absolutely, Mr Speaker. I understand why
members opposite do not want to hear about this. They do not want to hear about
it because they voted to undermine what is happening here.
I have some interesting photographs here from the
police. One shows a construction booklet for a submachine gun. These are
photos of handguns; derringer assembly instructions for a handgun or a revolver;
and, again, a nine-millimetre machine gun for defence and pistol resistance.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Reece Whitby: This is a photo of a handheld
electric shock device of some description.
Our police are to be
congratulated for the work that they do. They are getting real results across
Western Australia. When we talk about the legislation that we need to support
our police, I point out that members opposite tried twice this year to
undermine it, to rip the guts out of our safer gun laws and to put up
disallowance motions—
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Reece Whitby: This is what is at risk from what
they do—
Mr Lachlan Hunter interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Central Wheatbelt! Keep going,
minister.
Mr Reece Whitby: This is what is at risk, so we will continue
to do what we have done with safe gun laws. We will continue to give the police
the support they need to seize weapons from criminals and we will continue to
make Western Australia safer.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.