❓ Mrs Roberts questions the Minister for Police on the delay in addressing loopholes in the Firearms Act identified in a 2013 Auditor General's report. The Minister responds by outlining the need for a comprehensive review and a contemporary legislative instrument.
AnsweredQoN 502Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FIREARMS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
502. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the Minister for
Police:
I have a supplementary question.
After the Auditor General brought down his report in 2013, the minister went on
radio and described the permission letter situation as ''an absolute
nonsense'' and ''a bizarre anomaly''. Why is it that two
years later the minister has still not fixed the loophole in the Firearms Act?
502. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the Minister for
Police:
I have a supplementary question.
After the Auditor General brought down his report in 2013, the minister went on
radio and described the permission letter situation as ''an absolute
nonsense'' and ''a bizarre anomaly''. Why is it that two
years later the minister has still not fixed the loophole in the Firearms Act?
AnswerView source ↗
Indeed, one of the problems I think
we have with legislation in this state is that there is often a piecemeal
approach to rectifying anomalous situations that arise out of our legislative
instruments. I requested a comprehensive review of the Firearms Act. Obviously,
a large number of stakeholders have wanted to contribute to that review. My
interest is in getting a new legislative instrument that will be contemporary,
workable and acceptable to all the stakeholders. Obviously, of paramount
concern is we want the safety of every single Western Australian to be put at
the forefront of this. Out of the review and out of our registration system, we
want a system whereby police know where every single firearm is stored, how
many people own them, where they are located and who those people are. We want
to make sure that only appropriate people own firearms, that we know how many
they have, we know where they are stored and we have good compliance and a
robust system to manage them. That is my interest, and sitting atop that, of
course, is the fact that it will be a contemporary piece of legislation. I am
not interested in a minor amendment to the act; I want legislation that will
bring us into this century.
we have with legislation in this state is that there is often a piecemeal
approach to rectifying anomalous situations that arise out of our legislative
instruments. I requested a comprehensive review of the Firearms Act. Obviously,
a large number of stakeholders have wanted to contribute to that review. My
interest is in getting a new legislative instrument that will be contemporary,
workable and acceptable to all the stakeholders. Obviously, of paramount
concern is we want the safety of every single Western Australian to be put at
the forefront of this. Out of the review and out of our registration system, we
want a system whereby police know where every single firearm is stored, how
many people own them, where they are located and who those people are. We want
to make sure that only appropriate people own firearms, that we know how many
they have, we know where they are stored and we have good compliance and a
robust system to manage them. That is my interest, and sitting atop that, of
course, is the fact that it will be a contemporary piece of legislation. I am
not interested in a minor amendment to the act; I want legislation that will
bring us into this century.
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