A promised national firearms register will receive a $160 million federal government injection in the May budget as a further step in a decades-long push for gun reform.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will announce the four-year funding commitment on Saturday after states and territories agreed to create a system for police to track gun possession following the fatal ambush of police in the Queensland town of Wieambilla in 2022.
“The Australian government is committed to protecting the Australian community and ensuring Australia’s firearms laws remain amongst the most effective in the world,” Dreyfus said.
The $161.3 million federal contribution builds on the legacy created by former prime minister John Howard, who moved quickly to ban automatic and semi-automatic weapons in the aftermath of the Port Arthur massacre, in which 35 people were killed.
In December, national cabinet agreed to create a national firearms register, a year after constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, and local man Alan Dare, were gunned down by Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland’s Western Downs region.
“The tragic events at Wieambilla in December 2022 were a catalyst for progressing this outstanding reform from the 1996 Port Arthur massacre response,” Dreyfus said.
Near the remote property in Wieambilla, Queensland, where two police officers were fatally ambushed.Credit: AAP Image/Jason O’Brien
The budget announcement comes at a time of heightened community tensions due to high-profile stabbing incidents, including the arrests of several teenage males, warnings from top police and intelligence officials over online extremist behaviour, as well as recent underworld-linked gun violence.
The register will provide police with a near real-time database on firearms, gun parts and their owners, as well as linking that information with other police and government information, including from the National Criminal Intelligence System.
“Once established, police will know where firearms are, who owns them, and what other risks to the community and police may exist,” Dreyfus said, adding the $250 million register was being developed through community consultation.
As part of the agreement, all states have agreed to extensive improvements to their own firearms systems, data management and changes to business practices and legislation.
“For states like Tasmania that currently used paper-based registry systems, this will see a replacement of these outdated systems with a digital alternative,” Dreyfus said in December.
Almost 30,000 firearms and weapons have been surrendered to authorities since a permanent, national firearms amnesty began in July 2022.
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