Three decades on from Port Arthur massacre, deal finally done on national guns register
Twenty-seven years after it was first agreed following the Port Arthur massacre, Australia’s leaders sign a historic deal to introduce a national gun registry.
Australia will finally get a new $250m national firearms register after the Albanese government struck a deal with the premiers and chief ministers to usher in the most significant federal gun control measure in decades.
A 27-year impasse over the register ended when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese agreed to bail out the states and territories and cover a substantial proportion of the costs associated with making the eight registers compatible with a new national database.
The reform – backed by police and gun control advocates – was first agreed to after the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania in 1996, and promised again after two police officers and a neighbour were shot dead at Wieambilla in Queensland on December 12 last year.
The deal coincided with a major announcement from the Queensland Police and the FBI that they had arrested Donald Day, a 58-year-old US national, at a remote property in the Arizona mountains for allegedly inciting the religiously motivated attack at Wieambilla.
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Conspiracy theorists and Christian extremists Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel Train carried out the deadly ambush on constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, as well as neighbour Alan Dare, at the off-grid block more than 300km west of Brisbane. Nathaniel had a suspended Queensland gun licence but it had not been confiscated from him, and he had guns “co-registered’’ in NSW and Queensland.
Mr Day had allegedly been sending Gareth and Stacey “Christian end of days ideology” material from May 2021 until the attack, after he and Gareth connected on YouTube. After they killed the officers and Dare, Gareth and Stacey filmed a YouTube video in which they told “Don” they loved him and they would “be home soon”.
Wednesday’s national cabinet announcement follows The Australian’s Target on Guns investigation, which revealed the negotiations had been stalled for months by the funding fight, and were hamstrung by inconsistencies in gun laws across the country.
Mr Albanese said the decision, made over dinner with state and territory leaders on the eve of the meeting, completed the reforms begun by former prime minister John Howard in 1996.
The Prime Minister said the register would address “significant gaps and inconsistencies with the way firearms are managed across all jurisdictions”.
Gun safety advocate and the face of the Port Arthur tragedy, Walter Mikac – whose wife Nanette and daughters Alannah, 6, and Madeline, 3, were killed – said he was “very pleased” at the result, albeit many years after his family was murdered.
“Although it has taken nearly 27 years, I am very pleased that the final part of the National Firearms Agreement has been agreed to,” he told The Australian.
“Australia is certainly a safer place than in 1996 when it comes to firearm violence. The bipartisan leadership shown in 1996 is on display again in 2023 when leaders around the country can come together in the interests of public safety.”
“Thanks to the Prime Minister and Attorney-General for driving this process, and all premiers and chief ministers for getting behind the national firearms register.”
Negotiations had been at a stalemate after smaller jurisdictions Tasmania, the ACT, Northern Territory and South Australia – as well as Victoria – demanded federal financial help to upgrade their ageing and often paper-based registries.
The Australian understands the federal government will split the “uplift cost” of joining the new national database 50-50 with Queensland, NSW and Western Australia, while Tasmania, South Australia, the ACT and the NT will get 75 per cent from the commonwealth. It’s unknown which category Victoria will fall into.
“This represents the most significant improvement in Australia’s firearms management systems in almost 30 years and will keep Australia’s first responders and community safer,” Mr Albanese said.
Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers – who led the renewed push for a registry – said the sharing of information across Australia “in a format every jurisdiction can understand” was the key to keeping the police and the community safe.
“I am proud of this achievement today. I thank all those leaders who have helped turn my vision into a reality, and I hope it will be a legacy that will continue to keep people safe long after we have all retired,” Mr Leavers said.
Australian Federal Police Association president Alex Caruana said the funding agreement would be welcomed by every police officer and first responder in the country, and the database was about providing potentially lifesaving information, not “taking firearms away from people”.
“Police in an operational environment will immediately know if a suspect or offender has a firearm or firearms registered to them. This information will allow police to make decisions regarding public and officer safety almost immediately when dealing with a situation,” Mr Caruana said. “(And) if the suspect or offender travels interstate, police in that state will immediately be able to access the information without having to wait for a cross-jurisdictional process that can take many hours.”
The new registry will likely rely on all jurisdictions agreeing on national definitions for guns, ammunition, and weapon parts to ensure intelligence can be communicated seamlessly. It will also allow gun dealers to instantly verify whether a gun-buyer’s licence is valid and include an alert system for suspicious events or high-risk people, including for rejected, suspended or cancelled licences.
Nathaniel Train, a former school principal, had his Queensland gun licence suspended in August 2022 after he illegally crossed the state border during Covid lockdowns in December 2021. He dumped two of his registered guns at the border; two more were found when police raided the Wieambilla property after the shootings.
It was later revealed his weapons were co-registered in NSW and Queensland. Queensland coroner Terry Ryan is investigating whether there was a communication breakdown between the states’ police forces.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who put the firearm register on the national cabinet agenda in February, said as the one-year anniversary of the tragedy approached it was “going to be a very, very sad day for their families, so to have that reform is absolutely critical”.
Shooters Union Australia president Graham Park said he welcomed “the instant interchange of information between jurisdictions” and thought it was “long overdue, but questioned whether it would cost only $200m “given the near-inevitability with which large-scale government projects go over budget”.
“We’re also surprised by the time frame – if this is such a pressing issue of national importance, why is the time frame for implementing it almost 2030?”
Mr Park said all states and territories should adopt the system being used by NSW.
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