Victoria joins smaller jurisdictions asking Canberra for help to fund vital upgrade to state firearms registers

Victoria has joined smaller jurisdictions asking Canberra for financial assistance to upgrade old state firearms registers to make them compatible with a real-time digital national gun database.

The funeral service with full police honours for Constable Rachel McCrow and Constable Matthew Arnold. The need for a national firearm register has been driven home by the shooting murders of the police officers and a neighbour in Queensland last December. Picture: Sky News,

Australia’s second-largest state Victoria has joined the smaller jurisdictions in demanding the Federal Government pay for its ageing firearm registry to be upgraded and integrated into the national gun database.

The state – the most debt-ridden in the country – has joined Tasmania, the Northern Territory, South Australia and the ACT in seeking federal assistance in getting its database to the standard where it can integrate with a national system.

The three other big states – Queensland, Western Australia and NSW – have gone ahead independently and started updating their registries in anticipation of a new national database coming online.

But the renewed determination to get the register established – following the murder of two police officers in Queensland last year by a man with guns registered across two states – has stalled because the small jurisdictions and Victoria say they can’t afford the upgrades on their own. The cost for each to plug in to the national database, and be able to access real-time data on gun owners and individuals firearms, could be as high as $30 million, and the new register has been priced at more than $200 million.

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Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton – a former police officer – made an impassioned plea for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to intervene and get the dispute resolved before more lives were lost.

“The Prime Minister needs to get this across the line without any delay,’’ he told The Australian.

“We can’t afford to lose another life, and the register will literally save lives.

“Not just police officers but victims of crime including domestic violence.

“Whatever the delay, whether it’s bureaucratic or a stoush about money let’s just get it sorted out quickly.’’

Mr Albanese’s office did not respond to questions.

Commonwealth Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus told his state and territory counterparts at last week’s Police Ministers’ Council meeting that he expected the funding stoush would be resolved by national cabinet by the end of the year, leading some jurisdictions to believe the Albanese government may be prepared to increase their original offer, made several months ago.

Victorian Police Minister Anthony Carbines did not directly respond to questions but a spokesperson issued a statement on behalf of the Victorian Government saying “we reaffirm our support for the National Firearms Agreement”.

“However, we have been clear with the Federal Government that significant funding will be needed for Victoria, and all jurisdictions, to be able to integrate into a national firearms registry,’’ the spokesperson said.

“We will continue to work closely with the Commonwealth and state and territory governments on the best way to establish the registry.

“We continue to consult with legal firearm users on safety issues, including through the Police Minister’s expert firearms advisory body the Victorian Firearms Consultative Committee to ensure our laws appropriately balance the regulation of firearms with maintaining public safety.’’

Victorian Police Minister Anthony Carbines. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Crosling

Like the smaller states and territories, Victoria Police’s firearms register is still partially paper-based. Police are currently assessing the database to determine what can be digitised, and how the system can be more closely aligned with the overarching Victorian Government service provider Service Victoria.

Victoria has 232,809 firearm licences on its database, along with at least 941,466 individual weapons.

The need for a national firearm register – first agreed after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 but never implemented – has been driven home by the shooting murders of the two police officers and a neighbour at Wieambilla in Queensland on December 12 by a trio of Christian extremists.

One of the group, former NSW school principal Nathaniel Train, was later found to have guns registered to him in both NSW and Queensland, and that while his Queensland licence had been suspended, he was still in possession of it.

A Coroner is investigating if communications gaps between NSW and Queensland contributed to the murders of Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, and neighbour Alan Dare.

The remote Wieambilla property where Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train ambushed and murdered Constable Rachel McCrow, Constable Matthew Arnold and neighbour Alan Dare on December 12, 2022. Picture: Liam Kidston

Queensland has already budgeted $15m to rebuild and digitise its state weapons registry, and senior police are due to meet with potential vendors for a new system before the end of the week.

The Weekend Australian understands Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Cabinet has given in-principle backing to the government paying for the multimillion-dollar additional “plug in” cost for Queensland’s new registry to be compatible with the federal system.

Police Minister Mark Ryan declared Queensland’s “total commitment’’ to the national register.

“Queensland put this matter on the national agenda and will not resile from whatever it takes to achieve its establishment,’’ he said.

“Queensland has already made a funding allocation for the new state system, the expected uplift costs and the plug-in costs for the National Firearms Register.

“In addition, the Queensland Police Service has already begun an extensive body of work to upgrade Queensland’s weapons register, and that work will continue so that Queensland will be ready to participate in a national register.

Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan attends the memorial service with full police honours for fallen police officers Constable Rachel McCrow and Constable Matthew Arnold last December. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“It is my view that outstanding matters, including the issue of funding, should be resolved as quickly as possible.

“Establishing a National Firearms Register is the right thing to do, and the sooner it is done, the better.’’

WA Police Minister Paul Papalia said Western Australia had already committed to spend tens of millions of dollars to upgrade the state’s firearms register by the end of next year, to be compatible with a national database, but also to enable its drastic gun law rewrite.

“We’ve fully committed. Western Australia will ensure that as we upgrade our systems and enact our firearms legislation, we will be completely compatible with the national firearms registry, and we will fund our part of it,” Mr Papalia said.

“That’s not funding something in Canberra, that’s funding our ability to provide all of the information we require in a compatible fashion to whatever they (the federal government) establish.”

Western Australia's Police Minister Paul Papalia is overhauling the state's gun laws for the first time in 50 years. Picture: Supplied

ACT Police Minister Mick Gentleman did not respond directly to questions but an ACT Government spokeswoman confirmed the territory was in “ongoing discussions with the Federal Government, the states and the Northern Territory to consider options for a national firearms register and related costings.

“While the ACT Government has undertaken initial work to cost a possible upgrade to the existing firearms registry, those costings are not yet finalised,” the spokeswoman said.

Northern Territory Minister Brent Potter said he agreed with the creation of a national register and “I will continue to work with my ... colleagues from interstate on this.’’

“As a small jurisdiction, the cost liability for the Northern Territory is greater. We are working with the Commonwealth to determine how this project will be funded,’’ Mr Potter said.

South Australia Police Minister Joe Szakacs declined to answer questions at all, with a spokesperson referring questions to Mr Dreyfus.

Tasmania’s Police Minister Felix Ellis said his state was committed to ensuring the full establishment of a national firearm register.

“This commitment from all jurisdictions was reaffirmed at the Police Minister’s Council of 23 November 2023,’’ he said.

New South Wales has the most advanced gun register in Australia, and has undertaken several reviews after two incidents where two men – John Edwards and Wayne Smith – found gaps in the system and used them to access guns and murder their children.

A spokesperson for Police Minister Yasmin Catley said the state was committed to the national register.

“NSW is considered to be leading the nation in our ability to track firearms. Our register is most of the way to being fully digitised and ready to be compliant with a National Register,’’ the spokeswoman said.