Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Justice and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Counter-Terrorism. Will the minister update the House on the proposed National Firearms Amnesty? What action is the government taking to confront the threat of illegal firearms in our community?

Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for La Trobe for that question and the keen interest that he continues to take in law enforcement matters as a representative here in the parliament. The National Firearms Amnesty will commence on 1 July and last for three months, until the end of September. This is the first national firearms amnesty that we have had in Australia since the gun laws were changed in 1996 in response to the massacre at Port Arthur.

During the amnesty period, people who have unregistered firearms or firearm-related items in their possession, for whatever reason, will have the chance to legally dispose of them without penalty. People who participate in the amnesty will be helping to keep the community safe by ensuring that unregistered firearms, illegal firearms, do not fall into the wrong hands.

Sadly, as we have seen here and in other parts of the world, just one gun in the wrong hands can be deadly. Unregistered firearms that end up in the hands of criminals are very difficult to recover, meaning they can pose a greater risk than registered firearms when they are lost or stolen. We have had examples here in Australia. An illicit firearm was used to murder Curtis Cheng in New South Wales and an illegal firearm was also used in the Lindt Cafe siege.

This government has a very strong record of doing what we can to reduce the threat of illegal firearms in our community. We have introduced legislation that doubles the maximum penalty and provides for mandatory minimum sentences of five years imprisonment for those who are engaged in gun smuggling—legislation that, inexplicably, continues to be held up by the opposition in the Senate. We have also invested $88 million to increase screening and examination for international mail, sea and air cargo. This funding boost gives our agencies the tools that they need to intercept firearms trying to be smuggled across our borders. We have invested $116 million for the National Anti-Gang Squad, with strike teams now in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, and liaison officers in the other states and territories. Since the inception of the National Anti-Gang Squad, they have seized over 5½ thousand illegal firearms and gun parts. We have provided $25 million for the expansion of the AFP's national forensic rapid lab, which enhances the ability of the AFP to detect illegal firearms that may be smuggled in the mail.

This amnesty has been a long time in the making. It is critical that we reduce the number of illegal firearms in our community, and now is the time to act for Australians who may be in possession of an illegal or unregistered firearm, to avoid the very severe penalties that are associated with it outside of the amnesty period. Information is available online and by calling a national hotline, and I urge any Australian with one of these guns in their possession to take action. (Time expired)

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.