Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak against the government's proposed changes to Australia's firearm laws and to place on the record my support for responsible gun owners, farmers, primary producers and sporting shooters who rely on firearms for their livelihoods, safety and way of life. Let me be clear from the outset. Australia does not have a gun control problem. What we have is the Albanese government attempting to use tragedy as a cover for ideology.

The horrific ISIS-inspired extremist Islamic terror attack at Bondi shocked our nation to its core. Australians mourn the innocent lives lost and stood united against evil. But what we must not do—and what this government is now doing—is exploit that tragedy to justify laws that would punish the very people who do nothing wrong and divert attention away from the real issue: extreme Islamic terror. That is the uncomfortable truth that the Prime Minister refuses to confront.

Instead of addressing the real failures that led to the attack, this government has developed a knee-jerk policy that proposes firearm restrictions that target farmers, regional Australians and responsible gun owners—people who obey the law, follow the rules and pose no threat to public safety. This is not leadership; this is political weakness and, some would say, political cowardice.

What we do know about the Bondi attack is deeply troubling. The perpetrator was known to authorities. The perpetrator was on an ASIO watchlist. There were failures in coordination, intelligence sharing and bureaucratic decision-making. Those are the failures this parliament should be examining, and, thanks to the pressure applied by the coalition and everyday Australians, those answers will come from the royal commission into the Bondi terror attack. But, rather than address the real problem, the Prime Minister has chosen to ignore the breakdowns within his own government's systems and shift the blame onto everyday Australians who legally and responsibly own firearms. It takes a pretty devious government to use the tragedy of Bondi to tighten firearms laws. And you know what, Mr Speaker? The people of Australia know this.

Jeffrey Ross, Queensland State President of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia Inc., said in a letter to me:

A firearms buyback and any major change to firearm laws are a cynical distraction from the authorities' likely failures leading up to the terrorist attack and a waste of taxpayers' money. Firearms owners are being used as a scapegoat and we are rightly scathing of the political motives behind these measures.

In my electorate of Capricornia, ever since the Prime Minister announced this legislation, my office has been inundated with emails and calls from constituents worried that they are being punished yet again by the Albanese government.

Let us be clear. Bondi was not a failure of gun control; it was a failure of the Albanese government. Under this legislation, the people who will pay the price are not extremists, not hate preachers, not criminals and not terrorists but farmers who need firearms to protect livestock, rural families who rely on them for safety and sporting shooters who have complied with every law this parliament has ever passed. This is just wrong. The National Party has always taken a responsible approach to firearms policy. We believe in strong laws. We believe in proper licensing, storage requirements and background checks. And we believe those laws legislated by the Howard government are working. Farmers did not cause Bondi. Sports shooters did not cause Bondi. Responsible gun owners did not cause Bondi. Islamic extremists did.

If the government is serious about preventing attacks, then it should be strengthening intelligence coordination, resourcing counterterrorism agencies properly and ensuring that watchlists mean something. Regional Australians already feel under siege from this government from policies made in Canberra boardrooms by people who have never set foot on a farm and never understood the realities of rural life. The National Party will stand with responsible gun owners. We will stand with the farmers. We will stand with regional Australians.

Australians want accountability, honesty and laws that actually make them safer, not laws that are simply a vanity project for this prime minister. I will be opposing this legislation.

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