Jamie Chaffey (Parkes, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier this year, in this place, we witnessed an act of parliament that showed how far we have strayed from the democratic process. The terrorist attack at Bondi Beach by Islamic extremists was turned into a circus targeting the one million Australians who lawfully own and use firearms. With no time to consider the revised gun bill, it was brought before the parliament by the Albanese Labor government, with the support of the Greens in the Senate. It was an echo of what occurred on Christmas Eve at the hands of the New South Wales Labor government, who pushed through gun law reform that is already, hugely, having a detrimental effect on regional Australia.

With phone call after phone call, letter after letter and email after email, I'm getting angry residents throughout the Parkes electorate telling me that people do not want this gun law reform. They have pointed out that our country already has some of the toughest regulations in the world. They have argued that the problem was not farmers controlling feral animals. It was not sporting shooters developing their skills. It was not those who use firearms as part of their job. This terrible act of terrorism happened in one of our largest cities at our best known beach at the hands of Islamic extremist terrorists.

My electorate, the seat of Parkes, is a regional electorate. There are vast tracts of land managed by very few people. Pest animals flourish if the land is not managed. They can destroy land, livelihoods, ecosystems and species. The federal government's and the New South Wales government's new laws will diminish farmers' ability to keep the number of guns that they have for specific purposes. Sporting shooters have voiced their serious concerns about the impact on their sport and the lack of consultation.

Just a few weeks ago, at Broken Hill, I met with law-abiding gun owners at the Broken Hill sporting complex and heard firsthand the frustrations these people are facing with the new laws. I've also spoken to a number of small businesses throughout the Parkes electorate who specialise in supplying firearms, ammunition and accessories. They repeated to me one simple message—that these reforms could mean the end of their business.

David and Nancy Thwaites own and operate Walgett Hunt Camp Fish, a small business in Walgett, and have shared that their business has been at a virtual standstill, with a huge fall in revenue since the changes were made. They said:

One of the biggest grain growing regions in Australia faces huge crop losses and massive cost increases in utilising professional pest eradicators instead of free recreational hunters.

In Dubbo, Marty and Nicky Bourke, owners and operators of GunPro, their family business that's been trading for more than 16 years, have shared the devastating news that earlier this year they cancelled orders for $2 million worth of goods because of these rushed, misguided gun laws. About 40 per cent of their stock can no longer be sold, and firearm sales are down 90 per cent. This business is also a supplier to government agencies, including NSW Police and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

In Moree, small-business owners Sam and Sharnah Tomlinson from 2 Rivers Guns & Ammo shared that their business dreams have now become an absolute nightmare. Their staff members have been forced to find work elsewhere, and this couple are left to contemplate their future. They said:

None of these changes stop or will ever stop what happened, but the government will never admit its own faults. It will only ever pass them on to people like me.

In Broken Hill, the story is the same. Gerry from Silver City Guns & Ammo told me that now he must look seriously at the future of his generational family owned business.

The Labor-Greens coalition forced this gun buyback program onto all Australians without the details on how it will work. They simply committed $1 billion and quoted that the states and territories would be required to match that funding. Since then, we've heard that Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory will not participate, leaving more questions than answers. The Albanese government must commit to fair market value compensation for all firearms, redundant ammunition and accessories, and a financial support package for impacted small businesses and sporting shooters clubs affected by the legislative changes. This is what a lack of consultation can lead to—farmers concerned about their futures, sporting shooters left in confusion and small-business owners whose dreams have now turned into nightmares.