Sue Lines (President) Share this | Hansard source

I will now deal with the second reading amendment circulated by Senator Thorpe.

Senator Thorpe's circulated amendments—

SHEET 3614

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate:

(a) supports National Cabinet's agreement of 6 December 2023 to deliver the outstanding reform arising from the 1996 Port Arthur massacre of the establishment of a National Firearms Register;

(b) notes that:

(i) stolen licensed firearms are a primary driver of the illegal firearms market in Australia, with theft of legally owned guns being the single largest source of illegal firearms, averaging approximately 2000 firearms per year, or one every four hours,

(ii) due to inadequate monitoring and inconsistent reporting requirements across States and Territories, significant data gaps remain regarding the sources of illegal firearms, including potential diversion from law enforcement, private security, correctional services and military armouries,

(iii) including firearms held by law enforcement, private security, correctional services and the military in a national firearms monitoring framework, including full life cycle management covering procurement, expenditure, storage, transfer, loss, theft and disposal, would enable consistent data collection, improved tracing and stronger accountability, and

(iv) monitoring and oversight of these firearms should occur through an appropriate mechanism; and

(c) calls on the Government to:

(i) subject the firearms holdings and armouries of law enforcement agencies, security providers, correctional services and the Australian Defence Force to comprehensive, nationally consistent monitoring, oversight and reporting frameworks,

(ii) establish an appropriate oversight mechanism, including incorporation within the National Firearms Register, a dedicated firearms oversight register, or allocating responsibility for national firearms data integrity, analysis and reporting to an independent statutory body such as the Productivity Commission, and

(iii) publish data, updated in real time where practicable and subject to appropriate safeguards, to support transparency, public confidence and evidence-based policy".

Question negatived.