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The government announced the establishment of a national gun buyback scheme to purchase surplus, newly banned, and illegal firearms, describing it as the largest buyback since the Howard Government initiated one in 1996. The proposal follows reforms made after the Port Arthur tragedy and references the Bondi incident as evidence of the need to remove more guns from the streets. It is stated that one of the terrorists held a firearm licence and had six guns while living in Sydney’s suburbs at Bonnyrigg, indicating that someone in that situation did not need that many firearms.
There are now more than 4,000,000 firearms in Australia, which is higher than the number at the time of the Port Arthur massacre nearly thirty years ago. The government will introduce legislation to support funding for the buyback scheme, with costs to be shared on a fifty-fifty basis with states and territories. It is expected that hundreds of thousands of firearms will be collected and destroyed through the scheme.
Consistent with the approach taken in 1996, the states and territories will be responsible for collection, processing, and payment to individuals for surrendered firearms, while the Australian Federal Police will be responsible for the destruction of the firearms. Australians are described as rightly proud of their gun laws, and, until five years ago, proud that there had not been a repeat of Port Arthur, nor constant carnage seen in other countries.
The statement acknowledges that there have been incidents in Queensland and Victoria involving so-called sovereign citizens who murdered police officers. The National Buyback Scheme is presented as a measure to get guns off the streets and to help make all Australians safe.