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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 9 Hansard (29 August) . . Page.. 2770 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

Mr Speaker, of the almost 1,500 firearms which have been surrendered, around 300 owners of those firearms have been paid compensation following the recent approval of the scheme. I recognise that there is a backlog that has been created by the early implementation of the ACT's amnesty and the late approval by the Commonwealth, States and Territories of the compensation scheme. The Australian Federal Police is moving to process that backlog as quickly as possible, and I can assure gun owners who have already surrendered their firearms that they will be paid compensation very soon, if they have not already received it.

Members will have noticed that the Government placed an advertisement in local newspapers recently to advise firearms owners of what to do to surrender their firearms and receive compensation. I would like to take this opportunity to thank those firearms owners who have already handed in their firearms for their patience. I would also like to encourage those who have not yet handed in their firearms to do so without delay. The fact that the amnesty ends on 17 May 1997 does not make possession of those firearms legal up till that date. I fear, Mr Speaker, that some firearms owners in the community may misunderstand the purpose of the amnesty in those circumstances. Possession or use of firearms which were banned in May of this year is an offence now, and prosecutions can be launched by police in cases where firearms owners refuse to surrender those weapons or are discovered with them.

I would like also to acknowledge the work undertaken by police officers in the weapons registry and officers in my department, particularly those who have worked very quickly to implement these arrangements. Since the ban on semiautomatic weapons was introduced in May, those officers have had to work under enormous pressure to meet very tight deadlines. I am sure members will recognise the enormous amount of work which has gone into the preparation of these new firearms laws and implementation of the buy-back scheme.

I would like to turn now to the Bill itself and explain the contents and format of it. Part I contains, of course, the normal preliminary title and commencement clauses. Part II deals with the establishment of the office of Registrar of Firearms, the accreditation of instructions and the power to commence an amnesty. Part III of the Bill establishes the firearms licensing scheme, the categorisation of firearms, and the particular categories of restrictions for categories. It also establishes the genuine reasons required before a licence may be issued. This part also deals with suspension and cancellation of licences, seizure of firearms and the recognition of interstate licences. Importantly, Mr Speaker, clause 15 of the Bill creates the offence of unauthorised possession and/or use of a firearm. The penalty for this offence will be a fine of up to $20,000, a term of imprisonment of up to two years or both for a person, or a fine of up to $100,000 for a body corporate.

Part IV of the Bill deals with the establishment of a registration scheme for firearms and the linking of that scheme through the national exchange of police information to all other firearms registries. The ACT, of course, has had a firearms register since 1991, so the efforts required in our jurisdiction will not be as onerous as those required in Queensland,

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