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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 13 Hansard (5 December) . . Page.. 4498 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

These amendments are about the ability of the registrar to refuse to consider an application for a licence because the applicant has committed a domestic violence offence. The Greens have proposed that there should be a 10-year prohibition period for anyone who has had a domestic violence restraining order put in place. I agree with Mr Humphries that there has been extensive discussion on this, and we have agreement from all members.

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General) (5.12): Mr Speaker, these are fairly significant amendments, so I thought I should comment on them. Previously, it was possible for a person to have an order made in this respect taken into account by the registrar before issuing a licence under the originally proposed arrangements. The suggestion inherent in the amendment proposed by Ms Tucker is that an order in the preceding 10 years is an absolute bar. An interim order in the preceding 10 years is a matter that will weigh on the registrar's decision to issue an order. Those are very heavy restrictions, and I put on the record that on occasions there will be people who will unfairly lose the opportunity to obtain a licence in those circumstances.

However, I believe, first of all, that it is better in these circumstances to err on the side of caution, acknowledging the reality that, whether it has been the case in the past or is the case only now, ownership of a firearm is a privilege and not a right and, therefore, there needs to be clear understanding by the community that that privilege is deserved in particular circumstances. I think on most occasions it is better to err on that side than to make it automatically possible to obtain such a licence.

Amendments agreed to.

Clauses, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 22

Amendment (by Ms Tucker) agreed to:

Page 17, Table (item relating to Sport/target shooting, second column), omit "a current member of a prescribed shooting", substitute "an active member of an approved".

MS TUCKER (5.15): I move:

Page 17, Table (item relating to Recreational hunting/vermin control), omit the item, substitute the following item:

"Recreational In the case of recreational hunting or vermin

hunting/vermin control on rural land, the applicant shall -

control

(a) produce evidence of permission by the owner or occupier of the land to shoot on the land; or

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