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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 11 Hansard (4 November) . . Page.. 3563 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

This is a good example of occasions when you do need the capacity to be flexible about national agreements. This is a national agreement that was reached with very little warning and very little chance to negotiate; but it was historic in its breadth and purpose and I think it has achieved, as my statement will show, very important goals for the ACT and Australian communities.

After the legislation was amended in 1996, the ACT became the first jurisdiction to put into effect prohibitions on the possession of semiautomatic firearms. In February 1996, the new Firearms Act was enacted - again with the unanimous agreement of the Assembly - maintaining the ACT's position at the forefront of rigorous and comprehensive firearms controls in Australia. I should stress that, while the Government was committed to giving effect to the totality of the resolutions agreed to by Police Ministers, the drafting of the new legislation and the associated regulations was undertaken in full consultation with all relevant shooters groups. Significant features of the legislation and key regulations resulted from this consultation, and I repeat my thanks to those shooters' representatives for their support and commitment under difficult circumstances.

The buyback of prohibited firearms in the ACT effectively commenced on 17 May last year, the day on which these firearms were banned and just one week after the decision by all governments to institute a national ban. An amnesty was put in place for the voluntary surrender of these firearms, and I subsequently extended this to 30 September to bring the ACT into line with the provisions of the national buyback. This is not to say that possession or use of these firearms during the amnesty period was legal, as was the case in some jurisdictions. The banned firearms were prohibited from day one, but no action would arise against any person who voluntarily surrendered a prohibited firearm to the police. It did not matter whether the firearm had been held legally or illegally prior to 17 May; nor did it matter that the owner was not an ACT resident. The primary objective of the amnesty and the buyback provisions was to remove from the community as many of these prohibited firearms as possible, whilst providing fair and reasonable compensation to the owners.

Madam Deputy Speaker, in May 1996, the police estimated that approximately 4,500 prohibited firearms existed in the ACT. These comprised 3,600 registered firearms, with the balance being estimated to be held illegally. At midnight on 30 September 1997, 5,246 prohibited firearms had been surrendered - well above the estimated number of such firearms. As at 31 October 1997, across Australia some 640,401 now banned firearms had been surrendered or recovered.

In the ACT, in addition, some 1,082 firearms which were not covered by the agreement to ban had also been surrendered - firearms for which no compensation was payable but which the owners considered they should no longer keep. Over 6,300 firearms have been removed from the community and they no longer pose any threat to our citizens. That represents a significant reduction - 25 per cent, in fact - in firearms ownership across the ACT. It is also very heartening that so many of these were not prohibited firearms and were surrendered with no prospect of receiving any compensation.

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