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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 11 Hansard (4 November) . . Page.. 3564 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

The payment of compensation for the surrendered prohibited firearms was delayed until the list of nationally agreed values had been published by the Commonwealth on 5 August 1996. The published values were based on the average sale prices listed in dealers' catalogues across Australia in March 1996. Members will recall that an amendment to the Firearms Act in May this year gave statutory force to the amount of compensation payable for surrendered prohibited firearms.

Processing of the backlog of surrendered firearms required significant additional resources on the part of police in the Firearms Registry and of officers in my department, and I would like to particularly acknowledge their efforts during the buyback. I would also like to acknowledge the patience and understanding shown by those firearms owners who were required to wait for their payments. On the whole, these firearms owners are citizens who have always behaved reasonably and taken their obligations as firearms owners very seriously. They were asked to make a significant sacrifice in the interests of a safer community. For that, I think we all should thank them; but, for my part, I want to say that I recognise the difficulty many have had in coming to terms with these new laws and thank them sincerely for their cooperation.

Madam Deputy Speaker, at the time of the buyback closure, $2,803,918 had been paid in the ACT in compensation for surrendered prohibited firearms. The payments have ranged from the median level of $250 to $350 up to $50,000 for a gold and platinum engraved self-loading shotgun. There have been contemporary military-style rifles with list values between $2,500 and $5,500 and self-loading or pump-action shotguns with list values between $250 and $10,000. An assortment of World War II vintage machine guns, sten guns and rifles were also surrendered, which were independently valued at between $500 and $8,500.

Eight hundred thousand dollars was provided to the ACT by the Commonwealth to meet the costs associated with the buyback and the administration of the new firearms laws. To date, approximately $270,000 has been spent, principally on salaries and overtime payments for officers in the AFP's Firearms Registry and my department, the purchase of a new computerised firearms licensing system and a public information campaign. The remaining funds will be spent on additional salaries and overtime costs; enhanced computer systems, with the possible direct linking of shooters organisations with the Firearms Registry; and costs associated with the development of a national firearms registration system. The buyback scheme in the ACT has also been fully audited by the Australian National Audit Office for the AFP and by the Auditor-General's Office for my department. Initial findings indicate that the scheme has been effectively managed and all surrendered firearms and associated payments have been properly accounted for.

Multimedia advertising of the amnesty and buyback scheme was conducted by both the Commonwealth and the ACT. Tracking studies commissioned by the Commonwealth indicated that 78 per cent of all adult Australians were in favour, and 56 per cent of people strongly in favour, of the new laws and the buyback. Public awareness of the new laws was rated at 96 per cent. The research also showed that more than eight in 10 current firearms owners were prepared to hand in an illegal firearm if they had one. Indeed, a greater success rate than that was actually achieved in the ACT.

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