The New South Wales Liberal Party has proposed freezing the state’s gun buyback and removing firearm ownership limits for farmers if it wins next year’s election, ABC News reports. Party leader Kellie Sloane said any changes would depend on a commission of inquiry into firearms legislation and feedback from stakeholders.
The Liberals voted with the NSW government last year to support gun ownership caps and the buyback scheme. Sloane said the party had offered bipartisan support after the Bondi Beach terror attack, but that support was conditional on reviewing the policy if it produced unintended consequences.
“We offered bipartisanship support,” Sloane said, according to ABC News. She said the proposed inquiry would examine how to target terrorists and organised crime while removing firearms from dangerous people, rather than taking guns from law-abiding citizens.
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley described the proposal as a reversal of the Liberals’ previous position. Catley said the party had supported stronger gun laws after the attack but was now moving away from that decision. She also linked the proposal to One Nation, saying the state could not afford to let the party influence gun policy.
Sloane rejected that criticism and said it was offensive to challenge what she described as a better plan. She argued that hundreds of millions of dollars had been spent taking guns from law-abiding citizens while authorities were failing to address threats in communities.
The dispute comes about six months before the NSW election and amid political arguments over underworld violence in Sydney’s south and south-west. The government has introduced separate legislation aimed at criminal networks and would give police additional powers to disrupt them. The ABC reports that the election campaign is also being affected by an anti-corruption probe involving a right-wing Liberal faction, the decision of Liberal frontbencher James Griffin not to seek re-election, and growing support for One Nation.