FIREARM OFFENCES

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:29): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier inform the house about new laws targeting offenders who use firearms against our police?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:29): I thank the honourable member for his question. Of course, his former profession as a police officer was one that we acknowledged and celebrated today at the opening of the Police Association's annual delegates conference. Among the 60-odd delegates for the conference I had the pleasure of meeting Constable Tung Tran. Members may remember that Tung and his partner, the then constable Nathan Mulholland, were ambushed and shot in the course of their duties during 2010. The officers were lucky to survive the attacks on them, with fragments of a bullet causing injuries to the hand and head of constable Mulholland and to the eye and face of Constable Tran. They are, of course, not the only ones in recent years to have been exposed to gun-related violence. Last year at Hectorville, constables Brett Gibbons and Travis Emms were seriously wounded while trying to rescue a teenager from a crazed killer.

As a result of the shooting of Nathan Mulholland and Tung Tran, the Police Association put forward a compelling case for the introduction of a new offence of shooting a police officer. We listened and we acted, and as of today a new law comes into force. Anyone who causes serious harm to a police officer by shooting at that officer will commit a new offence. Generally speaking, it will carry a maximum sentence of 25 years' imprisonment, a strong and clear message that shooting a police officer is a very grave offence. Even if a police officer is not injured, the offender may be gaoled for up to 10 years.

While using a firearm on anyone is a terrible thing, shooting at a police officer is a disgraceful act which this government will not tolerate. The new penalties send a clear message to the community that these serious offences will have serious consequences. The new laws are an important step forward for protecting those who protect our community, those who put themselves in harm's way in the course of their duty, and we stand with them to support them in every way possible.