Firearms Amnesty

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (15:06): My question is to the Minister for Police. Can the minister tell us about the firearms amnesty and the review of the firearms regulations?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:07): Let me thank the honourable member for his important question. I appreciate his interest in this subject. A lot of work, as I think all members in the chamber would be aware, has gone into the firearms legislation that passed the parliament late last year, and the work for the regulations is ongoing.

In the wake of the successful passage of the Firearms Bill late last year, a general firearms amnesty has commenced. The firearms amnesty is managed by the South Australia Police Firearms Branch, and I commend them for their hard work up until this point in time. The amnesty commenced on 1 December 2015 and is set to conclude at midnight on 30 June this year. This is the first firearms amnesty permitting the legitimisation of firearms and involving participating licensed firearms dealers in the process. There are currently 45 participating dealers involved—a good number indeed.

As at 11 April 2016, the number of firearms surrendered is 1,670. Of those, 1,181 have been surrendered to police and 489 to participating dealers. A substantial number of these firearms have been surrendered outside of the metropolitan area to regional police stations. To March 2016, over 290 firearms have been surrendered to participating dealers and are currently being held, pending approval for permits to acquire that firearm legally. In essence, this means that over 1,350 guns have been removed from the South Australian community since December last year.

Community safety was, always has been and always will be the focus of this government. The former minister, the member for Light in the other place, ensured that the Firearms Act reflects the need to maintain and improve public safety whilst preventing firearm-related crime. I am now in the process of a comprehensive consultation to draft the accompanying regulations for the Firearms Act 2015. Let me reiterate that the foundation of this process is to improve public safety and prevent crime.

The regulations, when drafted through this inclusive consultative process, will replace the Firearms Regulations 2008. The new regulations will provide operational support for the Firearms Act 2015 once enacted later this year. When drafting and consultation are complete, it is intended that the regulations will contain a number of new provisions intended to detail legislative direction and support for new functions introduced by the act.

The development of the new regulations is occurring through significant consultation with important stakeholders, such as peak bodies and groups within the firearms community. The Hon. Mr Brokenshire and the member for Stuart in the other place have been represented at these forums and I thank them again for working in a bipartisan manner to produce a set of regulations that protects the community and also enables firearms owners to comply with the law.

The development and consultation work is being overseen by former South Australian premier, the Hon. Rob Kerin. I thank him for his ongoing efforts which, to date, I am advised, have been outstanding. Mr Kerin is working through six focus groups to tackle the key issues of contention within the firearms regulations with a diverse and representative cross-section of the firearms community. The third focus group is occurring this evening and the outcomes and agreements made during these sessions are reported directly back to myself. These agreements will then inform the drafting instructions for parliamentary counsel I am happy to state on the record in this place.

One of the critical issues in this process, and one that I am happy to provide an update on in light of today's media, is the issue of the security of firearms. One of the first discussions held with Mr Kerin in Parliament House a couple of weeks ago related to the inclusion of the code of practice that will be inserted into the firearms regulations. The purpose of this code of practice is to provide firearms owners with clear guidelines for the security, storage and transportation of firearms and ammunition. The inclusion of the code of practice into the regulations seeks to overhaul and enhance current security requirements and reinforce the responsibility associated with firearms ownership and possession to prevent the loss or theft of firearms.

The overarching purpose of the code of practice will require firearms owners to increase the level of security for their firearms commensurate with the level of risk those firearms represent to the community. I anticipate that, on current time lines, I will be in a position to take draft regulations to the firearms community hopefully towards the end of May when feedback will be sought. Following that, I will make a final decision on what, if any, amendments are to be made to the draft firearms regulations and the reasons for that decision would be communicated to stakeholders prior to the making of the regulations.

I would like to take this opportunity to again thank the Hon. Mr Kerin for his time and efforts, which have been substantial up to this point and I know will need to be going forward, the patience of the firearms community as we work through the process, and the Hon. Mr Brokenshire and the member for Stuart for their continued interest in the process.