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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-04-11 Daily Xml
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OPERATION DISARM

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:20): My question is to the Attorney-General. Can the Attorney please inform the house about the response to the government's illegal firearms reward scheme?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:20): I thank the honourable member for his question. Six weeks ago with my colleagues, the Premier and the Minister for Police, I announced an illegal firearm reward scheme to encourage members of the public to dob in those carrying or using illegal firearms. Operation Disarm, as it is being called by SAPOL, commenced at the beginning of March and the response has already been very encouraging.

I can inform the house that, as of today, there have been 105 calls to Crime Stoppers in response to this campaign. This information provided by the public has led to the seizure of 32 firearms, 13 arrests and a further 11 reports. In addition to the action against firearms offenders, this intelligence has also led to other seizures, including drugs. Forensic tests on seized firearms have also led to arrests for other offences in which the firearm was used.

It is clear that this campaign is getting results; with every weapon being removed from our streets a potential crime is being prevented. I understand that the Deputy Commissioner of Police has said that the government's initiative is doing exactly what it was designed to do, that is, take illicit firearms out of the hands of criminals. This is in addition to last year's three month firearms amnesty which saw more than 2,700 weapons recovered in what was the biggest haul ever seen during an amnesty period.

If anyone in the community has knowledge of someone's illegal firearm, they should simply dob them in. Rewards of up to $10,000 are on offer. So far no-one has sought a reward for specific information. We believe this reflects the community's desire to work with the police to remove illicit firearms, and the potential danger they represent, from our society.

The government is doing all it can do and the police are doing all they can do. This initiative is about helping the community to do all it can do. South Australians should not need to put up with idiots carrying illegal firearms. The government and the police have no tolerance for it. This government will do everything within its power to work with the police to get illegal firearms off the streets and bring these people to justice. It is important for members of the public to know they can telephone Crime Stoppers and anonymously make a report which might assist the police in this regard.

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