The decision by three NSW state parliamentarians to vote against tighter gun laws looks short-sighted and self-serving, especially since the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion is due to deliver its initial report, including the adequacy of security arrangements, next month.
Their rebellion against gun law reform comes as the Herald’s Perry Duffin reports a 2024 ISIS speech that triggered a wave of insurgent attacks across the West is thought to be linked with December’s Bondi Beach massacre, and the actions taken by state and federal security agencies in relation to the gunmen remains opaque and highly contested. The weapons used in the attack were legally owned by accused shooter Sajid Akram.
Renegade MLAs Tanya Davies (Badgerys Creek), Wendy Tuckerman (Goulburn) and Robyn Preston (Hawkesbury) should have waited but chose instead to break with fellow Liberals on Tuesday, when a Minns government parliamentarian proposed a motion supporting tighter gun laws.
Before the vote, Tuckerman inadvertently revealed she was pushing to halt the gun buyback due to begin in September. Davies subsequently took to Facebook saying the government’s laws targeted “law-abiding citizens” and failed to address extremist Islam: “I am standing with the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding gun owners and gun shop small businesses around our state.”
The trio represent outer-metropolitan and regional electorates with high gun ownership, and perhaps the fear of surging support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party is causing them to panic.
Minns recalled parliament to debate an omnibus bill, Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, in response to the targeted shooting that killed 15 people and wounded scores more. It was passed on Christmas Eve and included measures to combat hate speech, prohibit hateful symbols, restrict public assembly and cap gun ownership to four for individuals and 10 for primary producers.
Other provisions limited straight-pull/pump action and button/lever release firearms to primary producers and made gun club membership mandatory for all firearm licence holders. Also, people can no longer try to overturn licence decisions via the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Since restrictions on gun ownership were announced, there has been a significant increase in firearms licence applications. Firearms Registry data released to parliament showed holders who applied to add sport/target shooting as a reason to hold a licence jumped from 124 to 964.
The Liberals had adequate opportunity to put their parliamentary stamp on the Bondi Beach gun law changes, but remained silent.
The then new Liberal leader Kellie Sloane backed the reform. She took a lot of heat from NSW Nationals, who claimed they had not been consulted. She has since reiterated her support but finessed her position, indicating her party would like the laws to be revisited “if it provides better laws”.
Gun laws polarise people. John Howard faced massive opposition to his post-Port Arthur firearm bans and buybacks, but it remains one of his most admired achievements.
This should inspire the NSW Liberals to get their act together and we urge Sloane to hold the line on gun law reform and not pander to a minority view.
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