NSW Premier Chris Minns said he would introduce the strongest gun laws in the country, recalling parliament to quickly cap the number of guns individuals could own and reclassify some weapons such as pump-action shotguns.
The prime minister, through national cabinet, is accelerating the creation of a central firearms register to increase intelligence-sharing between jurisdictions.
He has also tasked states and territories with formulating laws to limit gun ownership, which will also be conditional on Australian citizenship.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the program in response to the Sunday, December 14 Bondi massacre, which left 15 people dead.
One of the two gunmen who carried out the attack legally owned six firearms.
Mr Albanese said “hundreds of thousands” of guns would be collected and destroyed, but did not provide a timeline on the scheme.
“There are now more than four million firearms in Australia, more than at the time of the Port Arthur massacre nearly 30 years ago,” he said.
New laws are being developed to clamp down on gun ownership, with governments planning to reduce the number of firearms a person can legally own.
There will also be tougher limits on the kinds of weapons legally available.
Under the buyback scheme, which will target the newly banned firearms, states and territories will be responsible for collecting the guns and paying owners to surrender them.
The scheme will be similar to the buyback introduced by then-prime minister John Howard following the Port Arthur mass shooting in Tasmania, which killed 35 people.
The National Farmers’ Federation is urging calm and considered firearms reform.
The NFF argues that any reforms must provide the best outcomes for the whole community, recognising that community safety also includes food safety and protection from biosecurity risks.
The federation said firearms had a legitimate and essential role on farms, for animal welfare and protecting the land from feral animals and pests that created biosecurity and food safety risks and caused immense damage to Australia’s precious ecosystem.
Victorian senator Bridget McKenzie said the Prime Minister had doubled down on demonising law-abiding, licensed firearm owners in the wake of the terrorist attack.
“What happened at Bondi Beach was not like Port Arthur 30 years ago. That was the act of a lone madman,” she said.
“What happened on Sunday, December 14, was a planned and premeditated act of Islamic terrorism against Jewish Australian families who were celebrating Hanukkah.
“It was calculated to generate fear and maximum international media coverage — like the shameful Opera House celebration of the Hamas October 7, 2023, massacre; like the Sydney Harbour Bridge protest of terrorist sympathisers.
“Three of our most iconic sites hijacked into a global PR campaign for Islamic extremism.
“Let me by very clear, Islamic extremists should not be licensed to own a single gun in Australia.”
“This Islamist act of terrorism follows a pattern overseas and has already drawn praise from registered terrorist organisations and warnings of more to come.
“Yet, instead of dealing with the factories of hate that incite these evil men, the prime minister is targeting innocent Australians who follow the law.”
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