O’Neil: Coalition “hopelessly divided” on gun control

Ms O’Neil spoke put this week as state and federal premiers prepare to gather in Canberra tomorrow, to address a controversial importation ban on the Adler 110 lever action shotgun.

A recent move by the NSW government to try and reach the consensus needed for change means the gun’s importation ban may be overturned but is likely to be shifted into a tougher category, restricting its access to licensed users like feral pest controllers.

Ms O’Neil seized on media comments by Nationals leader and Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Barnaby Joyce saying the lever action rifle should be in Category B, which was tougher than its current Category A - but still allowed the firearm to be used by shooting club members.

She also wrote to Mr Joyce yesterday asking to clarify why members of his party, including Senators Bridget McKenzie and John Williams, NSW MP Mark Coulton and Queensland MP Ken O'Dowd - along with WA Liberal Ian Goodenough - have also called for a relaxation of restrictions on the Adler.

Speaking to media, Ms O’Neil said the Adler A110 was not a recreational weapon but was “dangerous” and capable of firing eight rounds in eight seconds.

She said it should be classified in a way that restricted access only to those people who “very genuinely need it”.

Ms O’Neil said the Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull - who she has also written to ahead of the GOAG discussion - had called for a tight classification but as an example of “bitter division” within the Coalition, Mr Joyce had expressed “a completely different position than what is the declared government position”.

She accused Mr Joyce of having argued through the media for an effective watering down of John Howard's gun laws.

“This is not the only division and disunity that we have seen on this question,” she said.

“About two weeks ago (NSW Liberal Democratic) Senator David Leyonhjelm made a motion in the Senate to try to lift the import ban on the Adler.

“Despite the position of the government, which is that the import ban should not been lifted until this gun has been re-classified, National Party members went into the Senate and openly defied the government's position.

“And not only that, but National Party cabinet members refused to come and vote to support the government's position.

“This is an extraordinary display of disunity at the very heart of the Turnbull government.”

Ms O’Neil said Liberal Party backbenchers had also supported a weakening of John Howard's gun laws.

“What we have here is a Prime Minister that goes into COAG with a deeply divided government,” she said.

“A government that doesn't have a consistent position on the Adler (and) one that has shown that it is willing to horse-trade on community safety in order to get votes in the Senate.

“It's simply not good enough and it is not going to see us protect Australians against gun violence in the way that the National Firearms Agreement has been doing now since 1996.”

The NFA came about under the former Howard government following Port Arthur Massacre in 1996.

The Adler importation ban was made in 2015 following the Lindt cafe siege and is subject to a review of the NFA.

Ms O’Neil said nobody was in any doubt that farmers needed access to guns in order to do their work as farmers and nobody wanted to make farmers’ lives more difficult.

But she said gun violence in the community was increasing and theft was a contributing factor.

“I would just say to the Australian community, we support the right of farmers to use weapons but when we have thousands of guns in the community, the incidents of gun violence go up and it's not because farmers aren't doing the right thing,” she said.

“We know that people genuinely go through the licencing system are following the rules.

“The truth is that guns get stolen - accidents occur.

“Just in the last year, we've seen 3500 guns get stolen - we don't know where those guns are.

“There are illicit guns that are coming into this country - at what numbers, we don't know exactly - but this is a government that has effectively lost control of this guns agenda.

“It's increasingly falling to Labor protect Australians against gun violence and that's a responsibility that we take very, very seriously.”

Mr Joyce told the ABC this week the Nationals had a clear view on the Adler shotgun but understood its reclassification was a matter for the state and territory governments.

“I think it should be in category B and if other people have a different idea then that is a discussion for them” he said.

“We hope those state ministers believe that category B will do the job, but if they believe something else that's for them to take up with their constituency.

“Overwhelmingly, guns that are used in crimes are from illegal sources.

“Law-abiding citizens are not the ones who decide to go out and rob banks.”

Senator McKenzie has expressed concerns the Adler ban is an overreaction that has only targeted law abiding firearm owners, while calling for an evidence-based approach to COAG’s considerations.

“I would be asking the Liberal and Labor premiers, who are meeting on Friday, to come to the table, for any discussion around reclassification of firearms, with a rationale and an evidence base, to make such a change as shifting something that’s currently categorised in A, to the category of D,” she said.

“Decisions on changing the National Firearms Agreement without consultation or a rigorous evidence-base, only sets a precedent that undermines the integrity of the agreement itself.”

Senator Leyonhjelm has attacked the Coalition government for reneging on a deal he struck, in the previous parliament, to put a sunset clause in the 2015 legislation, to ban the Adler’s importation.

This week, Senator Leyonhjelm said he and other shooters were opposed to the re-classification because the nation’s gun laws were “already exceptionally tough and we don’t want them any tougher”.

Senator Leyonhjelm said the import ban may be lifted - if the re-classification occurs at this week‘s GOAG meeting – but it was a “useless change” because of the limitations.

The Alannah & Madeline Foundation CEO Lesley Podesta says a relaxation of the gun’s categorisation would be, “disappointing given the serious community safety consequences of removing the importation ban on such a powerful weapon”. 

“There are thousands of these guns on back-order and we don’t want to see them to flood into Australia without the tightest restrictions,” she said.

“Now it is time for COAG to ensure we keep our gun laws strong and keep Australians safe from gun violence.”

Ms O’Neil also wrote to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this week about the government’s varied positions, on the Adler A110 lever-action shotgun.

“We note that you previously put in place a sunset clause on the Adler ban which would have allowed the weapon into Australia this year,” she said.

“It is time for you to make your position clear.

“The constant shifts and splits in your Government on this issue are risking community safety.

“Labor has a clear position on gun control.

“We have consistently supported protecting John Howard's gun laws and tighter restrictions on the Adler.

“By contrast, your failure to lead on this issue is unsettling the Australian community and risking our safety.”

The Labor Shadow Minister’s office has also lodged Freedom of Information requests to obtain correspondence between the Prime Minister’s office, cabinet ministers Peter Dutton and Michael Keenan and Senator Leyonhjelm, on the deal struck to insert a sunset clause, in the Adler ban legislation.

With the deadline for a response to the FOI request having passed, Ms O’Neil is now referring the issue to the Information Commissioner for review.