Senator Lidia Thorpe will today move an amendment to the Government’s gun control legislation, calling for the National Firearms Agreement to be extended to include strengthened oversight and transparency of law-enforcement armouries.
This could be achieved through inclusion in the National Firearms Register, the establishment of a dedicated national law-enforcement firearms register, or independent oversight and public reporting through an appropriate mechanism.
The amendment seeks to close a significant accountability gap by ensuring police firearms are subject to consistent national tracking and lifecycle oversight, and that this information is made publicly available.
Quotes attributable to Lidia Thorpe, Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung independent Victorian Senator:
"I welcome strengthened gun laws, but if we’re serious about gun safety, accountability can’t stop at civilian firearms. Tracking and transparency must apply to all guns, including those issued to police and prison guards.
"The public has a right to know what firearms police are importing into this country, how they are stored and used, and what happens to them at the end of their lifecycle.
"International evidence shows that firearms can and do move from police stockpiles into criminal markets when oversight is weak. Australia should be learning from that, not pretending it can’t happen here.
"We already know that stolen firearms are the biggest source of illegal guns in this country, and that most guns used in crime are stolen guns. Yet police firearms are excluded from national tracing systems. That is a dangerous gap.
"Just recently, firearms were stolen from police in Townsville. That is one of the few cases we know about, but there is no consistent public transparency around these incidents.
"It has also been reported that a police-issued firearm was allegedly used in the horrific domestic violence murder of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, raising serious questions about the management and oversight of police weapons.
"This amendment is about knowing what weapons police have access to, how they are secured, and ensuring transparent reporting when firearms are lost, stolen or decommissioned.
"Police armouries remain largely opaque. That limits accountability and undermines our gun control framework.
"A National Firearms Register that excludes police weapons is incomplete. If the goal is public safety, then transparency has to be universal."