Yesterday’s senseless announcement by the NSW Minns Labor Government detailing its firearms buyback scheme is a betrayal of law-abiding firearms owners and dealers.
I opposed the laws underpinning the buyback scheme before Labor rushed them through NSW Parliament in December 2025, and my position has not changed.
Today, the Government says it expects up to 274,000 firearms to be handed in and claims this will take guns “off our streets”.
Make no mistake, these are not illegal firearms being seized from criminals. They are registered firearms held by licensed owners who are already subject to the world’s strictest storage and compliance laws.
Every one of us wants to prevent another tragedy like Bondi. I will always support strong action against illegal firearms, criminals, terrorists and anyone unfit to hold a licence.
The serious questions about firearms licensing, intelligence-sharing and enforcement must be answered, and any failures identified must be fixed. But law-abiding firearms owners and dealers should not be made to pay the price.
I stand with the thousands of licensed firearms owners across the Cootamundra electorate and the dealers who support them. They include farmers, sporting and recreational shooters, hunters, pest controllers, small business owners and employees who have followed the law, yet are being punished through no fault of their own.
For dealers who have lost most of their turnover since Christmas, a grant capped at $25,000 will not come close to repairing the damage. Nor can a fixed Phase 1 price list of $450 to $1,000 reflect the enormous variation in the condition and market value of individual firearms.
I believe the right thing to do is reverse Labor’s rushed and defective December 2025 firearms laws and return to the strict, workable legislative framework NSW had before Bondi. I will keep fighting for that.