Firearms inquiry report ‘sanitised’; ‘ignores’ thousands of submissions and two weeks of public hearings

A “sanitised” report into Labor’s contentious gun law reforms has disappointed firearm stakeholders who say the inquiry failed to fully scrutinise the laws. The 240-page report from the inquiry was handed down on October 16. It made 47 findings and 11 recommendations on the contentious reforms. The Cook Government’s Firearms Act 2024 — labelled the strictest in the country — came into effect on March 31 after they were cemented into law in June last year. The Nationals WA say the changes were rushed. The Labor-and-Greens-controlled inquiry found the new digital portal for gun licences was not prepared for a high volume of traffic, that calls to a police helpline went unanswered and resulted in contradictory advice. The inquiry launched in May and began its first round of public hearings on September 10, with more than 20 stakeholder groups sharing their thoughts on the legislation across four days ending on September 22. WAFarmers president Steve McGuire acknowledged the improved performance of the portal since its rollout, saying the portal was not fit for purpose when it was launched. Mr McGuire blamed former police minister Paul Papalia for much of the backlash from licence holders, but warned the rollout was still far from perfect and questioned whether there is “hard evidence” the laws have made WA safer. “There was little meaningful consultation and, despite the government’s pretext for bringing it in, there’s very little evidence that this will make the community safer,” he said. “All it has done is impose a lot of red tape on to law-abiding gun owners.” Mr McGuire said concerns about the regulations of the reforms still exist and he said the committee failed to “dig too deep” into scrutinising the legislation in practice. The report recommended the Health Assessment Working Group be reconvened to consider the possibility of using occupational health medical assessment providers, to look at cost or accessibility barriers, and examine how health assessments can be conducted in a culturally safe manner. Mr McGuire said it was “incorrect” for the burden of mental health assessments to be placed on general practitioners, and instead suggested a community-based system to identify mental health issues. “We have spent many years trying to get men — and farmers especially — to seek mental health help,” he said. “If going and seeking that help puts their ownership of guns at risk, that is going to be counterproductive.” Victims’ advocates, including murderer’s daughter Ariel Bombara, said some “inconvenience” for law-abiding gun owners was a reasonable price to pay to keep women safer. “You can’t run from a bullet,” Ms Bombara said. “You might have a fighting chance with a knife. “The privilege of owning a firearm should not outrank the public’s right not to be threatened, intimidated, coerced and brutally murdered by one. “We owe it to the women and children living in fear for everybody to get on board with these reforms.” In May 2024, Ms Bombara’s father Mark Bombara shot and killed Jennifer Petelczyc and her 18-year-old daughter Gretl at their Floreat home while hunting down his estranged wife and daughter. Nationals WA leader Shane Love welcomed a “handful” of the recommendations but said the report was “sanitised and partisan”, and failed to reflect the depth of concern of various communities.“ While a handful of recommendations are welcome, the report sidesteps the real issues at the heart of these laws — the lack of consultation, the rushed legislative process, and the government’s continual failure to listen,” he said. “This report should have happened before the legislation was passed in Parliament, not over a year later.” Mr Love said the report largely ignored the evidence presented in two weeks of public hearings and 3000 written submissions. “Instead of holding the Government to account for creating these problems, the committee has confined itself to commenting on the superficial consequences that have followed since the laws took effect in March,” he said. “If Labor had delivered meaningful consultation and followed proper Parliamentary process, many of these problems could have been avoided altogether.” The State Government welcomed the findings, saying the inquiry reaffirmed its position that the reforms enhance community safety. Police Minister Reece Whitby said the State Government was “proud of its strong firearms laws”. “At their very core they enhance community safety, and the report recognises this,” he said. “We have seen that already, with WA Police using the new laws to remove thousands of firearms from criminals, including people with links to bikie gangs and family and domestic violence offenders.”