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West Australian
21-05-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Nationals and Liberals team up to try and revoke firearm act reform
Liberal and National MPs in State Parliament are set to fail in their bid to dump Labor's new firearm rules, as the Government accused the Opposition of risking community safety. The disallowance motion against the Government's tough gun laws, moved by Nationals leader Shane Love on Wednesday, resulted in the Liberals joining calls for the regulations to be rewritten. Mr Love pledged at the election to roll back the regulations made in in 2024's Firearm Act, which limits the number of guns owners can have. It came after the issue led to tensions between the Nationals and Liberals when Mr Love said he would not form government with the Liberals if they did not support disallowing the firearm reforms. 'People in regional Western Australia, especially, have a deep understanding of the need for firearms in their community,' he said on Wednesday. 'Not only for the control of pest species on their land but also as one of their recreational pursuits and a way of ensuring that the community's health, their mental health, is taken care of because for many people that activity of firearm use is their recreation. 'Taking that away from them is making people feel really under threat and has been very, very poorly executed by this Government and is fundamentally politically based, not based on the needs of public safety.' Premier Roger Cook warned that the move could risk community safety. 'WA is safer today because of our gun law reforms, Western Australians live in a safer community because of our gun law reforms, so it's very disturbing to see that the Nationals are going forward with their disallowance motion, which will put these laws into disarray,' he said. 'That's incredibly concerning, it's a choice about whether you own a gun but it's a right to know that you are safe living in Western Australia and that's what these gun laws are in there to do.' Mr Love refuted the suggestion. 'I'd say that's bumpkin, we're not trying to jeopardise community safety but what we're not about is imposing on the community a whole range of unworkable regulations and laws which are actually unjustifiably making people feel that they've been victimised by their own,' he said. Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas conceded that Labor's commanding majority meant the motion was doomed to fail. 'We all know the numbers in this place, this is not going to pass but this is an opportunity for the opposition parties to make the point on behalf of police and doctors that large elements of these regulations are unworkable,' he said. 'What I'm doing is exactly what I just said, we're using the parliamentary procedures available to us to support police and to support doctors who have said large elements of these regulations are unworkable. 'We always said, and everybody knows this, we always said this legislation did not get the proper scrutiny. It was rushed through.'
West Australian
19-05-2025
- Health
- West Australian
Nationals leader Shane Love set to move to disallow latest firearm regulations following doctors' concerns
Nationals WA leader Shane Love is set to move a motion when Parliament returns this week calling for the latest updates to the firearm regulations to be disallowed. It comes after doctors revealed they were refusing to conduct the necessary health assessments for people to get a firearm licence. The fresh laws, introduced late last year, include restrictions on the types of firearms, while owners must be approved by a medical professional in order to obtain a firearm licence. Mr Love has been consistent in his stance of saying the laws were rushed through and on Wednesday will move the regulations be disallowed. 'I have promised, in public forums across the State, to contest these regulations at the first available sitting day,' he said. 'I will now fulfil that commitment to the thousands of law-abiding firearms owners whose livelihoods and recreational options have been thrown into disarray.' Mr Love pointed to the similarities with the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, saying it caused 'unnecessary and avoidable distress' in regional WA. Last week, it was revealed doctors feared blood would be on their hands in the event of a shooting if they signed off on paperwork granting a person a firearm licence. The State Government said doctors were protected in these events, but medical professionals still had their reservations. It means many farmers have been unable to apply for licences critical for their work, while recreational shooters were more exposed with doctors allegedly reluctant to sign off on tests for people who do not require a firearm professionally. Mr Love said regional GPs were 'already under resourced and under pressure'. 'This legislation puts them in an untenable position where they will be forced to make a judgement call on the future behaviour of people who reside in their communities,' he said.
