Gun buyback lacks focus on criminals’ gun access, Queensland premier says

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli is standing firm on his government’s refusal to join a post-Bondi massacre gun buyback, saying the national scheme does not focus on keeping guns from terrorists and criminals.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called on the Queensland premier to justify his position on Wednesday morning, arguing it wasn’t “in the interests of Queenslanders or the nation”.

Addressing media for the first time since the Queensland cabinet resolved on Monday not to support the gun buyback, Crisafulli confirmed the state would not take part in the scheme, which passed federal parliament on Tuesday.

“Queensland won’t be going down the path of gun buyback, because it doesn’t progress [action on] antisemitism and hate, and it doesn’t focus on keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists and criminals,” Crisafulli told reporters in the central Queensland city of Rockhampton.

“There’s been a big vacuum in leadership in this space, and on the back of it, we have seen what could have been nipped at the bud turn into an inferno that has affected who we are as a nation, and it’s got to stop, and that has to be our focus, and that will be our focus.”

The federal Coalition voted against tougher gun controls in Canberra on Tuesday, but the bill passed with support from independents and Greens. Labor and the Liberals also passed a separate bill on hate crimes and banning some radical groups.

Queensland’s LNP government, which features a diverse range of south-east metropolitan figures and regional MPs, remained divided over gun reforms after the state agreed to back a national firearms register.

While touting its planned response for weeks, the state government has been tight-lipped about what it will involve, along with if – and how – it will address recommendations from the inquest into the 2022 Wieambilla fatal police shooting for potential gun buyers to have mental health checks.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles accused the Crisafulli government of placating the gun lobby and fringe elements of its party, while undermining national reforms.

“If Queensland is not part of the scheme, then Queensland will just become a refuge for those dangerous guns and dangerous people, which will make Queensland a more dangerous place,” Miles said on Tuesday.

“David Crisafulli likes to say he is tough on crime, but you cannot be tough on crime while you are soft on guns.”

Crisafulli’s cabinet met on Monday for the first time this year to hash out a state-based response to the Bondi Beach massacre with its own promised laws around gun control and antisemitism.

But after ministers emerged late in the day, all that was said officially was that cabinet was continuing to work through the laws, to be introduced when parliament resumes next month.

Media outlets were also told unofficially the state would not back the Albanese government’s national gun buyback scheme – the first jurisdiction to take that position.

Both other conservative-led jurisdictions, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, have also expressed opposition to the scheme based on the proposed 50-50 cost share with the federal government.

“I’ve seen what’s unfolded in Canberra in the last week and certainly in the last few days, and I don’t want to see that in Queensland – I want it to be calm and respectful and legislation that works,” Crisafulli said on Wednesday.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said last month the state had so far only “signed on” to changing limits on the number of guns a person could possess.

Attorney-General Deb Frecklington has previously said the government would also look to expand the number of banned hate symbols as part of its response to antisemitism.

Western Australia’s Police Minister Reece Whitby revealed he had offered to lend support to the Queensland government before it withdrew its support for the national scheme.

He said WA wanted to play a “statesman-like role” after its own voluntary, two-year gun buyback scheme, in which 84,000 guns were handed in, concluded last week.

“The thing I’d say about our friends in Queensland and the Territory in particular – I get it. These are hard things to do,” he said.

“It wasn’t all smooth sailing, but … the vast majority of Western Australians believe this is the right thing to do. I believe the vast majority of Territorians and Queenslanders also have that view.

“This should not be a blue state or a red state issue.”

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