Daughter of Floreat murderer urges public to back in WA gun reforms

The daughter of a Perth man responsible for a horror double shooting that rocked the state has urged the public to rally around the Cook government’s firearms laws after they were endorsed by a Labor-Greens controlled parliamentary committee.

Ariel Bombara is the daughter of Mark Bombara, who murdered Jennifer Petelczyc and her 18-year-old daughter Gretl in their Floreat home in May last year before turning his legally owned gun on himself.

Bombara appeared alongside family and domestic violence advocates, Police Minister Reece Whitby and Family and Domestic Violence Prevention Minister Jessica Stojkovski to back in the gun reforms following the tabling of the committee report on Thursday.

She thanked government for bringing in the reforms, and said she hoped the public would rally around them to create a safer future for women and children living in fear from violent partners.

“The privilege of owning a firearm should not outrank the public’s right not to be threatened, intimidated, coerced and brutally murdered by one,” she said.

“We can’t guarantee that people still won’t be murdered by guns, but as I said before, in my father’s case, you can’t run from a bullet.

“You might have a fighting chance with a knife, but not a bullet or a handgun that you can’t see.”

Bombara has previously been critical of police for not acting when she and her family raised concerns about her father’s violence and his gun ownership.

She said nothing had changed for her to be standing alongside government members in support of the laws.

However, Bombara’s support prompted Nationals leader Shane Love to accuse the Cook government of “shamelessly” using the Floreat murders to push the reforms through.

“The government, I believe, has shamelessly used that situation for its own purposes,” he said.

“As I said, that legislation was already in the house. There was an amendment around domestic violence, which did not then mean that it had to be rushed through the other chamber anyway, that it wasn’t properly interrogated.”

Portal complaints vindicated, but reforms ‘reasonable and justified’

The committee uncovered significant issues with the rollout of WA Police’s new gun licensing portal, but ultimately backed the Cook government’s firearms reforms as “reasonable and justified”.

In its report, the committee found the portal was not ready for the volume of users who tried to update their licences after the laws came into effect earlier this year.

The findings vindicated the frustrations of gun owners who attempted to update their licenses under the new scheme.

However, the committee, chaired by Labor MP Katrina Stratton, said the portal’s problems were exacerbated by its requirement to use Commonwealth MyID applications.

“The committee was told, and it accepts, that some consternation and inconvenience was caused to legitimate firearm owners and users by the introduction of the new firearms portal,” the report read.

“Reconciliation of the personal information held on that application with the information being supplied as part of firearms-related matters was problematic.

“The Committee was also told, and we accept, that there was little or no information available to firearms users, on the Police website or otherwise, and that calls to the firearms licensing helpline frequently went unanswered.

“When advice was given, it was sometimes contradictory or misleading.”

The committee report said this led gun owners to seek answers elsewhere – and their search often turned up false information.

The report recommended WA Police publish more details about the laws and regulations on its website and send a hard copy of guidance on how to adhere with the laws to all registered gun owners.

It also recommended police conduct a community education campaign on the new laws.

The report contains 47 findings and 11 recommendations, most of which back the Cook government’s drafting of the controversial laws.

However, the minority members of the committee – Liberal MLC Simon Erehnfield and One Nation MP Rod Caddies – continued to criticise the laws and their application.

The report rubbished concerns from feral animal hunters and sporting shooters who appeared in public hearings that their pursuits were being impacted by the laws.

“Much of what the Committee was told was based upon supposition and speculation. Many of the concerns raised were unfounded,” it said.

Whitby said he would “cop the report on the chin” when it came to glitches in the portal, but as a whole the report backed reforms which would make the community safer.

The laws were aimed at reducing the number of guns in the community and placing more stringent rules on granting gun licences, including the requirement to undergo medical assessments and a “fit and proper person test”.

But WA Farmers president Steve McGuire claimed the reforms were rammed through parliament without due process and there was little evidence they would make the community safer.

McGuire said the police had powers under the old laws to remove guns from dangerous owners.

He also criticised the committee for not digging too deep into the problems with the regulations.

The rules also limit most owners to 10 guns, and five for hunting licences.

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