Anthony Albanese announces biggest gun buyback scheme since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre

Anthony Albanese has announced the biggest gun buyback scheme since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in response to the Bondi Beach terror attack.

The national buyback scheme, announced five days after the worst terror attack on Australian soil, will be finalised in coming days but will be mandatory in parts and voluntary for others.

Speaking in Canberra on Friday, the Prime Minister said he was surprised the killers had six guns in suburban Sydney, some of which were identical high power shotguns.

“I am surprised that is the case. There is something wrong with the licensing laws when this guy can have six high-powered rifles which is why the government is acting,” he said.

Joined at the press conference by AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, the PM said the new buyback scheme would “purchase surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms”.

He said that the then Liberal-Howard Government in 1996 “did the right thing” and he, too, would now act in “Australia’s national interest”.

“Australia’s gun laws were substantially reformed after the Port Arthur tragedy. The terrible events at Bondi show we need to get more guns off our streets.,” he said.

“We know that one of these terrorists held a firearm licence and had six guns, in spite of living in the middle of Sydney’s suburbs there at Bonnyrigg.

“There’s no reason why someone in that situation needed that many guns. There are now more than four million firearms in Australia - more than at the time of the Port Arthur massacre nearly 30 years ago.

“The Government will introduce legislation to support the funding of this buyback scheme and meet the costs on a 50-50 basis with states and territories.”

The PM declared that the scheme would mirror the approach in 1996, where States and territories would be responsible for the collection, processing, and payment to individuals for surrendered firearms.

While the Australian Federal Police will then be responsible for their destruction.

The PM has called for Premier’s across jurisdictions to engaged constructively: “I would hope all premiers and chief ministers engage in the spirit in which this is intended. Which is about keeping Australians safe”.

He said it came on top of the five key measures agreed to by National Cabinet on Monday, which included making Australian citizenship a condition of holding a firearm licence, fast-tracking the setup of a National Firearms Register, and limiting the number and types of firearms one individual can hold.

NSW Premier Chris Minns held a press conference in Sydney shortly after Mr Albanese’s, detailing what he described as once-in-a generation reforms to the state’s gun laws.

A bill imposing a cap of four firearms per individual with strict exemptions for primary producers and sporting shooters will be introduced on Monday after Mr Minns recalled parliament.

“We will reclassify straight, pull, pump-action, button, lever release firearms into category C – limiting their access primarily to farmers, agriculture, primary producers,” Mr Minns said.

The emergency set of reforms also propose a ban of firearms that can use belt-fed magazines and will reduce magazine capacities for category A and B firearms to a maximum of five to 10 rounds.”

If passed, the changes would mean NSW gun owners with more than four would be forced to hand back firearms over the cap. Owners would also face stronger storage inspections and would be mandated to be members of a gun club.

The carve out for primary producers and sporting shooters will cap them at 10 guns per individual.

Mr Minns also said the appeals process after someone’s license is taken off them would be scrapped.

But the Premier also acknowledged that gun laws weren’t the end of his government’s response and announced a string of actions to tackle anti-Semitism.

“These are extraordinary measures. I want to make it clear they’re not the end of the measures,” he said.

In the wake of pro-Palestine protests at the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, Mr Minns said he would examine sweeping new police powers to block “public assemblies during high-risk times”.

Mr Minns said under the legislation to be introduced on Monday, NSW would also seek to ban flags relating to ISIS, or the Islamic State, in NSW.

Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie said the Prime Minister needed to remember “It’s not the gun, it’s Islamic terrorism”.

“It’s much easier to say it’s the gun, instead of actually standing up as Prime Minister and accepting the fact that Islamic terrorism is now on our shores,” the Senator and recreational shooter told Sunrise on Thursday.

“If you’re going to fix something you’ve got to be able to name it.”

Her call echoed an impassioned speech by former Liberal frontbencher and prominent Jewish Australian Josh Frydenberg at the Bondi memorial on Wednesday.

Mr Frydenberg had joined mourners, Coalition MPs, and members of the Jewish community to express disappointment in Labor’s response to rising anti-Semitism in Australia since the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack.

Mr Albanese also ruled out recalling Parliament before Christmas as the Opposition had called for, saying it was “not practical” given the timeline for drafting of the “complex” legislation.

“We’re going to make sure that we get the laws right,” he said, flagging potential hurdles with “constitutional issues” and “issues of free speech”.

Federal Labor MP Dan Repacholi has, however, vowed he won’t support gun agenda measures which are “symbolic” in the wake of the massacre, saying they’re “not the answer”.

Mr Albanese’s backbencher, who is an Olympic shooter, on Friday released a statement ensure his position was “consistent and clear” after claiming thousands of constituents reached out in recent days.

“Australia has strong gun laws and they save lives, but I do not support changes that unfairly target responsible, law-abiding firearms owners,” the Hunter MP said.

“Measures that are blunt, symbolic or simply designed to appease public anger without improving safety are not the answer.”

The PM said while he understood Mr Repacholi was “rightly proud” of his sporting background — which includes representing Australia at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics — action needed to be taken on guns.

“He has a proud record going back. But if a bloke in Bonnyrigg needs six high powered rifles and is able to get them under the existing licensing scheme, then there’s something wrong. I think Australians can see that,” he said.

A National Day of Mourning will be held in January to remember the victims of the Bondi terror attack.

The PM also urged all Australians to take part in a minute of silence and light a candle at 6.47pm on Sunday, exactly one week from the massacre, as “a quiet act of remembrance”.

As a symbol of remembrance on the day, all flags on NSW and Federal Government buildings will be flown at half mast.

The NSW government has also launched an “Unite for Bondi – Bondi Terror Attack Appeal” with Rotary.