Queensland has announced new gun control measures, but critics say they will leave the state with the weakest firearms laws in Australia. Premier David Crisafulli and police minister Dan Purdie unveiled the second part of their response to the Bondi shootings on Monday.
Under the proposed changes, only Australian citizens will be able to obtain a gun licence, with exceptions for sporting shooters, businesses and primary producers. There will be no cap on the number of weapons an individual can own, and the government has rejected a national gun buyback. The restrictions will not be retroactive, meaning current licence holders will not be affected.
The reforms include mandatory minimum sentences for drive-by shootings, increased penalties for firearm theft and trafficking, and new offences related to 3D-printed weapons. Police will also be able to consider criminal records when issuing licences. However, Stephen Bendle of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation said Queensland would have the weakest gun laws in Australia, adding that none of the initiatives would prevent a Bondi or Wieambilla tragedy.
The government also introduced hate speech legislation giving the attorney general power to ban specific slogans, including the pro-Palestine chant "from the river to the sea". A new offence carries a maximum two-year jail sentence for public recitation causing offence. Civil liberties groups and the Greens condemned the move as an attack on free speech.
Greens MP Michael Berkman accused the government of making itself the "thought police", while Terry O'Gorman of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties called it an affront to free speech rights. Justice for Palestine said it was considering a legal challenge. The premier is due to announce the third part of the response on Tuesday.
