Katrina BRANDON
GIPPSLAND producers are watching closely as Canberra continues to push for a national gun buyback scheme that could reshape how farmers manage pests and protect their property.
NSW Premier Chris Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have formally announced that a gun buyback scheme will be “bigger than the Howard-era” move. The new scheme is set to take up to 274,000 guns out of circulation, with those who have excess firearms receiving up to $ 1000 for their weapons from November 2.
Here in Victoria, newly appointed Premier Ben Carroll said he would rely on police advice on whether it would be necessary for the state.
In June, Labor’s proposed national gun buyback scheme failed its own deadline, with states and territories refusing to sign up to Labor’s “unworkable” proposal before laws were meant to be passed in July.
Leader of The Nationals Matt Canavan said rather than addressing criminals, extremists and illegal firearms, Labor’s firearms laws had unfairly targeted law-abiding Australians and were bad policy from the start.
“Labor’s proposed national buyback scheme and unworkable laws failed badly, because attacking lawful firearm owners was never the answer to the Bondi terror attack,” Senator Canavan said.
“This was confirmed by the interim report of the Royal Commission, which said that no state or federal agency reported that the laws as they stood at the time were insufficient to prevent an attack.
“Labor’s laws targeted the wrong people, punished regional communities and did nothing to deal with the real threats from criminals and extremists.
“States and territories have rightly walked away from this unworkable scheme because it went too far. The only thing Labor accomplished was demonising lawful firearm owners.”
As Prime Minister Albanese announced the firearm laws, the Federal Nationals moved to reverse the scheme.
The Firearms Legislation Amendment (Repealing Unfair Gun Laws) Bill 2026 restores Commonwealth firearms and importation law to its position before the passage of Labor’s Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Act 2026.
The Bill has been formally tabled in the Senate and was expected to go before the House of Representatives last month.
Senator Canavan said law-abiding firearm owners were farmers, collectors, target shooters, and community volunteers working to keep feral pests under control.
“This was a knee-jerk and unnecessary piece of legislation that was never properly consulted on,” Senator Canavan said.
“The Nationals will always support our law-abiding firearms owners, who need firearms to manage their farms and grow our food and fibre. They should never have been unfairly targeted, and Labor’s blame game of law-abiding firearms owners is a disgrace.”
Senator McKenzie said that the scheme, in reaction to the incident at Bondi Beach in December 2025, will affect almost one million law-abiding Australians who are being blamed for a crime they did not commit.
In February, the ACT Government introduced the Firearms (Public Safety) Amendment Bill 2026 (Public Safety Bill). The Bill seeks to limit the number of firearms a licensee may possess or use, re-categorise certain firearms, prohibit belt-fed firearms, and create an offence for possession of digital blueprints for the computer-aided manufacture of firearms and firearm parts.
She also said the Interim Report of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion had confirmed that no agency identified any gap in the pre-existing legal framework that impeded the prevention of, or response to, the Bondi attack.
“The Royal Commission’s interim finding demolishes the entire premise of Labor’s legislation,” Senator McKenzie said,
“The perpetrators should never have had access to a firearm under the laws that already existed. How they obtained one is a question for the Royal Commission, not an excuse to punish farmers, sporting shooters and hunters who follow the rules.”
The Federal Nationals have tabled a petition with more than 71,000 signatures, showing Australia’s thoughts on the scheme.
