Significant quotes of 1997
“This is a defining moment in Australian history and one which firearm owners, their families and the community can be very proud.”
Daryl Williams, Federal Attorney-General
News Mail Bundaberg, 7 January 1997
“Although this provision is still in force, it is obsolete and is going to be repealed.”
On repealing regulations in the Defence Act concerning rifle clubs.
Ian McLachlan, Defence Minister
Sydney Morning Herald, 15 January 1997
“We are crushing the guns on a hydraulic press out the back but they are allowed to watch it being destroyed from a viewing area.”
Ian Lewis, Buyback Project Manager Queensland
Gold Coast Bulletin, 17 January 1997
“There is no common legislation as such, nor is there a “standard national firearms legislative approach”. It is up to each State and Territory Government to decide whether to incorporate the APMC agreements into existing legislation or to draft new legislation based upon the agreements.”
Daryl Williams, Federal Attorney General
Federal Hansard, 12 February 1997
“We are discovering that there is one enemy around the world: the organised gun lobby.”
Philip Alpers
Canberra Times, 16 February 1997
“What you have here is a moveable feast of looting, rorting, bungling and deceit.”
On claims of the Victorian buyback program in chaos
Andre Haermeyer, Victorian Opposition Spokesperson on Police
Sunday Herald Sun, 16 February 1997
Gun Shows could “act as a place...where people of dubious intent get together.”
John Crook, President Gun Control Australia
The Australian, 17 February 1997
“It is clear that the gun buyback scheme is out of control.”
Andre Haermeyer, Victorian Opposition Police Minister
The Australian, 17 February 1997
“There’s people who have an axe to grind and I suspect a lot of males in the gun trade and older police officers who don’t like seeing a young woman making a success of the scheme.”
On reports of rorts in the buyback scheme run by Director Karen Cleave.
John Crook, President Gun Control Australia
Daily Advertiser, Wagga Wagga, 17 February 1997
Gun deaths fell by 46 per cent during the last 15 years before tough new firearm legislation introduced after last year’s Port Arthur massacre, according to figures released yesterday by the ABS. “The figures clearly show that the absolute numbers of (gun) deaths, and the rates of death, has been steadily declining before Port Arthur.”
David Povah, Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian, 27 February 1997
“Although I agree that it is desirable to limit the adverse effects of legislation on property interests, I believe that the measures taken in this legislation are necessary because they are a major component of Canada’s firearms control legislation and important to the safety of all Canadians. Therefore, where a firearm is prohibited because it is deemed an unacceptable risk to public safety, it is not in the public interest to compensate those who may have owned the firearm when the decision was implemented.” From a letter to National Firearms Association regarding compensation.
Allan Rock, Federal Justice Minister
10 March 1997
“Once you’re qualified to own a semi-automatic handgun in Australia, you can basically have as many as you like in the home, keeping them at home.”
Handguns are restricted to a genuine reason. If the police think you have too many, then they refuse the Permit to Acquire.
Rebecca Peters
Canberra Times, 19 April 1997
“The new legislation banning semi-automatic firearms will do nothing to prevent the vast majority of Australia’s gun deaths”
Dr Adam Graycar, Australian Institute of Criminology
‘Armed Response - Gun Prohibition Spells Big Business for Australia’s Black Market’, June 1997
“Our logic is that shooters are the most ill-disciplined people of any recreational group. That’s what attracts them to guns. It’s a state of mind. They are usually poorly educated, they never had much success at school and were never very good at sport.”
John Crook, President Gun Control Australia
The Advertiser, Adelaide, 16 July 1997
In a letter to SSAA, “You do not prevent such atrocities by taking away the civil rights of law abiding citizens.”
Karlene Maywald, SA State Member for Chaffey
19 August 1997
In a letter to a SSAA member on the gun buyback, “...it was all about draining the suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney of firearms.”
Tim Fischer, Deputy Prime Minister
9 September 1997
The number of Victorians murdered with firearms has almost trebled since the introduction of tighter gun laws.
Geelong Advertiser, Victoria, 11 September 1997
Dr Christopher Walker told the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine conference at the Adelaide Festival Centre that gun law reform undertaken in 1996 in response to the Port Arthur massacre was a government fraud. “It has been one of the greatest frauds perpetrated against the Australian taxpayer.”
Dr Christopher Walker
The Advertiser, Adelaide, 13 November 1997
“Taxpayers were slugged hundreds of thousands of dollars so the Federal Government could buyback guns it already owned.”
On how the Government owned Australian Defence Industries sold its historical arms collection to the buyback for destruction.
Sun Herald, NSW, 7 December 1997
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