The fundamentally flawed changes to the WA firearms act will now be formally reviewed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Legislation. The motion put forward by Nick Goiran MLC, the WA Shadow Attorney-General, was debated in the upper house today and will ensure a specialist committee investigates the legislation in detail.
In remarkable scenes, the Greens supported the motion, with the sole amendment being to ensure the committee reports broadly on issues such as problems and workability of the legislation.
The Greens highlighted issues with the legislation that has been brought to their attention. This included concerns from GPs regarding Firearms Authority Health Assessment requirements (FAHA), the loss of vital options for pest management by conservation groups and the inability of aboriginal people to undertake hunting.
While the member in the upper house representing the Minister for Police spent time criticising the opposition for not effectively debating the Bill last year, ultimately Labor supported the motion, with the Greens amendment.
The success of this motion follows the extensive and ongoing actions from the SSAA WA and the WA Firearms Community Alliance to continue to fight to rectify these issues.