The Federal Government has released its response to the New South Wales Coroner’s report into the Sydney Siege, announcing it has accepted the 12 federal-related recommendations. Ironically, the report, handed down by State Coroner Michael Barnes last month, did not contain any firearms-related recommendations, despite the incident being the apparent catalyst that sparked the National Firearms Agreement (NFA) review.
The Coroner’s report follows a joint review into the incident conducted by both the Federal and NSW Governments, which delivered its findings in February 2015. This report did contain recommendations regarding firearms, although key recommendations, such as seriously addressing the illegal firearms market, have fallen by the wayside.
Another key recommendation to simplify the regulation of the legal firearms market by updating technical elements of the NFA has not been achieved. The new NFA, released by the Federal Government earlier this year, was a wasted opportunity to address real issues affecting the legitimate sport of shooting and recreational hunting and has not cut red tape as originally intended. The SSAA has expressed our disappointment directly to the government and will continue to advocate that the authorities focus on criminal misuse and access to firearms, rather than the law-abiding shooter.