The New South Wales government has passed controversial changes to gun laws and new powers for police to ban street protests for up to three months, after a marathon debate in the upper house.
The laws, which were drafted in response to the 14 December massacre at Sydney’s Bondi beach in which two gunmen fired on a Hanukah event, killing 15 people, were voted through at 2.51am on Wednesday.
The omnibus bill passed with 18 votes in favour and eight against. The Liberals joined the Labor government members in voting for the bill, while the Nationals and Shooters voted against. The Greens members abstained.
The new laws mean the state police commissioner will now have powers to ban protests on the streets of NSW for 14 days and up to three months, once a terrorism determination has been made.
Gun laws have also been tightened, with gun owners now generally restricted to owning four guns, while farmers and professional shooters will be restricted to 10 weapons. Gun owners must also be Australian citizens.
Firearms that allow multiple shots without reloading, similar to those used by the alleged shooters, will also be banned and gun licences will need to be renewed every two years, allowing greater scrutiny by police.
Appeals against refusals by police to grant a licence will also be curtailed.
The bill, which included amendments to multiple pieces of legislation, was criticised by both progressives and conservatives.
But because it was an omnibus bill and the government and the Liberals resisted splitting it into two bills, parliamentarians were ultimately forced to vote it up or down.
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The NSW Liberals supported the government, though Liberal member Susan Carter attempted unsuccessfully to amend the bill to make the protest ban apply to rallies on beaches and in parks.
The government’s ban only applies to street marches which require a form 1 permit, which protects protesters from prosecution for offences such as obstructing traffic and is necessary for demonstrations using public streets.
The Greens, who were vehemently opposed to the ban on protests, were torn as they have long advocated for stronger gun control.
“I thought the recalling of parliament to take this action was reasonable,” Greens MLC Sue Higginson said. “I supported moves to take a strong evidence-based stand against hate fuelled extreme gun violence by drawing a line in the sand and passing world-leading gun law reform in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
“But partisanship and division have clouded out the capacity for leadership from these individuals, and the anti-protest provisions of this bill is a departure from the fundamental principles of peace, non-violence and good governance.
“Peaceful assembly is a fundamental civil liberty and now is not the time to restrict our civil liberties. If the government is hell bent on doing this, then they must at the very least make these powers temporary.”
On Tuesday, a coalition of groups that regularly organise protests said they were preparing a constitutional challenge that would be lodged as soon as the bill became law.
The premier, Chris Minns, said in response that his government had “run our legislation thoroughly through the crown solicitor. We are alive to the threat from the high court and a reversal of these changes … We’re all confident that they’re sound constitutionally.”
The NSW Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party and the NSW Nationals led opposition to the tougher gun controls and attempted to delay the bill’s passing through the upper house by moving dozens of amendments.
Upper house Shooters MLC Mark Banasiak said he spoke on behalf of “260,000 law-abiding firearm owners in this state” and pointed the finger at government failures.
“Licensed firearm owners did not radicalise the [alleged] offenders,” he said.
“We were not the ones who ignored the advice of our own security agencies, and that risk was known, the warnings were clear, and yet state and federal governments did nothing, nothing, until the moment came when the public demanded answers,” he said.
“They chose to point the finger at 260,000 law-abiding firearm owners, Australians who do the right thing every single day, farmers, sporting shooters, hunters, collectors, regional Australians, people who comply with the law, people who submit to background checks, to inspections, to licensing requirements, to ongoing scrutiny, people who are already the most regulated citizens in this state.
“The blame for this atrocity does not rest with them.”
The Nationals’ Sarah Mitchell raised her concerns about the impact on farmers, whom she said had not been properly consulted.
Ten guns might be enough for some farmers but that limit might not work for all, she said.
The debate also again laid bare the deep divisions within Labor over the direction Minns has taken in dealing with the aftermath of the Bondi massacre.
Upper house member Stephen Lawrence, who is also a barrister specialising in public law, told parliament he believed the laws would limit the implied freedom of political communication in the Australian constitution.
A provision allowing a “public assembly restriction declaration” or “Pard” to be made if there is a concern for public safety would be satisfied “by any large protest at any time”, he said.
He added that changes giving police move-on powers if a person is obstructing another person or traffic under a Pard would also capture crowd behaviour at most protests.
“In summary, our freedom to politically communicate by way of protest will be limited by this bill,” he says.
Anthony d’Adam, a Labor MLC who has fought for civil liberties and acknowledgment of the Palestinian genocide, said he would support the bill but expressed serious reservations about the protest restrictions.
