‍DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TERRITORIES
SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

TOPICS: Bondi terrorist attack, Federal Royal Commission, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet review, gun laws, gun owners, heritage firearm ownership, antisemitism, Islamic terrorism, law enforcement

Seal  

For more, joining us live is the Shadow Regional Development Minister, Anne Webster.  Anne, thank you very much for joining us. The deadliest terrorist attack in Australia history. Should we have a Royal Commission, in your opinion, a federal one?

Webster  

Jaynie, it's great to be with you. We must have a Royal Commission. This should not even be an option. The Prime Minister knows that the research or the review that he's asked for through the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet is not enough. This is a national scourge on Australia's society, and it cannot be dealt with just simply the New South Wales Royal Commission. So, we must have a national one, and it must deal with the failures that have occurred for the last two years under this Prime Minister's watch. My personal view is Janie that he's afraid of a royal commission because he doesn't want certain aspects of the behaviour of government, the decisions he has made, which have been weak over the last two years, to be exposed even more than they really are. So, my view is we absolutely must have a Royal Commission. It should not even be an option. We need to be able to subpoena documents. We need to be able to subpoena witnesses. They are required to give the truth, not requested to give the truth, which is the kind of review that he's currently called for.

Seal  

Well, they are saying, aren't they, that the report from Dennis Richardson is going to be enough. They need to get immediate review and, you know, investigations into this, but certainly hearing - including 11 of the 15 victims’ families - that this is not enough, by any stretch of the imagination,

Webster  

Not at all, not at all. And look, I'm hearing from Labor sources that the Prime Minister is actually worried that a Royal Commission will drag into his next election. Well, you know what? So be it. Australians deserve the truth, and this is the responsibility of a Prime Minister. This should not be political. He is making it political. His allowing Penny Wong to stand with the Palestinian state before there even is one is what what needs to come out in a Royal Commission, and this is on the Prime Minister's watch. He has got to stop hiding.

Seal  

Anne, do you think the gun laws that have been implemented post the terror attack that took place just over two weeks ago in Bondi now are knee jerk reactions? That's what we are hearing …  the Daily Telegraph reporting, for example, in New South Wales alone, that 500 gun owners will be forced to surrender 30,400 guns. What are people in Victoria saying?

Webster  

I'm hearing from gun owners such as farmers, who certainly have more than 10 guns or four guns, that this is a terrible move. I absolutely stand with our law-abiding gun owners. I've been out to the clay target shooting range. They are passionate people. They're law abiding. I personally am a terrible shot. However, all the people that I know are incredibly passionate about this, and you know, I've had several gun owners speak to me this last week about these proposed laws in Victoria and New South Wales, of course, because we're right on the border. You know, a chef who has said to me he's got his grandfather's firearm from the First World War, the First World War. This is a collector's item. I've had another farmer who has given me exactly the same story. He has his grandfather’s … it might even be his great grandfather, I don't know …  but it's his rifle from the First World War. Why should law abiding Australian citizens basically be the scapegoat for a government that is too weak to act on antisemitism and Islamic terrorism, let us call it what it is, and the government has failed on every level, for the Victorian Government and even the New South Wales Government. And I give credit to Chris Minns for the work that he's been doing. However, for them to go after law-abiding gun owners is … it is shonky. It's, frankly, shonky, they need to deal with the real issues.

Seal  

A lot of gun owners have been telling us this week, for example, they have, you know, if they do anything wrong, they go to a pub, for example, and they might get a little bit aggressive, or, you know, just a very minor thing, even though that is not minor …. but you know what I'm saying, like, if they do something that might be … towards someone else. They lose their licence. It's very strict, and they lose it for 10 years. So many of the people that own guns are saying that they certainly have this duty of care to really, you know, to be mindful. Again, I could argue that you don't need a gun for that. But do you understand what they're trying to say?

Webster  

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. They know the red tape that they sit under that their right to own guns sits under a band of red tape that they must adhere to. What we are dealing with is these terrorists, with people who are wanting to hurt Australians, is most often illegal gun ownership. How is tightening gun laws going to stop that behaviour? It's not. Any fool will tell you that is not going to change. What we need is greater enforcement. What we need is the government to crack down on terrorism and people who behave with criminal intent. And you cannot say that that's happening in Victoria.

Seal  

And there's certainly a big lot of questions I've got to wrap up, but 3D guns, which certainly don't have licences, plenty more to discuss, but we've got to go.

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