Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches[Index] [Search] [Bill] [Help]
| Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Firearms Act, Firearms Regulations, Weapons Control Act and Weapons Control Regulations to increase the duration for which firearms licences and prohibited weapons licences are issued, provide an exemption for law enforcement officers to possess ammunition without licence, provide exemption to law enforcement officers to allow for the colocation and storage of firearms and ammunition, and change the definition of an officer of Customs to reflect recent changes and allow for those into the future. I will now provide further detail of the provisions of the bill. With regard to increase the duration for which firearms licences and prohibited weapons licences are issued, for this purpose the bill amends section 14 of the Firearms Act to increase licence durations from five years to 10 years, and for those licences which are currently for one or three years to five years. Similarly, the bill amends the Weapons Control Act by amending section 14 to allow for licence durations for up to 10 years. To accommodate the increased licence periods, schedule 3 of the Weapons Control Regulations is also amended by increasing the fees for licences by a modest 50%. The mechanism for the minister to set Firearms Act fees is already established via section 6 and is not a subject of this bill. In relation to the exemption for law enforcement officers of possess ammunition without licence, for the purpose of this bill we insert section 4(4A) into the Firearms Act, which exempts police officers and other related enforcement agencies from the provisions regarding the possession of ammunition without a licence. In regards to exemption for law enforcement officers to allow for the colocation and storage of firearms and ammunition, for this purpose the bill inserts new sub-regulations into regulation 21 and 22 of the Firearms Regulations which exempts police officers and other related enforcement agencies from the provisions regarding storage of ammunition separately from firearms. In relation to changing the definition of an officer of customs, for this purpose, the bill omits the current outdated definition of an officer of customs and inserts ‘an officer of Customs as defined in section 4 of the Customs Act 1901 Commonwealth’; thus allowing for the recent change in name and any future changes. This bill is an example of the government’s commitment to the Framing the Future blueprint objectives including improving business productivity, building a safe secure and resilient Northern Territory and strengthening government service delivery. The bill aligns with the government’s commitment to reducing red tape. It provides an opportunity to help service those in the recreational firearms industry to provide improved streamline of service and increasing the timeframe from the licence to reduce the amount of administrative burden on police and ease of access to those within our community. I commend the bill to Honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement Debate adjourned. |