Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches

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WEAPONS CONTROL AMENDMENT BILL 2005

This bill seeks to amend the Weapons Control Act in a number of ways. Primarily, the proposed bill will place new restrictions on the sale and purchase of crossbows in the Northern Territory in accordance with resolution to the Australasian Police Ministers Council made in July 2003. The restrictions are less severe than those imposed in other Australian jurisdictions and are designed to ensure the Australasian Police Ministers Council resolution is not undermined.

Further minor amendments to the Weapons Control Act relate to a legal uncertainty surrounding police powers of search in cases where a person on school premises is suspected of carrying or using a weapon in contravention of the act.

I now turn to specific components of the bill. In relation to the amendments limiting the sale and purchase of crossbows, in 2003 the Australasian Police Ministers Council resolved that all jurisdictions would take action to prohibit or restrict the availability of these weapons. This followed an incident in New South Wales where two high school students were injured when a 17-year old male, who had previously been in a relationship with one of the girls, shot them with a crossbow. New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory have either prohibited or have provided for the sale and purchase of crossbows under the permit system.

The Territory already has a comprehensive regime restricting the use of crossbows. For example, smaller concealable weapons that can be operated with one hand are prohibited under the Northern Territory’s Weapons Control Act and regulations, and cannot be owned without a permit, whilst larger crossbows, the type typically used for hunting, are listed as controlled weapons under the act. This means large crossbows can be used by anyone for legitimate purposes, such as for sport or recreational use. Misuse of these weapons is an offence.

After careful consideration, the Territory government is determined that an outright prohibition on crossbows is neither desirable nor necessary in the Territory especially since these weapons have been used for legitimate sporting and recreational purposes without incidence. However, in order to restrict the unsupervised purchase of crossbows by young Territorians, and to address the APMC resolution, it was determined that a ban on the supply of crossbows to a person under the age of 18 years was appropriate. In order to support the more restricted measures adopted in other states, new offence provisions are proposed to prevent the trafficking of crossbows and crossbow parts into or out of the Territory.

For example, clause 4 of the bill inserts new offences in the Territory prohibiting the cross-border:

· receipt of a crossbow or crossbow parts, where the person knows, or is reasonably expected to know, that the sender was acting illegally in accordance with the law of their state; · directing or requesting another person to send a crossbow or crossbow part where the person making the request knows, or would be reasonably expected to know, that the sender was acting illegally in accordance with the law of their state; and · sending a crossbow or crossbow parts where the person knows, or would be reasonably expected to know, the receiver would be acting illegally in accordance with the law of their state.

For all offences, if the offender is a natural person, the penalty is 200 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months. If the offender is a body corporate the penalty is 1000 penalty units.

These offences should act as sufficient disincentive for any person in the Territory hoping to profit from the interstate restrictions. A statutory defence is also provided where the person receiving the weapon proves that it was sent to them without their knowledge or approval. The offences are expected to have a minimal impact on the current Territory retailers who deal legitimately in crossbows. Territory retailers are still able to purchase crossbows from licensed dealers interstate, most of whom, if not all, are already operating under restrictions imposed by their respective legislatures.

In relation to police powers of search without a warrant, there is some legal uncertainty as to whether a school is a public place for the purposes of section 7 of the act. Section 7 of the act makes it an offence for a person to possess, carry, or use a controlled weapon in a public without lawful excuse. Lawful excuse includes a use associated with employment, sport, recreation and collecting. As it presently stands it is uncertain as a matter of law whether or not the offence to possess, carry, or use a controlled weapon in a public place without lawful excuse applies in respect of school premises. That is because the definition of public place does not expressly include school premises.

In addition, because public access to many Territory schools is restricted, it is arguable whether or not they are a public place as defined by the act. Clause 5 of the bill seeks to remedy this anomaly by making it clear that the misuse of a controlled weapon on school premises is an offence. Similarly, it is uncertain whether police can use their powers under section 19 of the act to search a person on school premises where they have a reasonable belief that the person is misusing a weapon in contravention of the act.

Clause 7 of the bill seeks to amend section 19, clarifying that existing police powers of search without warrant apply when the person in question is on school premises. I also table explanatory statements in relation to this bill and commend the bill to honourable members.

Continued from 19 October 2005.

Ms CARNEY (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the opposition supports the Weapons Control Amendment Bill. In Question Time, we did refer to other weapons, but we appreciate that this is crossbows. We also appreciate the late amendment for which you had your television headline referring to schools and kids carrying weapons in schools. You got that headline, but it is not crossbows which are necessarily the problem. As you know, in many parts of the Northern Territory it is knives that are the problem.

A couple of weeks ago in Alice Springs, the Attorney-General and I met with several families who are very concerned about their teenage kids and gatecrashers causing problems. It used to be the case a year or so ago, in the words of one parent, that it was just a bit of 'biffo' between some young lads. However, things have changed, I am told. Minister, you are a dad - I do not know how old your kids are – and you may well be aware of this as well. Apparently, these days there is an increasing number of young people who are carrying knives. These are not the sort of knives that you get from hunting shops - well, certainly in Alice Springs they are not. These are, in essence, kitchen knives. In Alice Springs, we have had stabbings in the middle of the day, near the Post Office and outside supermarkets. The problem is a very serious one.

I do not propose to spend any more time on this, minister. However, having given our support for this bill and the amendments thereto, I would be grateful if, in your reply, you would give an indication as to what steps government might look to in the future about the weapons situation. I refer, in particular, to knives that you and I both know are being carried by young people. Is there anything on the horizon in new initiatives and or, indeed, other legislation, that you and your Cabinet colleagues have given some thought to with a view to protecting Territorians?

With those remarks, Madam Speaker, I will conclude.

Mr HENDERSON (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the opposition's support for this amendment bill. It really is quite straightforward. In regards to the questions from the Leader of the Opposition about the issue of children - young adults - carrying knives and other offensive weapons, that is not to be tolerated. It is illegal to have a concealed weapon on your person. I was briefed by police during Question Time. I knew there was an Operation Sharp Edge running in Alice Springs. That operation finishes tomorrow. Obviously, the police will release results of that particular operation. It is illegal for people to carry weapons in public; a knife is considered a weapon.

What this legislation does, in part, is to clarify and make certain that the police will have powers once this bill is passed, if they have any intelligence, information, or reason to believe that a student, or any person, on school grounds is carrying any offensive weapon - and those weapons are prescribed in various schedules - to search without a warrant. The issue was that those powers were, without question, applicable to a public place. There was a legal, technical query - and I am sure the Leader of the Opposition is better able to understand those technical, legal nuances than I am - regarding whether a school was defined as a public place. This legislation makes that very clear. Police have the capacity, if they believe that somebody is carrying a knife - and that could even be a kitchen knife.

The understanding I have is that a couple of the very unfortunate murders which have occurred in the town camps in Alice Springs in recent times have been with implements such as kitchen knives and bread knives. That is tragic. If a person is walking down the street with a bread knife or a kitchen knife, or taking that into school, then that is classed as an offensive weapon and police have the powers to stop and search. If the police were to come to me, as they did in this instance, with a requirement to clarify legislation, or for additional powers to enable them to further crack down on people who carry such weapons in public, I would take that submission from the police very seriously and bring it to Cabinet as soon as I could.

In relation to the crossbows, this issue came about as a result of a Police Ministers conference some 18 months ago where, in New South Wales, there had been a tragedy where a 17-year-old male had taken a crossbow into a school and shot his ex-girlfriend. As a result of that tragic incident, the New South Wales Police minister moved at APMC to outlaw the sale of crossbows throughout Australia, and called on the Commonwealth to ban the importation of crossbows into Australia.

On advice that I had from police, and also from the broader community, we have people who quite legitimately own and use crossbows in the Northern Territory, particularly in the Top End. It is not my idea of a good day out, but there are people who like to use crossbows for hunting feral pigs. The advice from police was that they did not believe that that constituted a significant problem. I went to the following APMC and put a proposal identifying that our legislation did not prohibit a person under the age of 18 years from owning a crossbow in the Northern Territory. Given that it could be used as a lethal weapon - and it certainly is a lethal implement - the legislation makes it very clear, today, that it is an offence to supply, own, or possess a crossbow if under the age of 18 years. I went to APMC and said that I could not support a total ban. The Commonwealth, therefore, could not implement import restrictions, and offered to implement a regime in the Northern Territory whereby, as this bill does, it makes it an offence for people to sell crossbows in whole or in part into a jurisdiction in Australia that has a prohibition on them.

That is where the legislation came from. It did not come from a specific incident in terms of misappropriation of the use of a crossbow in the Northern Territory, but it does respond to concerns by police ministers interstate.

In relation to the powers for police to search without warrant on school grounds if they believe somebody is carrying a prohibited weapon, this legislation makes it very clear that police have those powers. In the event that the police were to bring to my attention additional powers that they require for deficiencies in existing legislation to enable them to crack down on the small numbers of people who do carry offensive weapons, of course, I would consider that.

At a press conference this morning, as an indication of how this legislation might be used, police showed me a flick knife. It really was quite an alarming knife. It was very light in weight. It had come to their attention as a result of somebody in Alice Springs who ordered this particular flick knife from the United States over the Internet. He paid his money. The knife had been posted and the blade actually escaped from its sheath and cut a postal worker's hand in Alice Springs. They reported it to police. The police went to that particular individual and said that they would have to seize that knife because it was an illegal weapon. The person involved did not understand that he was purchasing an illegal weapon and charges were not laid at the discretion of police.

It just goes to show how easy it could be for say a 15-year-old child to order such a weapon over the Internet, pay for it, conceal it in their home and take that weapon onto school grounds. If a similar incident had occurred, police would be able to track that back to the person who purchased it and, if they were on school grounds, use these powers to search that person with very defensible beliefs that that person may be carrying an offensive weapon.
I believe it is good legislation. It is not aimed at a very specific and large problem in the Territory. It does come from a police ministers' council and an ambiguity the police raised with me that currently exists in the legislation. I thank the opposition for their support.

Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.

In committee:

Clauses 1 to 4 taken, by leave, taken together and agreed to.

Mr HENDERSON: Mr Chairman, I invite defeat of clause 5.

Clause 5 negatived.

New clause 5:

Mr HENDERSON: Mr Chairman, I move amendment 4.1 to insert the proposed new clause 5 in the bill.

In the new clause 5, in fact, the insertion of the words 'or school' in section 7(1) after the words 'public places' is unchanged from the original bill in the new clause, but a new section 7(2A) is inserted so that the general offence of having a controlled weapon in a public place is kept separate from the specific offence relating to children created by the new clause 5A that is subsequent to this clause. This committee stage amendment is required to give lawful effect to that offence.

In plain English, I am advised that this is a technical amendment recommended by Parliamentary Counsel to avoid inconsistency between the existing adult offence provisions and the new children's offence provisions in regard to having a controlled weapon in a public place.

In terms of what is defined as a controlled weapon, adults can have a crossbow for the lawful excuse of hunting, for example, and therefore that lawful excuse is covered in an existing legislation. However, this technical amendment makes it very clear that, for a person under the age of 18 years it is an offence to own a crossbow for any reason whatsoever. It is a technical amendment to make it very clear that for someone under the age of 18 years it is an offence to have a crossbow in their possession, or for the sale and supply of a crossbow to a person under the age of 18 years.

New clause 5 agreed to.

New clause 5A:

Mr HENDERSON: Mr Chairman, I move amendment 4.2 to insert a new clause 5A. This clause inserts a new section 7A into the act, making it an offence for a person under the age of 18 years to possess, carry or use a weapon referred in the proposed section 11A, being the section created by clause 6 of the bill. The only weapon referred to in section 11A is a crossbow, controlled weapon, although there is provision for additional controlled weapons to be included by regulation. The maximum penalty for the offence is 200 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months. If the offence is committed at night time in a public place or school the maximum penalty is doubled. This is consistent with the corresponding adult offences in section 7. That technical amendment is linked to the previous clause to make it very clear that it is illegal for a person under the age of 18 years to possess, carry or use such a weapon.

New clause 5A agreed to.

Remainder of bill, by leave, taken as a whole, and agreed to.

Bill reported with amendments; report adopted.

 

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