Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches

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WEAPONS CONTROL BILL 2001

Mr Speaker, I move that the bill now be read a second time.

The purpose of this bill is to toughen the Northern Territory’s weapons laws and to better align our laws with the National Agreements forged by the Australasian Police Ministers’ Council. Those agreements, through this Bill, will help to control the increase in the number and use of weapons within the community.

In bringing this Bill before the House the Northern Territory Government would like to reinforce the fact that the Northern Territory is a safe place to live and do business. Having said that, it is the responsibility of a Government to continually review its laws, have regard to national and international requirements, and make those changes to ensure that the armoury of laws is contemporary and adequate to meet the needs of a modern society.

I would like to make it clear and unequivocal that this bill does not interfere in any way with the legitimate rights and needs of land owners, graziers, fishermen, trades people or any one else who has a need to lawfully possess those things to do their job, enjoy their sport or anything else that ordinary reasonable people should be able to do. I will address this issue in more detail a little later.

This bill will give effect to the Australian Police Ministerial Council commitment by defining a three-tiered scheme that categorises the most dangerous weapons as 'prohibited weapons' whilst also allowing for the self regulation of ‘controlled weapons’ that by their nature have a legitimate place within the community. Carriage of ‘controlled weapons’ in a public place is of particular concern.

The third tier of regulation proposed by the bill is ‘offensive weapons’. These provisions are similar to the ‘offensive weapons’ provisions in Section 56A of the Territory's Summary Offences Act. The Northern Territory Attorney-General's Department was approached to ascertain whether it considered section 56A should be moved from the Summary Offences Act into the Weapons Control Act in order to logically locate the regulation of all weapons under a single act. The NT Attorney-General’s Department supported this course. As a consequence, Section 56A of the Summary Offences Act will be repealed and incorporated under section 9 of the proposed Weapons Control Act, thereby providing the third tier of regulation.

A fourth category of article is also addressed, being ‘body armour’. The experience in other jurisdictions is that body armour has been used by offenders in armed robberies and other serious crime. The Bill seeks to avoid any similar development in the Territory, and will prevent any unlawful use, including any black market sale of body armour, in and out of the Territory.

The introduction of this bill will clearly define what weapons are acceptable in the community for a legitimate purpose and will avoid confusion in relation to weapons such as flick-knives, knuckledusters and batons by better reflecting their purpose, which is principally an offensive one.

Importantly, the Bill will:

· restrict the sale, display, marketing and possession of the most dangerous categories of weapons and body armour;
· provide for exemptions and approvals for those in the community who need access to prohibited weapons, and body armour;
· provide for an amnesty, during which the public will be able to apply for an approval, or surrender prohibited weapons; and
· introduce the administration and control of less dangerous weapons in public places, and for unlawful purposes.

Mr Speaker, this bill will ensure that the context in which a controlled weapon is possessed or carried in public is relevant in determining whether an excuse is indeed lawful. For example, a person found with a fishing knife outside a nightclub at 2.00 a.m. would be liable to prosecution.

The passage of this bill will also give the Commissioner of Police the power to grant approvals to individuals authorising them to possess prohibited weapons for employment and other legitimate purposes. This will bring non-firearms weapons into line with the regime that has already been successfully adopted for the control of firearms.

Members of prescribed agencies are exempted from some provisions of the act for the purposes of performing their duties. The Commissioner can also determine that other organisations, security personnel, sporting groups and other classes of ‘authorised’ persons as exempt from some provisions of the act. This is important because it will ensure that the regulating or enforcement body will retain control over all weapons employed in law enforcement.

The bill also proposes a category of ‘prohibited persons.’ This is consistent with the scheme of the Firearms Act, and will further restrict the availability of weapons to people that should not have access to prohibited weapons of any kind.

‘Prohibited Persons’ will include people that have been:

· convicted of a disqualifying offence or an offence of violence as stipulated in the Firearms Act;
· subject to a Domestic Violence order to keep the peace, or restraining order of any kind; or
· any other person to whom it would be in the public interest to exclude from accessing such weapons.

The bill provides a specific offence of selling a prohibited weapon or body armour to a person who has neither an exemption nor an approval to possess, and a specific authority to purchase under the Act. This will ensure tighter control over the sale of prohibited weapons and body armour.

The bill also requires all persons who sell a prohibited weapon or body armour to record certain details about each article sold. Any potential purchaser of a prohibited weapon or body armour will be required to satisfy the vendor that they have obtained the appropriate approvals and authorities to purchase such articles at the time of sale. This requirement will assist Police in the enforcement of the regulatory regime for prohibited weapons and body armour.

As part of the government’s commitment to reduce the use of weapons in criminal enterprises, this bill will provide for increased penalties for offences involving any type of weapon. The severity of the penalty will be dependent on the classification of weapon and any circumstances of aggravation.

The bill also clearly outlines the procedure for the return or disposal of seized weapons. If not charged with an offence, a person will be informed of his or her right, subject to the act, to have a weapon returned. Any person under 18 years of age seeking the return of a weapon must be accompanied by a parent or guardian when they present themselves to police to collect it. If a person does not seek to have the weapon returned it will automatically be forfeited to the Territory.

As the bill will prohibit the possession without approval of some non-firearms weapons which exist in our community, an amnesty will be necessary. The bill provides for an amnesty, and members of the community will have an opportunity to apply for approval, or surrender any prohibited weapons.

The formulation of this bill is the result of a significant amount of consultation with the public. A public consultation phase was undertaken from 1 January through to the 23 March 2001 with advertisements being placed in key newspapers throughout the Territory and documentation circulated to some 270 relevant stakeholders seeking submissions on the proposed legislation. Although the public consultation phase was scheduled to close on 16 March 2001, it was extended to 23 March 2001 to allow for final submissions to be received. It was conducted in accordance with COAG principles and guidelines as agreed upon by the National Working Party on the Development of a National Prohibited Weapons Agreement and advice from the national process assisted in the development of the consultation process within the territory to address issues that were unique to the Territory. A total of 33 responses were received from a broad cross section of the community.

Whilst there was considerable support for the legislation, some factions of the community and special interest groups namely, the Arms Collectors Association of NT, had a number of fundamental objections to the proposed legislation. These included criticism of body armour being prohibited and prohibiting defensive weapons, such as OC spray and weapons in general for the purpose of self defence, particularly for sectors of the community such as women, and the elderly. Despite some of the concerns expressed, it should be understood that this act is not intended to impinge on an individual’s right to possess or use a weapon for a lawful purpose. Weapons classified as controlled can still be possessed and used by anyone in the course of any lawful activity without fear of prosecution. It is only when they are misused that an offence is committed. This is consistent with existing legislation in the Northern Territory that has prevented the carrying of an object, article or weapon for the purpose of self defence as stipulated in the offence provisions of section 56a Summary Offences Act.

Prohibition of some non-firearms weapons should not affect the security industry in the Northern Territory. There was some opposition to the control of OC spray and extendable batons, however it should be clearly understood that it is not proposed to remove access to these items by groups, such as security firms, that have a legitimate need for such possession. At present, all OC spray or its ingredients is imported. Under the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations, there are controls on the importation or the possession of imported OC spray and its ingredients. As a consequence of the customs regulation, only the police force of a state or territory, the Australian Federal Police or a correctional institution of a state of territory are permitted to import and possess imported OC spray and its ingredients. The consequence of this is that other groups would need to have special permission from the federal customs minister before they could even contemplate approaching the Northern Territory police to possess or purchase OC spray. This legislation merely proposes to regulate and control their use in the Northern Territory.

Mr Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members.

Debate adjourned.


 

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