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Tony Abbott has challenged Malcolm Turnbull directly on gun regulation, warning Australia has avoided a mass casualty event because “it is very hard to get guns”.
Abbott’s intervention came as the West Australian premier, Colin Barnett, said he did not support lifting the ban on the Adler lever-action shotgun, putting him at odds with New South Wales, which is backing a push to allow the importation of a seven-shot version of the firearm.
The persistent standoff between the states, on current indications, appears likely to see the issue punted from a police ministers meeting on Friday to a leaders meeting of the Council of Australian Governments before the end of the year.
If the current deadlock remains, then the current import ban will remain in force.
Nationals in Canberra on Wednesday spoke out in favour of the NSW government position, which would see the gun reclassified to category B under a national agreement, allowing the gun to be imported by primary producers.
As a consequence of the breakout from Nationals and the West Australian Liberal MP Ian Goodenough, Turnbull faced another day of questions about the federal government’s position on whether the ban should be relaxed.
In parliamentary question time, Turnbull was asked about Abbott’s comments, and whether he thought the ban on the weapon should be permanent or temporary.
Unusually, ahead of a Coag meeting, the prime minister declined to specify his own view about the issue, and suggested the commonwealth’s position was that the states needed to make a decision.
Turnbull said the ban, imposed by his “distinguished predecessor” Tony Abbott, remained in force “until the police ministers of the states and territories agree on their classification of lever-action shotguns and, having agreed on it, then implement their measures.
“Then the import regulations will be adjusted to conform with the classification so agreed on.”
The deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, also ducked a direct question about whether he supported lifting the import ban on the Adler shotgun for use in Australian agriculture.
“What I can say is this is obviously a question that will be discussed by the relevant state ministers,” Joyce said in question time.
“I look forward to their deliberations.”
Abbott laid down the gauntlet to Turnbull in a quick media conference just before question time, declaring the federal government should do “whatever it needs to do to ensure rapid-fire guns are not readily available in this country.”
“One of the reasons we have avoided a mass casualty terrorist event in this country is because it is very hard to get guns,” the former prime minister said.
“It’s particularly hard to get guns that can do a lot of damage very quickly. If you allow rapid-fire guns into the country under relatively loose conditions you obviously raise the danger.”
“No one needs a rapid fire gun other than perhaps our law enforcement agencies, the military, and just possibly people involved in serious pest extermination, but this idea that shooters generally should have access to rapid-fire weapons is just crackers, and it should never happen as far as I am concerned.”
The former prime minister carried through his message to the evening, where he was interviewed by the ABC’s 730 program.
Challenged to explain how his interventions helped the government achieve clear air in a heavily contested parliamentary week, Abbott defended his right to intervene. He said: “On important national and international issues, as a former prime minister, I will have something to say.”
“Now, as a senior member of the Howard government, the government which put these world-best-practice, gold-standard gun laws into place, I think it’s very important that we do not play games with laws that have kept our country safe,” Abbott said.
Asked whether he wanted his old job back, Abbott said: “The last thing we need in this country is a revolving door prime ministership.”
“That was one of the many reasons I was an enthusiastic supporter of the re-election of the government, and I certainly want Malcolm Turnbull to be the best possible prime minister throughout this term.”
He said when it came to the party leadership, it wasn’t a question of “what I might like” but what the party room wanted.
“The party room wants this government, this prime minister, to succeed. That’s what I want and that’s what I’m doing my best to bring about.”
Turnbull attempted to return political fire on Labor during question time, declaring Bill Shorten “duplicitous”.
“As this duplicitous opposition leader knows, to stand up dripping with sanctimony about guns – he is the leader that has twice opposed mandatory sentences for people who smuggle guns,” Turnbull said.
“The guns that kill. The guns that terrorists use, smuggled guns, illegal guns.”
Turnbull branded Shorten “the smugglers’ friend”.
“They call it smugglers’ cove over there. All he needs is a parrot and he could be a pirate,” the prime minister said.
“The threat of illegal firearms is a threat to the safety of every Australian. The vast majority of gun crimes, the vast majority, over 90%, are committed with illegal weapons.”
Shorten, in a letter to the prime minister, said there was “no convincing evidence to prove that mandatory minimum sentencing acts as an effective deterrent, in this or any other area of criminal justice.”
He said Labor supported doubling the maximum sentence for firearms trafficking from 10 to 20 years.
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