Last week at Public Accounts and Estimates Committee hearing, the lacklustre rollout of Labor’s Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) was exposed.
These laws were designed to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals by limiting the ability to legally access guns and visit locations where firearms are kept.
However, despite identifying at least 2,200 potential FPO targets in June 2018 and describing these new laws as a “game changer”, only 165 orders have been issued in Victoria in the last 12 months.
This lacklustre rate compares to NSW, who as at June 30 2018 have issued 3,657 FPOs in 5 years – a rate of approximately 730 a year.
Furthermore, the Police Minister, Lisa Neville, refused to identify how many new orders have been issued since the FPO’s failed at the first hurdle when former Rebels Outlaw Motorcycle Gang boss Colin Websdale had his order overturned at VCAT last month.
Labor’s botched rollout of FPO’s comes on the back of a period of heightened gun violence in Victoria, with eight fatal and seven non-fatal shootings occurring since March.
With such regular occurrences of violent crime and Daniel Andrews failing to give Police the powers they need to keep guns out of the hands of violent criminals, it’s no wonder that Victorians don’t feel safe in their communities, on public transport and in their own homes at night.
Under Daniel Andrews, Victoria is dragging its heels on community safety and has once again jeopardised community safety by leaving Victoria Police stranded with unworkable laws.
Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Police, David Southwick:
“Once again Daniel Andrews half-baked laws have has left Victoria Police without the powers they need to keep the community safe.”
“With Victorians having the worst perceptions of safety in the nation, Daniel Andrews need to make community safety his number one priority.”