Gun law change after Anthony Albanese and national cabinet receive ASIO briefing

Prime Anthony Albanese says national cabinet has agreed to the need for a national gun database coordinating weapons registers across the states and territories, declaring ‘we need to do better’.

The nation’s leaders and chief ministers met in Canberra on Friday, where they agreed to a ‘nationally coordinated approach to the management of firearms.

It’s in the wake of the fatal Queensland shootout which claimed the lives of police constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow and good Samaritan Alan Dare. 

‘It’s quite clear that we need to do better in cooperation between jurisdictions when it comes to firearms,’ Mr Albanese told reporters.

‘That was part of the issue that’s been identified in Queensland.’

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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk led the discussion for the need for a national gun register when national cabinet met on Friday

The national cabinet received a high level briefing by ASIO director-general Mike Burgess about the rise of right-wing extremism in Australia and of so-called ‘sovereign citizens’.

‘The Commonwealth will always make available our senior national security advisors to state and territory governments to deal with the challenges that are there of keeping people safe,’ Mr Albanese said.

The nation’s police ministers will report back to national cabinet mid this year, with options to implement a national firearms register.

‘It’s agreed that would be a necessary measure,’ Mr Albanese said.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk led the discussion, with the backing of other state premiers, on increased information sharing between law enforcement agencies across jurisdictions. 

The deaths of Queensland constables Rachel Arnold and Rachel McCrow sparked calls for a national gun register 

Arriving at Parliament House ahead of the talks, Ms Palaszczuk said she was a ‘really keen’ supporter of a national firearms register.

‘I’ll be raising it at national cabinet especially after the tragic deaths of (Constables) Matthew (Arnold) and Rachel (McCrow) that were felt right across Australia,’ she said.

‘The national firearms registry will absolutely help – it will give agencies that opportunity to be able to log in and see who owns firearms.’

Ms Palaszczuk said she expected the support of her counterparts to get the database up and running.

Anthony Albanese (pictured) admitted cooperation between the state and territory jurisdictions needs to improve

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WA Premier Mark McGowan said he backed the move, and that the establishment of a national register ‘has to happen’.

‘We have to have fewer guns in our community and we have to have more easy tracing and tracking of guns across our community … it’s a no-brainer,’ he told reporters in Canberra.

In December last year, Queensland police officers Constable Matthew Arnold and Constable Rachel McCrow were murdered on a Wieambilla property, more than 300km west of Brisbane, by a trio of conspiracy theorists.

WA Premier Mark McGowan also agreed a national gun register ‘has to happen’