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2003
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NATIONAL
HANDGUN BUYBACK BILL 2003
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Justice
and Customs
Senator the Honourable Chris Ellison)
National Handgun Buyback Bill 2003
General
Outline
This Bill enables the Commonwealth to appropriate funds for
the purpose of providing financial assistance to the States (defined to include
the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory), in connection with
the implementation of the handgun buyback that will run from 1 July 2003 to 31
December 2003.
The appropriation is for two main
purposes:
• to reimburse States for payments made by them to
compensate persons for their surrender of handguns, handgun parts and
accessories during the handgun buyback; and
• to reimburse States for
payments made in connection with the handgun buyback or with the Council of
Australian Governments’ (COAG) handgun reforms.
This Bill also
provides appropriation for the Commonwealth to make payments in relation to the
implementation of the COAG handgun reforms.
Financial
Impact
The total indicative cost of the handgun buyback program to
the Commonwealth is expected to be $69 million, to be appropriated out of the
Consolidated Revenue Fund.
General revenue contains a total of $15
million from the 1996 firearms buyback which remains unspent. The COAG
agreement specifies that the handgun buyback will be funded firstly from the $15
million left unspent, with the balance met on a
two-thirds:one-third basis
between the Commonwealth and each State. The $15m remaining unspent in general
revenue from the previous buyback is not an appropriation that can be carried
forward. The $15 million therefore forms part of the total indicative buyback
cost to the Commonwealth.
The remaining payments made by States will be
funded on a cost sharing basis with the Commonwealth reimbursing two-thirds of
the payments made by the States.
The majority of payments are expected to
be made in the 2003-04 financial year.
NOTES ON
CLAUSES
Clause 1 Short title
This is a formal clause
which specifies the short title of the Bill.
Clause 2
Commencement
This Bill will commence on the day it receives Royal
Assent.
Clause 3 Definitions
Five terms are defined in
Clause 3.
‘Buyback period’ is defined as the period starting
1 July 2003 and ending on 31 December 2003 as agreed to by COAG on 6
December 2002. If, however, a later time is prescribed in regulations, the
‘buyback period’ ends at that later time.
States will be
encouraged to complete the buyback in six months. An allowance may be made to
extend the period of the buyback for States that are unable to establish
appropriate legislation in their jurisdiction in time for the 1 July 2003 start
date.
‘COAG handgun reforms’ is defined as the 28 resolutions
agreed upon by the Australasian Police Ministers’ Council (APMC) on 28
November 2002, as well as all measures relating to handgun reforms endorsed by
COAG after that meeting but before the commencement of the Act.
The
APMC Resolutions aim to restrict the availability and use of handguns in
Australia. COAG has endorsed and clarified these resolutions by, for instance,
agreeing to prohibit the possession and use of certain handguns by sporting
shooters. The definition of ‘COAG handgun reforms’ is designed to
ensure decisions made by COAG have effect under this Bill.
‘Handgun
buyback’ is defined as the compensation scheme agreed upon by COAG at its
meeting of 6 December 2002, including any additions, modifications or variations
to that scheme endorsed by COAG since then but before the commencement of this
Act.
‘Qualifying payment’ is defined to include payments made
by a State in accordance with a written agreement relating to the handgun
buyback for the purposes of:
• compensating persons for their
surrender of handguns, handgun parts and handgun accessories during the buyback
period; and
• administering the buyback, or in raising awareness to the
COAG handgun reforms.
The written agreement will take the form of an
Intergovernmental Agreement between the Commonwealth and each State. This
Agreement will set out the administrative and accountability requirements for
the payment of compensation under the buyback. It will also specify the type of
payments directly connected to State administration of the buyback and in the
raising of awareness with the COAG handgun reforms.
‘State’
is defined to include the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern
Territory.
Clause 4 Financial Assistance for qualifying payments by
the State
This clause enables the Minister for Justice and Customs
to authorise the reimbursement of a State for qualifying payments made by the
State.
Before a State can be reimbursed, the following criteria must be
satisfied:
• the State must make a claim for payment in the form
approved by the Minister;
• the claim must be made within twelve months
of the completion of the buyback period in that State; and
• the
Minister must be satisfied that the payment is in accordance with the
Intergovernmental Agreement relating to the handgun buyback between the
Commonwealth and each State.
Sub-clause 4(3) provides for repayment to
the Commonwealth of any excess money paid to a State.
Sub-clause 4(4)
provides that any excess owed to the Commonwealth under sub-clause 4(3) is
recoverable by the Commonwealth as a debt in a court of competent
jurisdiction.
Clause 5 Minister may authorise other
payments
Clause 5 enables the Minister for Justice and Customs to
authorise payments other than ‘qualifying payments’ by the
Commonwealth relating to the COAG handgun reforms. Clause 5 stipulates that
these payments could include, but are not limited to, payments in connection
with the administration of the COAG handgun reforms and in education of and
raising awareness to the reforms.
This clause would permit the
Commonwealth to make payments to fund a Commonwealth developed communications
strategy relating to the handgun buyback, as well as a National Handgun Buyback
Support System to facilitate State reporting and analysis of buyback
payments.
It would also allow the Commonwealth to appropriate money to
make advance payments to external territories where an external territory
clearly demonstrates it could not meet the expected costs of the handgun buyback
in that jurisdiction.
Clause 6 Nature of payments to States under
this Act
This clause makes it clear that payments under the Act to
States are in the nature of financial assistance granted under section 96 of the
Constitution.
This clause provides that a copy of the Intergovernmental Agreement
relating to the handgun buyback between the Commonwealth and States will be
tabled in Parliament no later than 15 sitting days after the Agreement is
entered into.
Clause 8 Delegation
This clause provides the
Minister for Justice and Customs the option of delegating, in writing, all or
any of the Minister’s powers under this Bill to the Secretary of the
Attorney-General’s Department or to an SES employee or acting SES employee
in the Attorney-General’s Department.
It is envisaged that States
will seek reimbursement from the Commonwealth for qualifying payments on a
monthly basis. Delegation will allow the reimbursement process to be
expedited.
Clause 9 Appropriation
This clause appropriates
the Consolidated Revenue Fund for payments made under the Bill.
Clause
10 Regulations
Clause 10 enables the Governor-General to make
regulations to give effect to the legislation.