Questions without notice and ministers statements
Firearms licensing
Mr BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (11:00): My question is for the minister representing the Minister for Police in the other house, Minister Tierney. The Firearms Act 1996 regulates various operations and responsibilities of a licensed firearms dealer: for example, what documents must be kept, minimum requirements for storage and transportation of firearms and so on—details, it could be argued, that are required for public safety. Under section 68 of the Firearms Act the chief commissioner may vary a firearms dealers licence in any way they see fit, which is an issue in itself, but a recent notice about a variation has surfaced, stating that a licensed firearm dealer is required to hold public liability insurance as a condition of their dealers licence. So my question to the minister is: bearing in mind that a lot of firearms dealers do not operate from a shopfront and that public liability insurance is not related in any way to public safety, why is it any business of the licensing and regulation division (LRD) or Victoria Police as to whether a firearms dealer holds public liability insurance or not?
Mr BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (11:01): I thank the minister for her answer. Any licensed firearms dealer with a shopfront will more than likely have this insurance anyway, but, as noted, not all dealers operate from a shopfront, so my question is: will the LRD release all records showing who they consulted with about this change and what the public safety reasons are for making liability insurance a condition of a firearms dealers licence?