Victoria Police licensing and regulation division
Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (12:06): My question is for the minister representing the Minister for Police. Over the last few weeks I have asked questions about Victoria’s police firearms database. The government tells me that the reason the licensing and regulation division have lost track of over 100 000 firearms is that records were incomplete in 1996 when the new database system was implemented. This means that LRD’s senior officers have not properly maintained their firearms database since 1996 and they have no idea how accurate it is. Surely this has been a failure of leadership. Previous firearms amnesties have not issued receipts for surrendered firearms, and dealers are now being pursued over not being able to produce firearms that were surrendered to police years ago. But Victoria Police are also a firearms dealer; they buy and sell firearms too. Why does the dealer get chased over a handful of firearms discrepancies when police can lose track of over 100 000 without consequences? Minister, do Victoria Police hold a firearms dealers licence, and do the same rules apply to them as apply to other firearms dealers?
Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (12:07): I thank the member for his question and indeed his consistency in providing a whole heap of allegations and then finally he getting to a question right at the end that is not necessarily connected to a conflated set of issues. Leaving that to one side, I will refer it to the Minister for Police for her response as per the standing orders.
Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (12:07): Thank you, Minister. It is alarming that so many firearms were surrendered to police without records or receipts. Without amnesties, firearms would still be where records indicate; they would be in the hands of the owners in most cases. Now we have thousands of firearms that cannot be traced. We do not know where they went and will not be able to track them down. People gave their firearms to police in good faith, and the firearms have just disappeared. Were they destroyed, sold on the black market, kept by police? Because LRD officers have unaccountable access to firearms, we should also expect that they are subject to strict integrity measures to reduce the potential for corruption. IBAC argues that moving or rotating people, particularly in specialist squads such as drug squads, reduces the risk of corruption and misconduct by preventing stagnation and the development of inappropriate relationships. Minister, what is the tenure of senior officers in LRD? The rest of VicPol have a policy of limited tenure and rotation to combat corruption, but it appears that LRD is exempt.
Ms Pulford: On a point of order, President, by my count the member asked five questions in his supplementary. I would remind members of our standing orders and multiple rulings over the years from the Chair that it is one question plus one supplementary. I would encourage you, President, to perhaps pick one or remind members of that rule.
The PRESIDENT: Mr Quilty, you know the standing orders. I will ask you to rephrase your supplementary, please, with one question.
Mr QUILTY: Thank you, President. The actual question was quite clear. The rest was just build-up to it—the use of a question as a rhetorical device in building the case. The actual question was: Minister, what is the tenure of senior officers in LRD?
Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (12:10): I thank the member for his question. His explanation that his posturing, allegations and assertions are now a rhetorical frame is a very interesting proposition. Regardless of that, I will refer the supplementary to the Minister for Police.