Federal government to spend $161million on an Australia-wide gun register after two police officers were murdered on a remote property

The Albanian government plans to establish a National Firearms Register – a new nationwide database designed to increase community safety – following the tragic shootings in Wieambilla in 2022.

The federal budget, due on May 14, will see $161.3 million invested over four years to set up the registry, upgrading state and territory firearms management systems to comply with the new Commonwealth database.

The commitment follows an agreement from the national cabinet in December, although financing arrangements had become a sticking point for reform progress.

It is understood South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT could each need as much as $30 million to connect to a new federal database.

The tragedy in Wieambilla, Queensland in December 2022 was the catalyst for introducing the reform, after it was originally recommended following the response to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.

The Albanian government plans to set up a National Firearms Register – a new nationwide database designed to increase community safety. It was originally recommended after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre (pictured)

On April 28, 1996, Martin Bryant killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania, and injured another 23 people.

At the time it was considered one of the worst massacres in the world.

Byrant is serving 35 life sentences and more than a thousand years in prison without parole.

Officers Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold and neighbor Alan Dawe were shot dead by three Christian extremists, Gareth, Nathaniel and Stacey Train, at their remote property in Wieambilla, 300km west of Brisbane.

One of the perpetrators was a firearms license holder.

The Wieambilla tragedy in December 2022 was the catalyst for implementing the reform (stock)

The registry will enable law enforcement agencies to assess the risks posed by firearms by providing frontline police officers across the country with near real-time information about firearms, parts and owners.

Firearms information will also be linked to other relevant police and government information, including data from the National Criminal Intelligence System.

“Once established, law enforcement will know where the firearms are, who they belong to and what other risks there may be to the community and law enforcement,” said Attorney General Mark Dreyfus.

“The Australian Government is committed to protecting the Australian community and ensuring Australia’s firearms laws remain among the most effective in the world.”