Australian Capital Territory joins national gun buyback scheme

The Australian capital will join a gun buyback scheme in response to the December shooting spree that killed 15 people at a Jewish festival in Sydney.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday said that the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which includes Canberra, initially committed to joining the scheme but had remained in negotiations over the funding.

The ACT will be the second of Australia’s eight states and territories to join the buyback following the lead of New South Wales.

Mr Albanese's centre-left government enacted laws in January for the gun buyback, tighter checks for gun licences and a crackdown on hate in the wake of the 14 December gun attack at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales state.

New South Wales will launch the scheme on 2 November.

The ACT has agreed to a similar scheme in an effort to make sure "an antisemitic terrorist attack as we saw at Bondi can’t happen again", Mr Albanese said. "I thank the ACT Government for their collaboration as we work to take guns off our streets in order to better protect Australians," he said in a statement.

The ACT has 23,000 guns and more than 7,000 firearms licence holders, the statement said.

It did not say when the ACT buyback would begin or what compensation will be offered per surrendered firearm.

Federal home minister Tony Burke said the details were not finalised because those parts of the agreement were not yet settled. "The thing that is settled is the ACT is in and is now going to be part of the buyback," he said.

Andrew Barr, the ACT chief minister, said the agreement strengthened community safety and supported effective firearm reforms. "Reducing the number of high-risk firearms in circulation is a sensible and practical measure to help keep Canberrans safer," he said, according to ABC.

"Working with the Commonwealth and NSW ensures a more coordinated approach to firearms safety."

The NSW government has announced compensation of A$1,000 (£525) for guns that would be handed in during the first phase of its buyback and up to A$10,000 (£5,250) for higher-value firearms handed in during the second phase. The second phase will begin early 2027, according to reports.

Nearly one in four guns were reported to be in the most populous state of NSW.

Mr Albanese has called out other states for enacting "farce" firearms legislation and giving out paper licences that “couldn't be traced”.

The gunmen accused of carrying out the Bondi Beach attack, a father and son who police say were inspired by Islamic State, used powerful firearms that were legally obtained.

The surviving suspect is yet to enter pleas to a raft of charges, including 15 counts of murder.

Australia had a record 4.1 million firearms last year, the government has said.

The buyback is to be Australia's largest since a similar campaign after a 1996 rampage in Tasmania's Port Arthur, in which a gunman killed 35 people.