The National Firearms Agreement Technical Review will be one of a raft of issues discussed at today’s Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting.
The usually bi-annual meeting between the Prime Minister, State and Territory Premiers and Chief Ministers and the President of the Australian Local Government Association is taking place in Canberra.
COAG was established to promote policy reforms of national significance, or which need co-ordinated action by all Australian governments.
While the PM’s education and health funding reforms have taken pride of place among the mainstream media, SSAA Victoria understands vital NFA talks will also take place today.
The NFA review was launched last year when Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan wrote a letter stating “the objective of the review is to ensure our existing firearms regulations have kept pace with advancements in technology and changes to the firearms market”.
But in November the NFA review hit an obstacle when negotiations failed at a key meeting of police ministers and legislators. This caused huge issues for Minister Keenan who had told the government he had agreeance from the states.
Ahead of today’s meeting Minister Keenan was working on the Police Senior Officers Groups in each state to encourage them to bring recommendations to the meeting in an effort to bypass State leaders.
The outcome of today’s meeting could have a significant impact of firearms users across the country.
SSAA Victoria is in direct communication with people in Canberra and will update members as soon as new information comes to light.