Australia’s capital Canberra will join a national gun buyback programme as part of the government’s response to the Bondi Beach shooting that killed 15 people, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which is home to Canberra, has agreed to introduce its own gun buyback scheme as authorities seek to reduce the number of firearms in circulation following the deadly attack at a Jewish festival in Sydney last December.
Albanese’s centre-left government introduced legislation in January covering the gun buyback programme, tighter firearm licensing requirements and measures targeting hate crimes following the December 14 shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach.
New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, was the first jurisdiction to commit to the national programme, which is scheduled to begin on November 2.
Albanese said the ACT Government’s decision would help ensure that an antisemitic terrorist attack similar to the Bondi Beach incident could not happen again.
“I thank the ACT Government for their collaboration as we work to take guns off our streets to better protect Australians,” he said in a statement.
The ACT currently has around 23,000 firearms and more than 7,000 licensed firearm holders, according to the government. However, authorities have not yet announced when the territory’s buyback programme will begin.
The Bondi Beach attack was allegedly carried out by a father and son who police said were inspired by Islamic State. The suspects reportedly used powerful firearms that had been legally obtained. The surviving suspect has yet to enter pleas to multiple charges, including 15 counts of murder.
Australia recorded about 4.1 million firearms last year, according to government figures. The latest buyback programme is expected to become the country’s largest since the 1996 campaign introduced after the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, where 35 people were killed.
