Groups made contributions at a time of intense focus on firearms regulation in wake of the Sydney siege

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Australian political parties accepted more than $300,000 in donations over 12 months from the firearms lobby, gun suppliers and manufacturers, sparking concern among gun control groups.

An analysis of the latest Australian Electoral Commission donation disclosures by Gun Control Australia has revealed that firearms groups donated $353,000 to various federal political bodies around the country. The donations were made in the 2015-16 financial year, during a period when there was intense political focus on firearms regulation in Australia.

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The federal government has been considering a review of the national firearms agreement after the Martin Place siege, which could bring sweeping changes to the regulation of firearms across the country.

The justice minister, Michael Keenan, also extended an import ban on the controversial Adler A10 shotgun in July 2016. The states and territories have since agreed to re-categorise the weapon to restrict access and use.

The largest donations – totalling just over $108,000 – went to Bob Katter’s Australian party, which received $75,000 from the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (Queensland) Inc and $33,332 from NIOA Nominees. Robert Nioa is the son-in-law of Katter and NIOA touts itself as Australia’s largest privately owned supplier of small arms.

The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party, which also received just over $104,000, disclosed donations of $17,000 from the Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia, $5,000 from the New South Wales firearms dealer Magnum Sports Pty Ltd and $30,000 from its own association entity the Federation of Hunting Clubs.



The Liberal party received $46,000, which included $23,000 from Thales Australia Limited and $22,500 from the Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia.

The Labor party also received $33,032 from Thales Australia.

The Liberal Democratic party also fielded $35,000, with $20,000 from NIOA and $15,856 from the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (Victoria). Senator David Leyonhjelm has been an outspoken advocate for gun owners.

The donations to the Labor and Liberal party from Thales Australia drew particular scrutiny from Gun Control Australia. The company is a major defence contractor and also owns Lithgow Firearms, a local manufacturer of military firearms.

One of its assault rifle designs – the Lithgow Bullpup f90 Atrax – is being exported to the US civilian market. The firearm cannot be sold in Australia owing to the country’s firearms laws.

Gun Control Australia’s chair, Samantha Lee, said: “We have the government stating how proud they are of Australia’s strong gun laws, yet it is quite willing to accept money from a company that seeks to make money from America’s weak gun laws.”

A Thales Australia spokesman said: “As a major participant in the defence industry and a contributor to Australia’s national security, Thales is committed to positive relationships with political stakeholders. Like many other companies, we pay to participate in business forums and events run by both major parties.

“We understand the sensitivities around gun control laws in Australia, and fully support the existing framework. We are not seeking to change current regulations regarding gun ownership in Australia.

“The Atrax is an Australian-designed firearm made under licence in the US for the US market by a third party that is not a Lithgow Arms subsidiary, in accordance with that country’s firearms laws. The technology was licensed to them in compliance with Australian regulations.”

Many of the firearms groups have increased their lobbying activities amid the possible changes to Australia’s firearms laws.



At an address to the friendship group Parliamentary Friends of Shooting in February 2015, the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia national president, Geoff Jones, said that “Although we are proud of our lobbying efforts, from the state to national and even international level through our official NGO status granted by the UN, we lobby because we have to.

“We have been forced by bias, ignorance and patent unfairness to take on that role. It is not our primary cause.”

Although it was not required to do so, the Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia Limited also disclosed the 16 individual recipients of its donations, which included Liberal and National members of parliament who belong to the Parliamentary Friends of Shooting. The group is chaired by the Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie and the deputy chair is the Labor MP Anthony Byrne.

The Liberal MPs Ross Vasta and Ian Goodenough are also members of the group, and took part in its annual shooting day in December 2016.

Other MPs who received donations from the industry group included the Liberals Dan Tehan, Nicolle Flint and Michael Sukkar.

The organisation also donated meals for a National party fundraiser for McKenzie, and gave donations to the Nationals MPs Kevin Hogan and Damian Drum.

McKenzie said she did not run her own campaign during the election, and referred questions to the National party’s Victoria branch.

A spokeswoman for Goodenough said he was “an enthusiastic licensed shooter, he has a distinguished record spanning 30 years as a competitive shooter, and is a nationally accredited shooting coach with the Australian Institute of Sport. He is a founding member of the Parliamentary Friends of Shooting and a strong advocate for promoting responsible firearms use.”

A spokesman for Hogan said he did not receive the donation, and that the funds were donated directly to the National party. A spokesman for Drum referred questions to the Victorian branch of the National party. Tehan, Flint, Sukkar and Vasta all referred questions to the Liberal party’s federal office.

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The Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia’s executive officer, Rod Drew, said the organisation was entitled to make political donations, and “supports those members, regardless of party, that support legitimate firearm ownership and the shooting sports”.

Firearms regulation is likely to remain an area of significant parliamentary attention in 2017.



On Monday the Senate considered the criminal code amendment (firearms trafficking) bill, which attempted to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for certain sentences.

The Greens senator Lee Rhiannon said: “We need solid, sensible gun law reform in this country – not lazy populist policies like mandatory minimums. They have adverse consequences, contravene human rights principles, contravene the separation of powers and do not work.

“If the Turnbull government is serious about reducing gun crime then they should toughen up on imports, tighten up licencing and increasing coordination between state and federal law enforcement agencies.”