The NSW Police has disputed a statement made by Tony Abbott at a press conference this afternoon indicating that siege gunman Man Haron Monis was licensed to have a gun.

A spokesman for NSW Police issued the following statement to SBS a short time ago:

"The NSW Police Force has conducted checks with the NSW Firearms Registry and can confirm there is no record of the 50-year-old man having held a firearms licence."

This statement contradicts an earlier statement from Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

"Plainly there are questions to be asked when someone with such a history of infatuation with extremism, violent crime and mental instability should be in possession of a gun license," Mr Abbott said today.

The prime minister's office has since responded to the conflicting reports, issuing this statement a short time ago:

"During national security briefings, Commonwealth security officials informed the Prime Minister that the National Police Reference System (the database administered by CrimTrac that holds all state and territory police records) indicated that the perpetrator of the Martin Place siege had been a recorded firearms licence holder within the jurisdiction of NSW.

"The AFP Commissioner is investigating the origins of the entry on the National Police Reference System.

"All matters relating to the perpetrator’s access to firearms will be investigated as part of the Review announced today."