‘Why do we prevent people from setting off a few double bungers?’ asks Independent senator who has called for adults in all states to be able to buy and set off fireworks year-round

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Independent senator David Leyonhjelm has called for the return of cracker night to all states and for adults to be allowed to buy and set off fireworks year-round.

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The sale of fireworks to the public is illegal in every Australian jurisdiction except the Northern Territory and Tasmania. Most states banned the practise in the 1980s, which Leyonhjelm labelled “the start of an era of government intrusion into our personal choices that has diminished our quality of life”.

“If we can accept that driving a car, riding a motorbike, going for a surf or skydiving are acceptable risks for consenting adults, why do we prevent people from setting off a few double bungers?” he said.

Despite the regulation of fireworks being a state issue, the federal senator told Guardian Australia it was one which appeared frequently among submissions to his Senate inquiry into “the nanny state”.

“They’re no longer available and a lot of people have fond memories of fireworks when they are young,” Leyonhjelm said.

Leyonhelm claimed the sale of fireworks in Tasmania and the NT “causes no major problems” and other states should follow their lead, however he also conceded he was not aware of the differing legislation and regulations in the two jurisdictions.

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The NT allows the sale of fireworks to adults once a year on 1 July, for people to set off in celebration of Territory Day (the anniversary of self-governance) that evening.

Fireworks can only be set off between 5pm and 11pm almost anywhere, and any unused explosives must be surrendered the following day. The result is a free-for-all of amateur pyrotechnics.

The Northern Territory has a population of fewer than 245,000 people. Since 1998 there have been 353 fireworks-related injuries in the week following Territory Days, according to the NT Centre for Disease Control (CDC). Of those, 205 were male and 61 people were hospitalised . Between 47% and 77% of those injured by fireworks in the last four years were bystanders.

“The continuing occurrence of avoidable injuries and the high proportion of affected innocent bystanders in 2015 reinforces the need to maintain scrutiny of firework-related injuries, to continue public education activities and to pursue targeted regulatory changes,” the CDC’s 2015 report recommended.

Dr Didier Palmer, director of emergency medicine at Royal Darwin hospital, said Territory Day always placed additional pressure on the emergency department, which was forced to roster extra staff and put the burns service on standby.

“It’s not that we necessarily see a massive volume of people but July 1 inevitably produces fireworks-related injuries,” said Palmer. “Sadly, it’s often children who are injured by fireworks set off by drunken or irresponsible adults.

“We have, in the past, had people lose fingers and there was an occasion where a man had a sky-rocket penetrate his frontal lobe, causing brain damage.”

In Tasmania, members of the public must submit an application at least 21 days in advance of the intended fireworks display, and give at least seven days’ notice to police and fire services, landowners and managers of the site, and any neighbours within 1km. The permit carries heavy restrictions on time, length, amount, supervision and responsibility. It also ensures minimum distances from spectators and particular buildings like schools and churches.

Leyonhjelm said he preferred a model which allowed for the sale of fireworks to adults year-round.

“Because if you’re going to get silliness you’re going to get it when it’s so tightly controlled for only a limited time,” he said, citing the “six ‘o clock swill” when pubs would close in the early evening, as an example.

He conceded there was a public safety issue – the reason fireworks were banned in the first place – and that people can get hurt, but government “intrusiveness” had gone too far.

“The thing is of course there’s a whole argument there around to what extent does the government have a responsibility to protect people from making bad decisions and being silly,” he said.

NSW police declined to comment on the merits of Leyonhjelm’s suggestion, instead saying the officers “merely enforce the legislation of the day”.