Australia sets date for largest gun buyback since 1996 massacre
- New South Wales will launch a major gun buyback on 2 November following a shooting spree at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration in Sydney that left 15 people dead.
- Under the programme announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Chris Minns, people surrendering rifles and handguns will receive up to A$1,000 compensation per firearm.
- The buyback marks Australia‘s largest firearms surrender campaign since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in which a gunman killed 35 people. Australia had a record 4.1 million firearms last year, the government said, with more than 1.1 million of those in New South Wales, its most populous state.
- Legislation passed in January also introduces stricter gun licence checks and a crackdown on hate speech, while New South Wales state reforms now cap individual firearm ownership at four guns.
- Police allege the December attack at Bondi Beach was carried out by a father and son inspired by Islamic State, with surviving suspect Naveed Akram facing 15 counts of murder.
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