Navigated to WA SAFE SPECS ‘WITHDRAWN’: Why the new WA gun laws face a serious legal hurdle

WA SAFE SPECS ‘WITHDRAWN’: Why the new WA gun laws face a serious legal hurdle

July 24
17 mins

Episode Description

AN AUSTRALIAN STANDARD, which is the basis of the new requirements for safes in WA, was REVOKED several years before the new laws came into effect.  

This serious oversight could render some of the new laws ineffective – and could make it impossible for WA police to prosecute gun owners under the new storage laws.

The Firearm Regulations 2024 relies on AS/NZS 3809:1998 for Grade V safes – but that standard was formally withdrawn by Standards Australia in 2019.

This is not only a serious oversight by the Cook Government, but WA Police’s legal team and that state’s Parliamentary Counsel who are supposed to vet regulations before they come into effect – and pick stuff like this up.  It’s also something that Kate Fantinel’s team of legal eagles missed.

IN THIS INTERVIEW, we speak with Wayne Lopaten, who checked into the requirements he thought would apply to his firearm collection and found the blunder before coming straight to Politics Reloaded. 

This is in addition to our leading discoveries of the RAAF closures from the 50 cal stunt at Pinjar Range and the reverse engineering of the maps that revealed the location of licensed shooters.

The stuff up could pose serious problems for WA Police if they try to enforce the new laws because it references a non-existent standard - that any court would find less than amusing.

The status of the standard can be seen at: https://www.standards.org.au/standards-catalogue/standard-details?designation=as-nzs-3809-1998

That page clearly says the standard was withdrawn – in 2019.  It shows that drafting the new regulations involved ‘copying and pasting’ from some other source – or writing by someone who didn’t bother to check to see what the current standards are.

It also leaves suppliers of safes without guidance on how they can make the products they produce – which can only have downsides with the supply of compliant safes.

Please note we are not lawyers and this is not legal advice.  If you are facing legal action from WAPol, you might want to show this video to your lawyer.

--------------------------------------------------------------

GET EARLY RELEASES! Join our Patreon channel and you’ll get our episodes before they are released more widely!  You can join the channel at: JOIN our Patreon channel, simply go to patreon.com/PoliticsReloaded

--------------------------------------------------------------

GUN NEWS AUSTRALIA is brought to you by Politics Reloaded and Gun Traders Australia 

---------------------------------------------------------------

JOIN / DONATE NOW – strength in numbers

You can back what we're doing by becoming a subscriber for just $30 a year at: https://politicsreloaded.com/join-us/; or donating at https://politicsreloaded.com/donate/

 ---------------------------------------------------------------

EMAIL LIST – don’t miss the news!

Finally, for regular updates, hop onto our email list:
https://politicsreloaded.com/email-list/

---------------------------------------------------------------

See all episodes

Never lose your place, on any device

Create a free account to sync, back up, and get personal recommendations.