Ms SPENCE (Yuroke) — I am very pleased to join the debate on the Firearms Amendment (Trafficking and Other Measures) Bill 2015. I do so because the provisions of this bill are very important to me, as they are also very important to my community, because, as members may know, Yuroke is in the red zone. Police are reporting that there is evidence of a burgeoning gun culture in the city’s north-west, particularly among young adult males. This is very concerning.

I will just mention a few things taken from recent media reports. We have firearm-related incidents such as drive-by shootings every six days. That is astounding. There is an increasing trend of children as young as 16 carrying guns. That is again astounding. The police are regularly finding guns in cars, including sawn-off shot guns, and an automatic machine-gun was found during a routine car intercept. This is also astounding. We have had guns stolen from homes being used in violent crimes in the north-west. Some 530 guns were stolen in rural Victoria in 2013. These are terrible figures.

The other reason I want to comment on this bill is because not only are they terrible figures, not only are they outrageous statistics, not only is it terrible that this red zone exists and that there is an increasing risk to community safety in this area but also because, as members before me have mentioned, we are reminded at times like this about the tragedy of the Port Arthur massacre and the great strength shown by then Prime Minister John Howard and Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer in changing our gun laws to make Australia a safer place.

I am particularly reminded of that time because, as the member for Carrum said, we all know where we were at the time of the Port Arthur massacre. I know where I was because I was about half an hour down the road from Port Arthur. I quite often took my then toddler son to Port Arthur because it is a spectacular place and he could run and run all day around the beautiful fields. On that day, my sister was visiting, and she and I were discussing what we should do. We said, ‘Should we go down to Port Arthur?’. It was a surprisingly beautiful, sunny day in April and we thought, ‘That’s a good idea’. But we were all a bit tired. We thought, ‘Not today; we’ll go another day’. That was the best decision of our lives, because as we know far too many people did not make it home that day. Thirty five people did not make it home that day and another 23 people were hospitalised with severe injuries.

We know about those statistics, and we know about the effect the massacre had. We also need to know about the broader effect it had on the community. Hobart was paralysed in the days following it. There was a sense of not only fear but distress; there was huge worry amongst the community. I recall over the 24 hours that this event took place the sky was full of helicopters and the streets were full of police cars. Roads were blocked off. People who worked in the Port Arthur area could not come home, so families did not know whether or not their family members were coming home. There was this great anxiety and absolute fear. People knew something really bad was happening, but they did not know whether their loved ones were involved. So when I read about this red zone — and I know about this terrible increase in our gun culture amongst our youth — I am reminded of that. I am reminded of the Hoddle Street massacre, and I am very concerned about what could happen if we do not take measures to not only consolidate and continue to build on the great strength of the gun laws we currently have. If we just ignore what we see as growing problems and do nothing, we risk those consequences.

I do not ever want to see my community face the distress, the terror and the absolute loss that can occur when we ignore the great danger that comes with not addressing gun issues.

I commend the minister for this terrific bill. The measures in it go towards increasing community safety. I am very proud to be a member of a government that wants to entrench its opposition to lax attitudes towards guns. I am very pleased to be a member of a government that has had member after member willing to speak on this issue. I am extremely disappointed that I am not seeing a commitment to this by those opposite. They say they do not oppose the legislation, but do they actually support standing here and talking about the importance of community safety? No, they do not. We can see that. The seats over there are empty. They have nothing to say.

An honourable member — Gone to lunch!

Ms SPENCE — They have gone to lunch!