Anthony Albanese’s pledge to hold the biggest gun buyback since the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre is in tatters, with the central reform announced just days after the Bondi mass shooting stricken by opposition from states and territories, as well as growing angst from Labor MPs fearing a One Nation fight in the future.
Progress on the key plank of reform has stagnated as jurisdictions follow one another in pulling out of the scheme, headlined by Victoria’s Labor government confirming they wouldn’t be involved last month.
The Australian understands the buyback has also barely been mentioned in federal Labor’s caucus in recent months, with the rise of One Nation over the first half of 2026 triggering concerns within the party that a buyback could hurt Labor MPs in regional seats across the nation.
The federal government also won’t start a fight by pressuring reluctant states and territories to partake in the scheme, The Australian understands, making it increasingly likely that NSW will be the only state participating.
Key details on how the buyback will work remain unexplained almost six months after the scheme was announced, with the commonwealth and NSW government refusing to reveal basic information including how the value of surrendered weapons will be determined and whether ammunition will also be purchased.
The opposition, shooters’ groups and even the Australian Federal Police’s union criticised the lack of progress on the scheme.
Australian Federal Police Association president Alex Caruana said the slow rollout “was a contributing factor” to states and territories pulling out. “But the bigger factor is the legislation was put together as a knee-jerk reaction to a tragic event,” he said.
“With the clarity of hindsight, some states are thinking, ‘does limiting the number of firearms mirror up to the statistics, arrests and interactions we’re having with firearm licence holders?’”
If the buyback does go ahead, he said every weapon should be test-fired and ballistics gathered, with data gathered to be cross-referenced across unsolved crime cases.
Senior Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie added that six months on from the Bondi attack “the government cannot provide even simple details about what may or may not be included”.
Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia chief executive James Walsh said peak bodies representing the sector were growing frustrated with a lack of detail over the buyback.
“As a result of the policy changes, there’s been a significant economic impact on industry – particularly NSW,” he said.
“We are pushing the government for information on when it’ll happen and when compensation for industry will come, and they can’t tell us anything. No one knows what’s going on – it’s just a merry-go-round of bureaucrats at the moment.”
Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia’s Tom Kenyon said the longer the buyback stalls “the further it goes backwards”.
“The royal commission is proving that gun laws weren’t the problem – it was a terrorism problem and a failure of intelligence collection and sharing.”
Alannah & Madeline Foundation CEO Sarah Davies said the buyback still had to be pursued, and urged all leaders to come back together on it.
Ms Davies – whose foundation was set up by Walter Mikac after his wife Nanette and their daughters Alannah and Madeline were killed at Port Arthur – said a buyback was “the logical way” to cut “gun-related injury or death”.
“Australians need their leaders to work together again,” she said.
A federal government spokeswoman, asked for specifics on the buyback’s progress, said: “We continue to work constructively with the states and territories”.
NSW Police and counter-terrorism Minister Yasmin Catley likewise said the state was “working closely” with the commonwealth and other jurisdictions “to finalise the details of a firearms buyback scheme”.
“Further information about the buyback, including funding and parameters, will be released in due course,” she said.
Despite state and territory leaders initially agreeing to a raft of stronger gun laws in the wake of the Bondi shooting, Victoria now joins Queensland and the Northern Territory in rejecting the national buyback.
South Australia has signalled reluctance to change its own gun laws, Western Australia has already completed its own buyback, and Tasmania is set to reject a proposed gun cap in favour of a smaller scheme targeting specific types of firearms.
Read related topics:Anthony AlbaneseOne Nation
Lachlan LeemingNSW Political Correspondent