A committee set up to advise the Tasmanian government on gun laws has wrapped up after just two meetings.
Police Minister Felix Ellis appointed the nine-member firearms consultative committee in February.
It last met in March before its work was handed to a broader public consultation process and the committee disbanded.
The group included the Sporting Shooters Association, TasFarmers, a firearm dealer, a recreational hunter and the Police Association of Tasmania.
It also included gun control advocates from the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, Medics for Gun Control and Engender Equality.
Ellis said the committee had served its purpose now the draft gun laws were out for public consultation.
“The firearms consultative committee was an important part of getting the legislation to this point,” he said.
He said there had been “two key meetings” and “a range of work” outside them.
The minister pointed to “consensus” on tougher firearm theft penalties and the National Firearms Register.
He told budget estimates in June the committee had differing views on a firearms cap, which was ultimately left out of the bill.
“Now, of course, the consultative committee didn’t agree on everything and that’s the nature of these kind of processes,” Ellis said.
“But from that consultation, the government’s developed legislation and we’ve now provided it for every other Tasmanian to be able to have their say as well.”
Greens MP Tabatha Badger said Tasmanians deserved to know the committee’s recommendations.
The committee’s discussions were confidential under its terms of appointment.
A communique from the committee’s first meeting on February 25 shows members discussed firearm ownership limits and “acknowledged differing viewpoints”.
Members endorsed tougher theft penalties, accelerating the National Firearms Register and making Australian citizenship the default licensing requirement.
It also shows members discussed reclassifying straight pull and button release firearms and joining a national buyback scheme.
“It’s baffling that Minister Ellis has disbanded Tasmania’s firearms consultative committee after only two meetings,” Badger said.
“It’s shocking the minister announced the firearms legislation would go ahead without caps when it’s not clear the committee had resolved this question.”
Badger said the “enormous question” to be answered was why.
“Why would Police Minister Ellis disband the firearms committee, intended to provide government long-term advice in the name of public safety, when firearms crime remain an issue in Tasmania?”
Labor MP Jen Butler said the decision came after Ellis disregarded advice from Police Commissioner Donna Adams, who supported a firearms cap.
Ellis told estimates he had taken the commissioner’s advice into account.
“How can Tasmanians have faith that the government is committed to a genuine consultation when he’s turning his back on experts in the field after only two meetings?” she said.
“When every other state is leaning into consultative mechanisms like this to help develop safe firearm reforms, why is Tasmania running away from it?”
Tasmania has joined Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Victoria in not supporting caps on firearm ownership.
At estimates in June, Butler repeatedly pressed Ellis on whether domestic or foreign gun interests were lobbying him or donating to the Liberal Party.
Ellis said he had not personally met with any “foreign firearms lobby groups” and pointed to the firearms dealer on the committee as evidence the government consulted gun owners openly.
He did not say whether the party had received gun lobby donations.
He said donations were a matter for the Liberal Party and that he was sure they had been declared “in accordance with the rules”.
Asked whether the gun lobby was dictating his position, Ellis said the government’s policy was based on the “best outcome for the people of Tasmania”.
Public submissions on the draft laws close on August 7.
