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Bligh and Labor have committed armed robbery on Queensland shooters with massive licence fee increases announced in the budget, the LNP said today.
Ian Rickuss MP, Member for Lockyer said Bligh and Labor’s blatant daylight robbery would be a heavy blow to sporting shooters and those on the land who used their weapons as a tool of trade.
“Yet again we have a fiscally irresponsible government placing an unjustifiable tax on a law-abiding section of the community which happens to shoot recreationally or out of necessity,” Mr Rickuss said.
“Application fees for weapons licences are to increase from $35.45 to $79.50 and licence renewal fees from $58.50 to $131.25, which is a staggering 124 per cent.
“This is an unequalled increase even by the standards of the Bligh Labor government which has managed to raise petrol prices to some of the highest in the nation, car registrations to the most expensive in the nation, electricity prices, water costs… the list goes on and on.
“These increases will net a windfall of almost $5 million for the police budget, almost double what is required to manage the Weapon’s Licensing Branch. Will this improve the safety of shooters or is it just another rip off of honest people who have registered their weapons correctly and follow all the Government regulations,” Mr Rickuss said.
“Individuals who are applying for a weapons licence are actually obeying the law”.
Mr Rickuss said the requirement for all shooting licence applicants to be personally interviewed in future by a police officer was an unjustifiable waster of scarce police resources.
“In the past weapons licensing has been handled by administrative staff so as not to divert uniformed police from more pressing activities,” he said.
“Uniformed police would be better employed preventing or solving crime rather than assisting yet another cash grab by a cash-strapped government.”
18 June 2010
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