Farming groups see red over Police Minister Paul Papalia's gun reforms

In an Australian-first, Police Minister Paul Papalia (pictured) announced there would be compulsory mental health screening of WA firearm owners, stating the new measures had been designed to help make the community safer.

However the proposal, made earlier this month, as well as a raft of other reforms recently announced on WA's gun laws, has drawn a severe backlash from the State's firearm owners, recreational sporting industry and farming groups, who labelled the recent announcements as a "smoke and mirrors" campaign designed to deflect from their shortcomings in other critical areas.

With the government in the process of totally rewriting the "outdated" firearms act, Mr Papalia said the changes were being made at the request of WA Police, who had been conducting consultation on firearm law reform with various groups and stakeholders for almost 12 months.

Last week Mr Papalia said his office met with WAFarmers, the Pastoralists and Graziers' Association (PGA) of WA, the Grower Group Alliance, the Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen's Association and the peak bodies representing the competitive shooting associations.

"Some of the advice we received was that many farmers already have a recreational pilot's licence or a heavy haulage truck driver's licence, both of which require a health check with a mental health component," Mr Papalia said.

"A working group has been established to make recommendations on how best to implement the mandatory mental health check and how to make it fair and accessible."

This working group is set to include police, the Mental Health Commission, WA Primary Health Alliance Commission, WA Country Health Service, Department of Health and the Royal Australian Colleagues of GPs.

"Options they are considering are whether the check undertaken for a recreational pilot's license or a heavy haulage truck driver's license could be used to meet the requirements of the new mandatory mental health check for a firearm's license," Mr Papalia said.

Other options being looked at include using telehealth.

Farming groups say gun reforms completely miss the mark

Despite Mr Papalia's declaration that his office had consulted with key stakeholders over the gun reforms, WAFarmers president John Hassell and PGA president Tony Seabrook both expressed their disdain for the proposal of mandatory mental health checks to be implemented for gun owners, with both groups saying they had not been consulted on the matter.

"There was no consultation - it was a straight out 'we're telling you what we're doing' and I think they've got it incredibly wrong," Mr Hassell said.

"We have no problem with someone having a mental health check when going for their first firearm licence and it's essential people are trained before they have firearms.

"But I think this is a deflection from the real issues, which is law and order in the countryside and that needs to be dealt with.

"Take Carnarvon for instance - they're used to be 11,000 people living there, now there are 3000 people because of lawlessness and then look at places like Halls Creek - how much of that is happening across the State.

"Instead they are chasing around after guns that have never been involved in a crime, are tools of the trade, or that are being used recreationally, which is perfectly legitimate."

Mr Hassell said the mental health checks were being used as a guise to stop gun ownership in WA and called for the resignation of Mr Papalia, saying he had failed as a minister.

Mr Seabrook held similar concerns, saying the government was "simply doing whatever it could to get as many guns out of the community as possible" and called for more clarity and engagement with primary producers on the drafting of the new Act.

He said it was important that any review of the existing legislation did not restrict the ability of farmers and pastoralists to acquire and safely use legal firearms in their daily activities.

"They are firing from the hip and this is un-thought through nuisance value legislation," Mr Seabrook said.

The PGA said there had been limited engagement with the agricultural and pastoral industries over the new laws, including no consultation over the recent plans for mandatory mental health assessments for all firearm licence holders.

Mr Seabrook said clarity was needed on who would be conducting the assessments, their frequency, whether there would be a right of appeal process and if there would be a tiered system of mental health issues.

"Medical assessments for mental health are notoriously subjective and any suggestion that mental health checks will reduce shooting fatalities is a very long bow to draw," Mr Seabrook said.

A mental health system already on its knees

With it sometimes taking weeks to secure GP appointments in the regions and wait times of more than six months being reported to secure appointments with psychologists, the addition of mental health checks for WA's 89,000 licensed firearm owners will no doubt place extra pressure on WA's already struggling health system.

"I think these mental health checks will prove to be extraordinarily expensive and unbelievably difficult," Mr Seabrook said.

"We are probably talking about at least $200-$300 to determine whether someone has a mental health issue or not, so that equates to about $17- $26 million and we don't have enough psychologists today to service those that need to visit them anyway.

"If I was the psychologist in charge of ticking off that someone is OK and it was my name at the bottom of that document, I would certainly be erring on the side of caution."

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State's farmers apprehensive

While the National Centre for Farmer Health director Alison Kennedy said farmers were exposed to a wide range of situational risk factors that placed them at a heightened risk of poor mental health and suicide, there was concern that the new mental health checks could cause apprehension among those already considering booking an appointment with a mental health service provider.

"The centre would like to encourage a focus on preventing risks to mental health and providing access to support that meets the needs of farmers, before a crisis point is reached," Dr Kennedy said.

The Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia (SIFA) chief executive James Walsh said he had recently been contacted by a farmer who had sought mental health assistance following a family issue.

"He is genuinely concerned that this will affect his ability to hold a firearms licence, meaning that he would lose access to the tools he needs to run his farm," Mr Walsh said.

"He also advised that this would stop him seeking further assistance as he can't risk being without his firearms licence.

"Surely this is not what we want as a society?"

Traders and recreational shooters fired up

SIFA and the WA Firearms Traders Association (WAFTA) both called for an independent review into all of the proposed changes to WA's gun laws, with the two organisation's holding "deep concerns" over the draft legislation.

WAFTA president Bevan Steele said the government was using the "highly compliant" WA shooting industry as a scapegoat for its failure to maintain law and order in the State.

"The WA Government needs to look for real solutions to combat its organised crime problem rather than going after the very people who go out of their way to comply with firearms regulations," Mr Steele said.

"No criminal with an illegal and unregistered firearm will seek a mental health check, nor will they comply with the new regulations."

The two bodies called on Mr Papalia to engage with the WA shooting industry so the effect the regulations will have on the industry could also be assessed.

"The WA shooting industry is concerned that the proposed changes will have no tangible effect on public safety - rather they will risk destroying many small businesses and create enormous stress for the State's farmers," a joint statement said.

The Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia (SSAA), which includes 13,000 WA members, is also critical of the gun reforms, with SSAA WA branch president Paul Fitzgerald saying the mental health screening processes already in place for WA's licensed firearm owners were more than sufficient.

"There is a legal obligation requirement for any doctor or professional practitioner to report to WA police if they think they are dealing with an unstable individual who has access to a firearm in any capacity," Mr Fitzgerald said.

"It's also important to highlight that every single one of our gun shops in WA are family-owned businesses - they are not owned by big corporate organisations... and there isn't one gun shop in WA that wants to sell a gun to someone who is not quite right, as they know they will potentially lose their business."

WA's firearm traders act as the first point of screening for licensed gun owners, and the office bearers of any one of the 330 gun clubs in Australia are also legally mandated to report an individual's details to police if they think someone who comes into their club isn't of a sound mind.

Mr Fitzgerald said the government was deflecting from a much greater issue at hand, which included a "catastrophic failure" to provide adequate health services to rural communities, including critical areas of mental health support.

"In 2021, there were 389 suicides in WA," Mr Fitzgerald said.

"This figure highlights a much greater issue at hand than the statistics quoted by the WA Police Minister, who cites the 20 deaths by firearms last year as the justification for this knee-jerk reaction."

The reforms to the existing legislation are expected to be introduced to State Parliament later this year.