Massive data breach: Nash must resign, register should not proceed

“The Police Minister must resign and the Government should now back down on its proposal for a firearms register after a massive data breach”, says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“The details of more than 37,000 gun ‘buy-back’ notifications to Police were made available on the agency’s website this morning.

“The names, addresses, dates of birth, types of firearms, and cellphone and bank account numbers were available to view. This information could be downloaded in a matter of seconds.

“The potential for such an outcome is why ACT stood alone against the Government's rushed legislation in April. This data breach is the inevitable result of a law that was made in just nine days.

“The safety of law-abiding firearms owners has been endangered by this data breach and the Police Minister must resign. Stuart Nash bears ultimate responsibility for the actions of his agency.

“This kind of incident is exactly why a firearms register is a terrible idea and why ACT has opposed it from the start. A gun register, if leaked, will become a steal-to-order list for gangs and criminals.

“The Government must now abandon its attempt to register every firearm in the country. Centralising this information within an agency which has shown time and again that it cannot be trusted to manage it cannot be allowed to proceed.

“The Government must start again on firearms law.”

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