The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Attorney-General, representing the Minister for Police, a question about gun control.

Leave granted.

The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: Last week, as all members would know, was the fourth anniversary of Australia's worst massacre this century, the Port Arthur tragedy. Last Friday in the United States, another mass shooting occurred when a lawyer drove around Pittsburgh and killed five people. They were black, Asian and Jewish, so apparently he singled them out because of their race.

On Monday this week in Brisbane, three police officers were shot when they attended what they thought was a routine domestic disturbance in suburban Chermside. Constable Sharnelle Cole was shot 12 times in the face, neck and body, but she may yet survive her injuries. The gunman remains at large. Naturally, we all deplore these events and struggle to find ways to get guns out of the hands of criminals and to reduce the opportunities for firearms to fall into criminal hands, and to find ways of assisting people who may be or may become unbalanced enough to use firearms in this way.

At page 27 of that eminent daily the Advertiser of 22 January this year it was reported that South Australia Police were preparing to establish an internet site to help recover stolen firearms. The story said that within weeks a web site would be established detailing the make and serial number of guns stolen in South Australia. The web site would be `continually updated'. That was more than three months ago, and the internet address cited in the article shows no sign of being updated.

The web page is entitled `Firearm News', and it can be viewed at www.sapolice.sa.gov.au/firearms.htm .  In fact, it looks as if it has not been updated for several years. It announces that two amnesties are in place. One is an amnesty on `air soft guns' and the other is an amnesty on the possession of `body armour'. Both amnesties (in place now, according to the web page) will remain in place until 28 February 1999!

That is the current, up-to-date news on this web site. So, the firearms page is obviously at least 14 months out of date.

The state government runs a hotline for people who are buying cars second-hand. The hotline allows a potential purchaser to check whether a car has been stolen or whether it has been registered as security for a finance company; however, it appears that despite the promises made on 22 January, the government does not offer any similar facility on its police firearms web page or even on any phone hotline.

The technology cannot be too difficult, because the Sporting Shooters Association actually offers potential firearms purchasers a chance to enter a registration number on its web site to see whether the number matches any reported as stolen. I am informed by the association that this technology cost it $1 500 but, despite its best efforts, the Sporting Shooters Association does not have access to the latest data which SAPOL obtains. They believe there are 7 000 entries on the SAPOL database of lost or stolen firearms. There is obviously a public need for a police hotline or web site to be set up. My questions are:

1. Why have the promises of 22 January not been kept?   When will they be kept?

2. If the police cannot afford a $1 500 database, why is there no police phone hotline available for the same purpose?

3. Why can buyers of cars check whether a car is stolen but buyers of guns cannot make a similar check?

The Hon. K.T. GRIFFIN (Attorney-General): I will refer the questions to my colleague in another place and bring back a reply. The honourable member has been quite colourful in his introduction, particularly in relation to the tragedies—

The Hon. Ian Gilfillan: Was there anything inaccurate in it?

The Hon. K.T. GRIFFIN: I am not saying that. The honourable member has actually been quite colourful in using certain tragedies to bolster his arguments. The reference to the tragedies, if omitted, would not have adversely affected the thrust of the question. The two do not necessarily depend one on the other, either. I will refer the questions and bring back an answer.