Lydia JuppNSW Police Minister David Elliott might have casually broken the law and then dobbed on himself.
Photos posted in September 2018 on his own official Facebook page show Elliott firing a submachine gun at a rifle range for prison officers. Submachine guns are, as Elliott should know, very illegal in NSW, with exceptions for the Army, and some police and corrections officers.
People who aren’t licensed need to sign a number of forms before using any prohibited weapon, but we’re not sure if these steps were taken.
Using a prohibited weapon carries a potential 14 year prison sentence.
As a minister David Elliott has:
– Used parliamentary privilege to expose the Luke Foley sexual harassment allegations
– called for police to strip-search his kids
– Intimidated a teenager during a road rage incident by impersonating a cop
– Gone AWOL during the bushfires https://t.co/3UX5z7h3l8— Kishor (@kishor_nr) March 9, 2020
David Elliott’s office declined to comment to the ABC, but the minister released a statement saying that he “acted in good faith under the assumption that CSNSW had complied with all of its administrative requirements according to the Firearms Act.”
Not The First Time He’s Been In Trouble
If his name sounds familiar, it’s probably because Elliott’s also the Emergency Services minister who ducked off to Europe when the bushfires were really bad. You know, like the person in charge of emergency services should do.
He also tried to justify the strip searching of minors, saying he’d be happy with his children being strip searched.
The Opposition are asking for him to step down, with Greens MP David Shoebridge saying that “you’d have to wonder what is going through the mind of a senior Minister … to go and pick up a lethal weapon like this without checking if they had a lawful capacity to do that.”
Should be an ‘engaging’ budget estimates session today as we explore why on earth Police Minister David Elliott has been sharing photos of himself with a submachine gun in jail. That’s a prohibited weapon btw and misuse carries a max 14 yrs jail. https://t.co/lHmNmBIDey
— David Shoebridge (@ShoebridgeMLC) March 9, 2020
Elliott’s just spent the morning getting absolutely grilled in the budget estimates hearing. When asked if he was accredited to use the weapon, he said that he had “good faith” that the appropriate legal steps had been taken.
Embarrassingly, Elliott was also asked if he knew he was holding the gun by the magazine instead of the handle. When asked to confirm he had military training, Elliott somewhat shamefully replied “yes.”
Ultimately he refused to take any responsibility for the incident.
This the second time NSW Police Minister David Elliott has been investigated by the police in six months https://t.co/wLtzWJmpgB
— Lisa Visentin (@LisaVisentin) March 9, 2020
He will be subject to inquiry from the NSW Police but he’s highly unlikely to face any consequences.
Image Sources: Twitter, Facebook David Elliott MP
