Originally Posted by
Ben Waimata
Land owners can't get D cat in NSW anymore, and it's becoming increasingly difficult everywhere. The law still says they can, but as the people who sign off on the paperwork refuse to do it you basically can't get one. And if you do, it's only for one year. In NZ you need to be able to show significant economic/ecological damage to be eligible for P1/2. In NSW they don't seem to care. Example being my father-in-law in the NSW drought 2 years back, his crops were basically plowed by feral pigs (he shot 600 with a single shot .223 that year), he was paying $2000/week for feed to keep his cattle alive while the feed he had tried to save was destroyed by feral pigs and deer, but not eligible to own a more appropriate firearm. So this older guy (heading for 80) is out stalking highly suspicious feral pigs on his knees in flat Aussie scrubland while going broke and still not eligible to own a decent rifle. The law is stupid.
The story went around that our police were advised by NSW police re firearms. This may well be true, but the differences are quite obvious too. NSW A cat you can't use semi auto .22 or shotgun (restricted to primary producers C cat only), NZ A cat you can. NSW A cat allows pump action centrefires, NZ A cat does not. NSW D cat is not available to land managers, NZ P1/2 is. In NSW it's still a much slower and more difficult process to get a FAL than here. In NSW you need to be able to justify why you need a FAL at all, in NZ only endorsements need this.
Both countries are suffering from ideology over logic. The proud ANZAC tradition, woke version.