One Nation candidate Jeff Bacon wants NSW post-Bondi gun laws repealed
Oceania Precision managing director Jeff Bacon, second on One Nation's NSW upper house ticket, says every rifle he makes was banned in the state.
At a glance
- Jeff Bacon, managing director of Oceania Precision, is second on One Nation's ticket for the March NSW upper house election.
- He wants to repeal NSW laws passed in December 2025 capping gun numbers and reclassifying straight-pull and lever-release rifles.
- One Nation polled 25% in a September Resolve poll, while 63% of voters backed the post-Bondi reforms.
A firearms manufacturer whose rifles he says were banned in New South Wales is standing for One Nation at the state's March election and wants to repeal the gun laws introduced after the Bondi beach attack.
Jeff Bacon, managing director of Tamworth-based weapons maker Oceania Precision, was announced earlier this month as second on the party's upper house ticket. One Nation's NSW leader, Mike Newman, and federal MP Barnaby Joyce launched his candidacy in Tamworth before Bacon hosted a party forum on firearms legislation attended by gun lobby groups and local gun clubs. Bacon said running for parliament again "wasn't a hard decision" and that he would do everything he could to fight for a repeal.
What the new laws do
In December 2025, Labor and the Liberals changed the law to limit recreational licence holders to four firearms and primary producers to 10, and legislated for NSW to join a federal buyback. NSW is the only state to sign on so far and the scheme is due to begin on 2 November. Parliament also recategorised straight-pull and lever-release rifles, so recreational hunters will no longer be able to own them.
One of the alleged Bondi shooters, Indian national Sajid Akram, owned six weapons on a recreational hunting licence, including straight-pull rifles allegedly used in the antisemitic attack on 14 December that killed 15 people during Hanukah celebrations. The recategorisation has yet to take effect; owners will be able to surrender the weapons over a 12-month period, after which they become illegal for recreational licence holders.
Warnings about the business
Bacon told the Northern Daily Leader in January that the reforms had banned "every single one" of his rifles in NSW and that his business would be "broke in six months if this continues". In August he told trade website Defence Connect that the company was at risk of collapse, saying commercial sporting sales fund its research and development.
Oceania Precision's website describes its rifles as "built specifically for law enforcement" and currently advertises one model, a select-fire tactical rifle it calls "restricted" for law enforcement. Internet Archive snapshots show that as recently as June the company described itself as a manufacturer for the "Australian domestic and professional market" and advertised two commercial models, the straight-pull SP25-TAC and the lever-release Renegade, both of which it has described as "not available in NSW".
The political fight
One Nation is campaigning to repeal the buyback and most of the firearms changes made in NSW since the attack. In a September Resolve poll for the Sydney Morning Herald, One Nation was on 25% of the primary vote in NSW — enough, the report suggested, for at least five upper house seats — against 24% for the Coalition.
The NSW Nationals voted against the December changes while the Liberals supported them. Opposition leader Kellie Sloane has since walked back her support, and the Liberal party said last month it would scrap caps for primary producers and freeze the buyback while an inquiry examined other changes.
Stephen Bendle, a senior advocacy adviser to the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, founded after the Port Arthur massacre, said attempts to wind back the reforms were "outrageous politics that ignores the victims and survivors of Bondi".
Bacon and One Nation did not respond when contacted for comment.
Source: The Guardian World.
Questions and answers
- Who is Jeff Bacon?
- Jeff Bacon is managing director of Tamworth-based weapons manufacturer Oceania Precision and is second on One Nation's upper house ticket for the March NSW state election.
- What gun laws did NSW pass after the Bondi attack?
- In December 2025 NSW limited recreational licence holders to four firearms and primary producers to 10, joined a federal buyback and recategorised straight-pull and lever-release rifles, which recreational hunters will no longer be able to own.
- Does the public support the NSW gun law changes?
- A September Resolve poll for the Sydney Morning Herald suggested 63% of voters supported the reforms, 19% were opposed and the rest were undecided.
