• Out carousing the other night I chanced upon One-Who-Appears-To-Know who had an interesting question.
To whit: How come there have been such a large number of gun thefts … if the state’s firearms registry has not been breached? … as Police Commissioner Darren Hine vigorously maintained in Mercury earlier this month: Gun thieves double up .
Said the good (well I asume he’s good; he may just be well) Commissioner:
The Mercury has reported concerns the police-operated registration and renewals database has been illegally accessed and the information used by criminals to target homes housing significant gun collections since at least 2009.
But under questioning by Opposition police spokeswoman Elise Archer in Budget Estimates hearings yesterday, Mr Hine and Police Minister David O’Byrne repeatedly said there was “no evidence” the firearms registry had been breached.
Mr O’Byrne said similar rumours abounded in every state and territory and had, “like Martin Bryant and Port Arthur” conspiracies, taken on a “life of their own”.
Ms Archer also asked Mr O’Byrne if he could rule out the possibility criminals were getting their information from the publicly accessible analogue police radio system.
Mr Hine said secure digital channels were available to police who needed to discuss sensitive information.
Police sources have told the Mercury the firearms registry database lacks technical sophistication and does not record if it has been accessed — lawfully or unlawfully — unless the person looking at it changes information.
This suggests anyone with access to police databases could access the firearms registry and information it contains without getting caught.
Mr Hine said a new upgraded database would be launched next week.
He said it was important to note the registry did not record the locations of safes in a person’s home and only 3 per cent of all home burglaries involved the theft of firearms.
Well that wasn’t quite what my-new-best-friend-drinking-mate told me. He was adamant. In one theft, the raiders knew exactly where to head to the gun safe … in a house in which the safe had been intricately disguised. He reckoned the only way you could find the safe was inside knowledge. And, he said, the thieves entered, and were in and out in a giff.
You do wonder… the force and its choices haven’t exactly been acute judging by the debacle over the choice of computers and patrol vessels: She’s apples for Mr Plod. Radio woe
• But wait there’s more…
I also ran into a disgruntled householder fearing an end to 1:1 feed-in tariff. She’d just invested thousands festooning her roof with solar panels and had benefitted enormously from the oh so shiny sun. But if the government changes the rules, her benefit will be partly out the door.
She was also puzzled by the Greens’ stance on the feed-in tariff.
They say they unambiguously support the solar industry. But there seems to be a rider. They say they want to ensure “a fair price”
What, pray tell is a fair price?
Do they agree with ending the 1:1 tariff … or not?
• Ed: Chris Harries has written extensively on this subject, most recently, The feed-in tariff debate, which includes a link to an earlier article by Chris warning of the possibility of an end to the tariff.
• Oliver Milman, Guardian: MPs in solar seats generally less supportive of the sector
