January Newsletter #4: šµ The guns of Hornsby
Plus: Local firefighters, rate rises, and what the hell went wrong with the 2025 Liberal election campaign?
Huw Bradshaw
January 21, 2026
ā±ļø The 73rd edition of our newsletter is a 5-minute read.
Morning all,
Thank you for all your recommendations last week. I had a great time in Turramurra talking to James and Connor about fighting the fires in Victoria. You can see some of our conversation in video format below. And hopefully, soon, I will be able to visit Flour Shop ā which has been recommended to me so many times ā once it opens again this weekend.
šļø Something else Iāve been writing about this week has been the gun reform occurring across the country.
Despite our belief that Australia is a country who has given up guns ā particularly in metropolitan regions like the North Shore ā statistics from the NSW Firearm Registry tell a different story, showing that many of our neighbours do own registered rifles, pistols, and shotguns.
Iām sure you might have heard these statistics thrown around a fair bit: that thereās someone in St Leonards with 67 guns, or Belrose with 180.
But itās hard to tell much from these numbers alone.
I spoke to the president of Hornsby Shooting Range ā where nearly all of the regionās shooting clubs practice ā to find out who these folks are, and why owning guns is important to them.
Regardless of your views on gun control, it is certainly interesting to understand why, in a metropolitan area like the North Shore with no practical use for firearms, gun ownership is still a big deal to some.
Anyway, letās get into the news for this week.
HEARD THIS WEEKš
š "Wrapping around the town": Young North Shore volunteers on fighting the Victorian bushfires
As parts of Victoria were burning last weekend, thousands of Country Fire Authority and Fire and Rescue Victoria firefighters worked around the clock to keep people and property safe.
When backup was needed, North Shore volunteer brigades were among those who answered the call, travelling to the Victorian countryside to help in any way they could.
Two of those volunteers were James Barney, 21, and Connor Murphy, 20, from Ku-ring-gai RFS.
Read the full story here, or watch our video below.
š« How will national gun reforms impact the North Shore?
New gun laws for Australia would mean another national gun buyback scheme and a limit on the amount of guns one person can own. The president of the North Shoreās only rifle range claims these changes will put Australian Olympic and Commonwealth games shooters at a disadvantage.
Gun reform: The laws, in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, are being debated on Tuesday in Federal Parliament. They are expected to pass through the lower house today before moving to the Senate, where Labor requires the support of either the Coalition or Greens.
The federal reforms before parliament would tighten import controls, specifically on āassisted repeating action and straight pull repeating action firearmsā. According to firearms experts, firearms of this type were used in the Bondi terror attack.
The reforms would also facilitate a national gun buyback scheme (as occurred in 1996ā97), and allow federal intelligence agencies, such as ASIO, to have a say in state and territory firearm licensing decisions.
In the state: New South Wales already passed major gun reforms late last year, most significantly limiting individuals to have no more than four firearms each.
These changes at the federal level are largely secondary to reforms enacted at the state and territory level.
Read the full story here.
š One more time: North Sydney councillors vote to pursue 52 percent rate hike
Following on from our reporting last week: Residents once again packed into North Sydney Council Chambers on Monday evening, as councillors voted to increase rates across the LGA by 52 percent over three years.
In an application sent to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), North Sydney Council will ask to raise local council rates significantly over a period of three years.
Read the full story below.
LOOKING NATIONALLY š
š What went wrong?
The Liberalsā review into a shambolic election campaign has now also become a shambles, with concerns its release to the public could spark a defamation lawsuit from the very man in charge during the campaign: former leader Peter Dutton.
The review, written by former NSW minister Pru Goward and former federal Finance minister Nick Minchin, was commissioned in the wake of the Liberalsā woeful performance at the 2025 election.
According to the ABC, Dutton was not given the right of reply to the claims made in the report, and believes his former chief of staff, Alex Dalgleish, is unfairly targeted.
The partyās secretariat has reportedly delayed the review's release as it works out how to deal with the Dutton dilemma.
Thatās all from me.
Got a story tip? An unsolved mystery? A notable local? Hit reply or reach out at [email protected].
And if you are able to support keeping local news free in our community, we would be grateful.
Cheers,
Huw
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