A firearms manufacturer who aims to represent One Nation in New South Wales is calling for the repeal of gun laws enacted after the Bondi Beach massacre, arguing that every rifle his company produces has been banned in the state.
Earlier this month, One Nation’s New South Wales leader, Mike Newman, together with federal MP Barnaby Joyce, announced that Jeff Bacon would be the party’s second candidate on the upper‑house ticket for the March state election.
Bacon serves as managing director of Oceania Precision, a Tamworth‑based weapons manufacturer.
The candidacy was declared in Tamworth, where Bacon subsequently hosted a One Nation forum on firearms legislation. The event drew gun‑lobby groups, local gun clubs, Newman and Joyce.
Newman described Bacon as “not only a firearms owner, but also a manufacturer and an innovator with patents worldwide”, pledging that Bacon would be “my go‑to man on the firearms industry”.
Bacon contested the lower‑house seat of Tamworth for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party in 2019. He later joined the Nationals in 2023 before switching to One Nation.
On 3 October, Bacon said in Tamworth that a second parliamentary run “wasn’t a hard decision”.
“To be honest, I’d rather continue in my business than be forced into politics,” he said.
“[But] I’m going to do everything I can – not only to fight for the repeal of the legislation.”
In a statement, Bacon said One Nation would repeal the firearms provisions of the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Act, restoring rights to the pre‑December system before the Minns government and the Liberal Party fast‑tracked the changes on Christmas Eve.
In December 2025, Labor and the Liberals enacted reforms capping recreational licence‑holders at four firearms and primary producers at ten, and made New South Wales the only state to join a federal joint weapons buyback scheme, slated to start on 2 November.
The NSW parliament also voted to reclassify straight‑pull and lever‑release rifles, effectively banning recreational hunters from owning those weapons.
One of the alleged Bondi shooters, Indian national Sajid Akram, held six weapons on a recreational hunting licence, among them straight‑pull rifles that were reportedly used in the antisemitic attack on 14 December, which claimed 15 lives during Hanukkah celebrations.
Oceania Precision’s website describes its rifles as “built specifically for law enforcement”. The company currently advertises a select‑fire tactical rifle marketed as “restricted” for law‑enforcement use.
A June snapshot from the Internet Archive shows the firm describing itself as a manufacturer for the “Australian domestic and professional market”.
The site also listed two commercial models at the time: the straight‑pull SP25‑TAC and the lever‑release Renegade. Archived pages indicate both have been marked “not available in NSW” since last year, prior to the post‑Bondi firearms changes.
In January, Bacon told the Northern Daily Leader that the government’s firearms reforms had banned every rifle his company produces in NSW, reporting that his business would be “broke in six months if this continues – we’re done, we’re finished”.
“I’m in the middle of two manufacturing runs right now,” he said at the time.
“We’re on hold right now, we just don’t know what’s happening. We’ve had all of our orders cancelled.”
In August, Bacon told trade website Defence Connect that his business faced imminent collapse as a result of the gun reforms.
“Our entire research and development budget is funded through our commercial sporting sales,” he said at the time. “These revenue streams have been severely impacted, significantly reducing our ability to invest in ongoing innovation and product development.”
One Nation’s platform includes repealing the buyback scheme and most post‑Bondi firearms law changes in NSW.
Following One Nation’s May victory in the South Australian seat of Farrer, Oceania Precision’s Instagram account posted a photo of Bacon alongside federal leader Pauline Hanson, with a caption urging support for the industry ahead of the 2027 NSW state election: “The 2027 NSW state election is fast approaching, we need to support the people who support our industry, join the party today.”
In early October, speaking in Tamworth, Bacon said he supported the December reforms that would make Australian citizenship a prerequisite for recreational firearms licences once the buyback is completed.
“What happened at the end of last year was a tragedy but what followed was probably some of the worst politics that we’ve ever seen,” Bacon said while launching his upper‑house candidacy, adding that the weapons industry had not been consulted.
He cited a survey from the Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia indicating that half of NSW firearms dealers were at risk of closure.
One Nation is polling at 25 % of the primary vote in NSW, according to a September Sydney Morning Herald Resolve poll. Should that support materialise in March, the party could secure at least five upper‑house seats. The Coalition sits at 24 % in the same poll.
The NSW Nationals opposed the December firearms changes, whereas the Liberal Party supported them.
Opposition leader Kellie Sloane has since softened her stance. The Liberal Party announced last month it would remove caps for primary producers and freeze the buyback pending an inquiry into other reforms.
The Resolve poll found that opposition to the reforms among One Nation voters stood at 33 %, higher than among other major party supporters, though a majority still backed the post‑Bondi changes or remained undecided.
Overall, 63 % of voters supported the reforms, a slight decline from the post‑attack peak, while 19 % opposed them and the remainder were undecided.
Newman, speaking alongside Bacon earlier this month, described the firearms debate as “a very sore point in the regions”.
Stephen Bendle, a senior adviser to the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, established after the Port Arthur massacre, called attempts by One Nation or the Coalition to roll back the reforms “outrageous politics that ignores the victims and survivors of Bondi and the expectations of the community”.
“The outrage is being led by commercial interests in the firearm industry. Mr Bacon and others must recognise that times change,” Bendle said.
“Many industries must adapt to changing circumstances, whether driven by government regulation or market forces. Ultimately, the community decides what serves its best interest.”
Bacon and One Nation declined to comment when contacted.
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