Travel Tips

Queenslanders be Aware

If you’re holding a Queensland firearms license and you intend to travel be sure to check your license expiry date before you leave home.

Queensland license renewals must be done in person at a Queensland police station so if your expiry date arrives when you are touring wineries of Western Australia it’s a long trip home to get the paperwork up to date.

Queensland police are working on a computerised system that may make it easier in future but if you have a 2010 expiry date don’t rely on this being up and operating in time.

The Queensland system requires that you deliver your paperwork, photos, proof of genuine reason and photo ID to a police station.

There is an alternative if things go completely wrong. You can put your firearms in safe storage and renew your license late.

Queensland allows you six months to lodge a late application without having to do another safety course. This will mean that you can’t use your firearms until you renew and it will cost you an extra $35 for a new license when you get home.

…. It’s better to be sure than to make an expensive round trip to the Queensland border..!!

 Travel Tips – Spirit of Tasmania

If you are travelling to or from Tasmania on the Spirit of Tasmania and you are carrying your firearms, you will need to be aware of the procedures.

The conditions attached to your ticket state:

30    (a) Further to Condition 29(d) of this contract above passengers are advised that the following dangerous goods must not be carried in any accompanying vehicle, or as baggage or as luggage or on their person: (i) Explosives, munitions, firearms, fireworks, flares and knives. Navigation   regulations prohibit firearms, ammunition or dangerous, combustible or explosive goods to be carried by a passenger in their luggage or accompanying vehicle (other than petrol contained in the vehicle’s petrol tank or gas in cylinders)……         (b) Notwithstanding Condition 30(a) of this contract TT-Line agrees: (i) Licensed firearms can be brought onto the vessel by passengers provided they are presented to the Security Officer prior to boarding and the Security Officer is able to safely disable the firearm and then lock it away in a safe room for the duration of the voyage.

It does seem the definition of a “safe room” deserves some mention. When last we travelled, the safe room consisted of a steel cage trailer with three compartments. Guns went in one end, ammunition in the other and gas bottles went in the middle.

By the time all the gas bottles are removed from campers and trailers etc your surrendered firearm may have spent a couple of hours in less than ideal storage conditions on the wharf. The trailer is one of the last things to be loaded and so is parked quite close to the open air. It is advisable to have a good weatherproof cover for your gun case.

The Declaration Form

If you are traveling on the Spirit of Tasmania you are required to submit a Declaration Form 24 hours prior to sailing. The form is not on the Spirit of Tasmania web site but is available from the Booking Office.

A copy of the form is also attached to this travel tip.

Click here to download Declaration Form 

In General

The Spirit of Tasmania has some rules that need to be followed but they are very courteous and helpful toward hunters taking their firearms across Bass Strait. The journey across is of course a lot of fun and the convenience of having your fully kitted-out vehicle on the Apple Isle cannot be over stated.