Port Arthur massacre

Location The main location of the incident was the historic Port Arthur former prison colony, a popular tourist site in south-eastern Tasmania, Australia. Perpetrator In 1992, Martin Bryant—then 25—was bequeathed about $570,000 in property and assets by a friend, Helen Harvey, who left her estate to him following her death in a car crash. He used part of this money to go on many trips around the world from 1993 onwards. Bryant's father had tried to purchase a bed and breakfast property called Seascape, but Noelene (also known as Sally) and David Martin bought this property before his father could ready his finances, much to the disappointment of Bryant's father, who often complained to his son of the "double dealing" the Martins had done to secure the purchase. Bryant's father offered to buy another property from the Martins at Palmers Lookout Road, but they declined the offer. Bryant apparently believed the Martins had deliberately bought the property to hurt his family and believed this event to be responsible for the depression that led to his father's 1993 suicide. Bryant later described the Martins as "very mean people" and as "the worse people in my life". In late 1995, Bryant became suicidal after deciding he had "had enough". He stated, "I just felt more people were against me. When I tried to be friendly toward them, they just walked away". Although he had previously been little more than a social drinker, his alcohol consumption increased and, although he had not consumed any alcohol on the day of the massacre, his alcoholism had especially escalated in the six months prior. Gun laws in Australia before the Port Arthur massacre After storming out of a national gun summit in 1987, eight years before the massacre and following two mass shootings in Melbourne earlier in the year, Premier of New South Wales Barrie Unsworth said: "it will take a massacre in Tasmania before we get gun reform in Australia", referencing Tasmania's resistance to gun law changes. == Attacks ==

The events of the day were pieced together after investigation by police, then presented in court on 19 November 1996. David and Noelene Martin were the first victims, murdered at the Seascape property () at some point within a 12 hour timeframe prior to the Port Arthur attack. A couple stopped at Seascape, and Bryant met them outside. When they asked if they could have a look at the accommodation, Bryant told them that they could not because his parents were away and his girlfriend was inside. His demeanour was described as quite rude and the couple felt uneasy. They left at about 12:35 p.m. Bryant drove to Port Arthur in his yellow Volvo 244, taking the keys for Seascape and the Martins' weapons stored in the Seascape properties after locking the doors. Bryant stopped at a car which had pulled over due to overheating and talked with two people there. He suggested that they come to the Port Arthur café for some coffee later. He travelled past the Port Arthur historic site towards a Palmer's Lookout Road property owned by the Martins, where he came across Roger Larner. Larner had met him on some occasions more than 15 years previously. Bryant told Larner he had been surfing and had bought a property called Fogg Lodge and was now looking to buy some cattle from Larner. Bryant also made several comments about buying the Martins' place next door. He asked if Marian Larner was home and asked if he could continue down the driveway of the farm to see her. Larner said OK but told Bryant he would come also. "Bryant then responded that he might go to Nubeena first" and he was going to return in the afternoon. Port Arthur Historic Site At around 1:10 p.m., Bryant paid the entry fee for the site and proceeded to park near the Broad Arrow Café (), near the water's edge. The site security manager told him to park with the other cars because that area was reserved for camper-vans and the car park was busy that day. Bryant moved his car to another area and sat in his car for a few minutes. He then moved his car back near the water, outside the café. The security manager saw him go up to the café carrying a "sports-type bag" and a video camera, but ignored him. Bryant went into the café and purchased a meal, which he ate on the deck outside. He attempted to start conversations with people about the lack of wasps in the area and there not being as many Japanese tourists as usual. He appeared nervous and "quite regularly" looked back to the car park and into the café. Broad Arrow Café murders The café was very small, and was particularly busy that day as many people waited for the next ferry. Bryant pointed his rifle at the table beside him, fatally shooting Moh Yee (William) Ng and Sou Leng Chung, who were visiting from Malaysia. Bryant then fired a shot at Mick Sargent, grazing his scalp and knocking him to the floor. He then fatally shot Sargent's girlfriend, 21-year-old Kate Elizabeth Scott, hitting her in the back of the head. A 28-year-old New Zealand winemaker, Jason Winter, had been helping the busy café staff. Anthony Nightingale, 44, stood up after the sound of the first shots. Nightingale yelled "No, not here!" as Bryant pointed the weapon at him. As Nightingale leaned forward, he was fatally shot through the neck and spine. Bryant drove up to the toll booth at the exit of the historical site, where there were several vehicles, and blocked a 1980 gold BMW 7 Series owned by Mary Rose Nixon. Inside were Nixon, driver Russell James Pollard and passengers Helene and Robert Graham Salzmann. An argument with Robert Salzmann ensued, and Bryant took out his rifle and fatally shot him. Pollard emerged from the BMW and moved towards Bryant before being fatally shot in the chest. Bryant then moved to the BMW and fatally shot Nixon and Helene Salzmann before removing them from the car. Another car then came towards the toll booth and Bryant shot at it. Capture on 29 April Bryant was captured the following morning, when a fire started in the guest house, presumably set by Bryant. It was discovered that Glenn Pears had been shot during or before the standoff and had died before the fire. The remains of the Martins were also found. == Victims ==

Fatalities The following is a list of those killed in the Port Arthur massacre. == Aftermath ==

The Port Arthur tourist site reopened a few weeks later, and since then a new restaurant has been built. The former Broad Arrow Café structure is now a "place for quiet reflection", with a monument and memorial garden dedicated at the site in April 2000. The Australian Journal of Emergency Management published several research articles on the response and the ongoing processes of recovery, including an article about caring for the social workers working with residents. Government reaction Following the spree, the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, led the development of strict gun control laws within Australia and formulated the National Firearms Agreement, restricting the private ownership of semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic shotguns and pump-action shotguns as well as introducing uniform firearms licensing. It was implemented with bipartisan support by the Commonwealth, states and territories. The massacre happened just six weeks after the Dunblane massacre, in Scotland, which claimed 18 lives, with UK Prime Minister John Major reaching out to his counterpart over the shared tragedies; the United Kingdom passed its own changes to gun laws the next year after a change of government. Under federal government coordination, all states and territories of Australia restricted the legal ownership and use of self-loading rifles, self-loading shotguns, and tightened controls on their legal use by recreational shooters. The government initiated a mandatory "buy-back" scheme with the owners paid according to a table of valuations. Some 643,000 firearms were handed in at a cost of $350 million which was funded by a temporary increase in the Medicare levy which raised $500 million. Some state governments, notably Tasmania itself and Queensland, were generally opposed to new gun laws. Concern was raised within the Coalition Government that fringe groups such as the "Ausi Freedom Scouts", the Australian League of Rights and the Citizen Initiated Referendum Party, were exploiting voter anger to gain support. After discovering that the Christian Coalition and National Rifle Association of America were supporting the gun lobby, the government and media cited their support, along with the moral outrage of the community to discredit the gun lobby as extremists. Community reaction A substantial community fund was given for the victims of the Port Arthur massacre. The murder of Nanette Mikac and her daughters Alannah and Madeline inspired Dr Phil West of Melbourne, who had two girls similar in age to the murdered children, to set up a foundation in their memory. The Alannah and Madeline Foundation was launched in 1997 to combat bullying and to support child victims of violence. The massacre at Port Arthur forged a kinship between that town and the Scottish town of Dunblane, which had suffered a similar event, the Dunblane school massacre, only weeks previously. In 1996, Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe wrote Port Arthur, In memoriam: for chamber orchestra, "...for the victims of the massacre at Port Arthur, 28 April 1996, for those who died, and for those who live with the memory of it". The work was first performed 24 June 1996, at Government House, Hobart, Tasmania, by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Porcelijn. Mental illness and copycat effects Much discussion has occurred as to Bryant's mental health. At the time of the offences he was in receipt of a Disability Support Pension on the basis of being mentally handicapped. Media reports also detailed his odd behaviour as a child. He was able to drive a car and obtain a gun, though he possessed a licence for neither. Paul Mullen, a forensic psychiatrist with extensive involvement following the string of massacres in Australia and New Zealand, attributes both the Port Arthur massacre and some of the earlier massacres to the copycat effect. In this theory the saturation media coverage provides both instruction and perverse incentives for dysfunctional individuals to imitate previous crimes. In Tasmania, a coroner found that a report on the current affairs program A Current Affair, a few months earlier had guided one suicide, and might have helped create the expectation of a massacre. The coverage of the Dunblane massacre, in particular the attention on the perpetrator, is thought to have provided the trigger for Bryant to act. == Investigation ==

Martin Bryant pleaded guilty to having carried out the shootings and was given 35 life sentences without parole. Since 2015, he has been imprisoned in the Risdon Prison Complex. Prosecution Bryant was held in Royal Hobart Hospital under heavy police guard while awaiting trial. According to a guard, there were at least two security guard job applications made by individuals seeking to exact retribution on Bryant. On 22 November 1996, Bryant was sentenced to 35 sentences of life imprisonment for each count of murder and sentenced to 25 years for the remaining 36 charges on 5 other offences (20 attempted murders, 3 counts infliction of grievous bodily harm, the infliction of wounds upon a further 8 persons, 4 counts of aggravated assault and 1 count of unlawfully setting fire to property). All sentences are to be served concurrently. == Legacy ==

Tasmanian Police records from the incident are in the care of the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office. A memorial service on the 20th anniversary of the massacre had over 500 people in attendance. In 2007, Tasmanian playwright Tom Holloway dealt with the massacre in his play Beyond the Neck. Tasmanian composer Matthew Dewey also deals with these issues in his first symphony. The case was also covered by Casefile True Crime Podcast on 11 February 2017. The 2019 album Tasmania by Australian psychedelic rock/pop band Pond contains a song that is partly about the massacre, titled "The Boys Are Killing Me". The 2021 feature film Nitram is based on the event and won the 2021 CinefestOZ Film Prize. ==Conspiracy theories==

Following the massacre, many pro-gun activists in Australia began falsely promoting conspiracy theories about the massacre. The book Deadly Deception at Port Arthur, a pseudoscientific text written by Joe Vialls in 1999, is often cited by conspiracy theorists, as is the 2016 film Bryant – The Port Arthur Massacre by actor Paul Moder, though neither of these are credible sources. One of the most popular conspiracy theories regarding the attacks involves the idea that the attacks were carried out by the government to strengthen gun laws, or that the government had prior knowledge of the attacks, claims that have been openly promoted by several members and candidates of right-wing populist parties such as One Nation and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFF). Often referenced cited as supposed evidence for this conspiracy theory is a quote from then-New South Wales Premier Barrie Unsworth where he famously declared in 1987 that it would take a mass shooting in Tasmania to change Australia's gun laws, with the quote being referenced by One Nation and founder leader Pauline Hanson herself, despite Hanson denying she believed in conspiracy theories about the event. ==See also==