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Pauline Hanson Suggests Port Arthur Massacre Was An Inside Job To Tighten Australian Gun Laws

Pauline Hanson Suggests Port Arthur Massacre Was An Inside Job To Tighten Australian Gun Laws

"Those shots. They were precision shots."

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has found herself in another scandal just days after her party was exposed in by Al Jazeera of getting into bed with America's National Rifle Association for funding.

Hanson has been secretly filmed hinting the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, which claimed the lives of 35 people, was an inside job designed to tighten Australia's gun laws.

In the video, released by Al Jazeera, Ms Hanson said: "An MP said it would actually take a massacre in Tasmania to change the gun laws in Australia.

"Haven't you heard that? Have a look at it. It was said on the floor of parliament. Those shots. They were precision shots.

"Check the number out. I've read a lot and I have read the book on it, Port Arthur. A lot of questions there."

Al Jazeera

She was filmed sitting next to her Chief of Staff, James Ashby, who backs her up by saying 'that whole September 11 thing, too', linking conspiracy theories about 9/11 to Port Arthur.

Martin Bryant was sentenced to 35 life sentences for each victim after he used a semi-automatic rifle to massacre dozens of people in the Tasmanian town.

Following the tragic attack, Australia's then Prime Minister John Howard announced sweeping gun laws that made it much harder to buy and own a weapon in the country.

In the years since the legislation, Australia hasn't had a mass shooting where the victims were unknown to the perpetrator. As a result, Australia is usually held up as an example of how gun control can drastically reduce gun crime.

Martin Bryant is serving 35 concurrent life sentences in jail.
60 Minutes Australia/Channel 9

Ms Hanson's comments are certainly a deviation from what she has said in the past about Port Arthur.

In 2001, the One Nation leader told the ABC: "We do not support any conspiracy theories regarding Port Arthur or Martin Bryant, we do believe that he has been convicted of this and he's been charged over it, and that he is guilty of the offence and the crime committed at Port Arthur."

Sixteen years later, the party had to remove their endorsement for Peter Rogers, who was running in the Queensland state election, after he claimed Port Arthur was a 'fabricated incident'.

Ms Hanson has since held a news conference saying that she sticks by those 2001 comments and thought Bryant was the only person involved in the shooting and deserved to get the death penalty.

The shocking comments from Ms Hanson come two days after Al Jazeera released the first part of their three year long investigation called 'How To Sell A Massacre'.

The first episode included secret video recordings of One Nation Queensland leader Steve Dickson having meetings with the NRA about potential party funding.

He was filmed asking for up to $20 million and suggested his party could help weaken the country's gun laws if more candidates were elected into office.

Featured Image Credit: Al Jazeera

Topics: News, Australia