Pauline Hanson Has Been Caught On Camera Questioning The Port Arthur Massacre
Just when you think they can't sink any lower.
Pauline Hanson has been caught on camera appearing to question the Port Arthur massacre, with the One Nation leader insisting there are “a lot of questions there”.
The footage, which was released by the ABC, was recorded in secret by Rodger Muller, an undercover Al Jazeera journalist who was posing as the head of a fake gun rights group.
“An MP said it would actually take a massacre in Tasmania to change the gun laws in Australia. Haven’t you heard that?” Hanson tells Muller. “Have a look at it. It was said on the floor of Parliament.”
“That whole September 11 thing, too,” adds her chief of staff James Ashby.
“Those shots, they were precision shots. Check the number out,” Hanson continues. “I’ve read a lot and I’ve read the book on it, Port Arthur. A lot of questions there.”
The new footage emerged as One Nation finds itself scrambling to explain why Ashby and Queensland party leader Steve Dickson travelled to America to meet with the National Rifle Association. In footage captured by Muller and aired in part one of Al Jazeera’s documentary How To Sell A Massacre, the pair can be seen talking about wanting up to $20 million worth of donations from the US gun lobby group. Ashby and Dickson have defended their comments by claiming they were drunk at the time. As excuses go, it’s not great.
Pauline Hanson has been caught out suggesting Australia’s worst ever gun massacre in Port Arthur was part of a government conspiracy. #9News pic.twitter.com/54ZcRWe2Ev
— Nine News Adelaide (@9NewsAdel) March 27, 2019
Gunman Martin Bryant murdered 35 people at Port Arthur in Tasmania in 1996. Prime Minster John Howard responded by introducing tough new gun control laws. Australia has not had a mass shooting since.
Hanson told the ABC in 2001 her party did not believe conspiracy theories about Port Arthur. In 2017, the party disowned candidate Peter Rogers ahead of the Queensland state election after a blog post on his website described the massacre as “a fabricated incident”. Rogers later claimed the blog post was written by a friend.
Part two of How To Sell A Massacre will air on the ABC this evening.