KEEP OUR GUN LAWS

Port Arthur doctor’s plea

THE surgeon who treated not only the victims of the Port Arthur massacre but also the perpetrator has implored Premier Will Hodgman to drop his Government’s proposal to change Tasmania’s gun laws.

The Government’s new policy, one of 200 not published on the Liberal Party’s website before it was returned to power at this month’s election, would allow farm workers to get greater access to self-loading rifles and pump-action shotguns.

It would also permit silencers for Category C licence holders, double some licence durations from five to 10 years and relax penalties for minor gun storage law breaches.

Stephen Wilkinson, like many others who were affec- ted by the 1996 massacre, wants Mr Hodgman to not only shelve the proposed reforms but commit to ensuring gun laws are never weakened under his watch.

Dr Wilkinson said he was one of the many Tasmanians badly affected by the Port Arthur massacre.

“I saw every living victim arrive at the hospital, including the perpetrator. I fronted the media on behalf of the hospital many times over the subsequent week,” he said.

“These experiences, the heavy responsibilities at the time, and keeping up medical and leadership duties not knowing whether my family members would arrive as victims, still haunt me.

“Yet my experiences are nothing compared to those who dealt with the disaster at the site.”

He said all Tasmanians had been affected and challenged by the massacre in one way or another and were proud of the gun laws which followed.

“The one positive thing Tasmanians can cling to out of this disaster is the landmark, world-class gun control that resulted for Australia, legislation that is the envy of most of the world, including schoolchildren in the USA,” Dr Wilkinson said.

Mr Hodgman said the issue was important to many Tasmanians.

“Which is why we have repeatedly made it clear we won’t do anything that compromises the safety of Tasmanians or the National Firearms Agreement,” he said.

“The Upper House inquiry which we support will give everyone the opportunity to have their say.

“We will not make any changes that do not comply with the NFA — that’s our clear commitment.”

Dr Wilkinson said the wants of the few had overridden the views of the majority.

“The cost of a slight benefit to a small group would be a major psychological trauma to those who directly suffered,’’ he said.

“The changes would negatively impact all Tasmanians who can at least, now, hold up the best gun control laws in the world as a hard-won, positive achievement out of adversity.

“Further, it would be the thin edge of the wedge for unpicking the legislation in other jurisdictions.

“Inevitably the ‘rotting’ of this world-leading legislation would be sheeted back to the very state out of which gun control was spurred at great cost.”

The one positive thing Tasmanians can cling to out of this disaster is the landmark, world-class gun control that resulted for Australia, legislation that is the envy of most of the world