FATHER’S DAY
Byron Bay’s Walter Mikac lost his wife and two children in Port Arthur. Now the nation salutes his brave fight to ensure no other dad suffers the same agony
WALTER MIKAC suffered the greatest pain a father could imagine when he lost his wife Nanette and daughters Alannah, 6, and Madeline, 3, in the Port Arthur massacre.
But Mr Mikac channelled his grief into action, successfully campaigning for tighter gun laws and establishing a foundation to help children overcome violence and bullying.
Today the nation honours his courage, with Mr Mikac named a Member of the Order of Australia.
IT was always going to be a tough decision.
But Walter Mikac believed he made the best choice 20 years ago and today he received the ultimate public recognition that he was right.
“I had to pinch myself, it’s all come from an event that I didn’t choose so there’s a bitter sweet irony,” the Byron Bay resident said after being made a Member of the Order of Australia for “significant services to the community” as an advocate for gun control and the protection of children through social welfare programs.
Walter’s life changed forever when in April 1996 his wife Nanette and daughters Alannah, 6, and three-year-old Madeline were murdered in the Port Arthur massacre. His loss became the public face of mass shock, outrage and grief.
He didn’t want the memory of his family to be lost but he also didn’t want the constant reminder of the tragedy but in 1997 he began the Alannah & Madeline Foundation which has gone on to help tens of thousands of children who have experienced or witnessed serious violence and cyber bullying with outreach programs including eSmart Schools now in more than 2300 schools nationwide.
“I think if Nanette was looking down she’d be pretty happy that that was the case, that the children’s names are remembered with the foundation so from that perspective I feel really proud (of recognition),” he said.
“In the early days I had to think about whether I wanted to go down that track because obviously once it’s in place it was going to be a constant reminder. The other option was 20 years on there is no-one likely to remember the names of my girls and particularly the lost potential of what they were capable off.
“So you think well they are being remembered in a way that is really positive and helping other children through the eSmart program, Buddy Bag program that we’ve got. It heartens me that their names are attached to that and they are helping other kids.”
Personally, Walter also helps other victims of tragedy, most recently speaking with a father from Melbourne’s Bourke St attack a year ago this week.
“I thought it was a way maybe to share an experience, it’s not a club you want to join losing your children but if it gives them some help … I know in my early days talking to a few parents in that situation was consoling in some ways,” he said yesterday.
On gun control, he said he was only reminded last week during a visit with his parents in Melbourne when he found a copy of the Herald Sun dated May 11, 1996 and the announcement of national gun laws that he recalled the success of his quest.
“The biggest consolation out of an event you never want to happen which is awful but you have had two major things, obviously the gun laws and 20 years later we have not had another mass shooting which is an amazing statistic when you look at the United States and they averaged more than one gun death a day last year,” he said.