It was the massacre that changed Australia’s relationship with guns forever. Now Peter Dutton says another ‘Port Arthur’ moment just happened

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has divided Australians with controversial comparisons between the tragic Port Arthur massacre and pro-Palestinian protests.

Speaking at the Tom Hughes Oration in Sydney on Wednesday evening, Mr Dutton criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s handling of rising anti-Semitism in Australia following the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.

The terrorist attack caused social unrest worldwide and led to protests on the steps of the Opera House on October 9.

“Although no one was killed during the October 9 protests, the events at the Sydney Opera House were similar in social significance to a Port Arthur moment,” Dutton said.

The opposition leader was referring to then-Prime Minister John Howard’s harsh response to the 1996 massacre, in which gunman Martin Bryant killed 35 people and injured 23 others.

During the Tom Hughes Oration in Sydney on Wednesday evening, Mr Dutton criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s handling of rising anti-Semitism in Australia following the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.

The opposition leader was referring to then-Prime Minister John Howard’s harsh response to the 1996 massacre, in which gunman Martin Bryant killed 35 people and injured 23 others.

“The gun bans he tried to implement went against his liberal leanings. He saw them as an infringement on individual freedom,” he said.

‘But John Howard also understood the wider national and human interest involved. He appreciated the need to call on Australians at a tragic time to bring about a profound cultural shift in community attitudes.

“That’s exactly what he did by winning the hearts and minds of his fellow Australians and political opponents.”

Mr Dutton accused Mr Albanese of failing to seize the opportunity in his efforts to stamp out anti-Semitism.

His comparison has been criticized online, with one critic saying it amounted to a ‘cruel slap in the face to the victims of Port Arthur and their families’.

Another said: ‘I find it truly shocking that you can compare an act of mass violence and death such as Port Arthur to a protest seeking peace. It is shameful that someone so opportunistic, callous and divisive is leading one of our largest parties.”

His comparison has been trashed online as critics say it amounts to a “cruel slap in the face to the victims of Port Arthur and their families.”

Martin Bryant killed 35 people and injured 23 others during the 1996 massacre

A third wrote: ‘Peter Dutton should apologize to the families of the victims of the Port Arthur massacre after trying to downplay the events in which their relatives were brutally murdered by suggesting that the horrors they suffered comparable to a public protest against the Israeli invasion of Gaza.’

John Howard introduced a gun buyback scheme after the Port Arthur massacre, paying Australians to surrender a total of 650,000 firearms that had become illegal as a result of new laws.

Mr. Albanese and his government have repeatedly addressed the atrocities of the October 7 attacks on Israel, but recently expressed support for a two-state solution and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

The coalition has repeatedly attacked Labor for not taking a strong enough stand against Hamas.

Mr Albanese himself was asked on Thursday about Mr Dutton’s divisive comments, noting that “people will draw their own conclusions about that”.

“I saw those comments and was somewhat surprised by those comments. And it’s up to him to explain that.

“I am someone who has spent time, including recently at Parliament House, with the family of the Port Arthur victims.

‘I think sometimes in his comments Peter Dutton makes you think about how fast you could go and how angry you could be – and then take it a step further.’

John Howard introduced a gun buyback scheme after the Port Arthur massacre. In the photo: approximately 4,500 surrendered firearms