<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Australia has today marked the 30-year anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania - Australia's deadliest mass shooting in modern history.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, gunman Martin Bryant killed 35 people and left 23 wounded on April 28, 1996.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that "the terrible, indiscriminate cruelty of that day remains beyond understanding", but "somehow amid the most terrible darkness the best of humanity found a way to shine."</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-shooting-iran-live-updates-us-politics-april-28-king-charles/b8458881-ea3b-4a8c-b1a8-23b686b4bdce" rel="" target="_blank" title="Trump says Kimmel should be fired over shooting joke"><strong><span>Trump says Kimmel should be fired over shooting joke</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We think of everyone whose world was shattered by the loss of those who had been the bright centre of their lives, their love left desperately wrapped around an absence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Our hearts go out to everyone who has lived with decades of loss, and every survivor and loved one who is no longer with us but was shadowed by an inconsolable grief for the rest of their days.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We think of all who survived but with memories that would never soften."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/australia-marks-port-arthur-massacre-30-year-anniversary/8d9e16ab-9da4-4a0e-9a78-108a0f5c7429" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Prime Minister also praised Walter Mikac, whose wife and their two daughters were among the victims, for channelling his devastating loss into a call for gun reforms.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His campaigning helped persuade then prime minister John Howard to overhaul Australia's firearms legislation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-iran-war-iran-offers-to-reopen-strait-of-hormuz-if-us-lifts-its-blockade-and-the-war-ends-officials-say/9355d4b5-c8d8-4c18-b2b0-e954f888d3af"><strong><span>Iran 'offers to reopen Strait of Hormuz if US lifts blockade, war ends'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Australia is a better place because the government and the parliament of the day came together to answer Walter's call," said Albanese.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is what we hold on to – the abiding memory that somehow amid the most terrible darkness the best of humanity found a way to shine."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On today's anniversary, John Howard told the Nine Network's Karl Stefanovic that he was stunned when he heard the first reports from Port Arthur.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It was the largest death toll at the hands of a single person."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said the firearms reforms his government brought in could never guarantee that a repeat of another mass shooting would never happen.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"But what I can say is that all the evidence is that reduced the likelihood ... and sadly, the terrible events of Bondi on the eve of Christmas is the starkest example, but we haven't had much since."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Howard also recalled his efforts to persuade the public and the recreational shooting community to support his government's firearms legislation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It included a gathering at Gippsland in Victoria in 1996 when, addressing a hostile crowd of gun owners, the then prime minister wore a bullet-proof vest under his suit.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The police in Gippsland came to my AFP (Australian Federal Police) and said we have evidence someone is going to take a gun and shoot the prime minister," said Howard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I reluctantly put it (the bullet-proof vest) on ... I felt a fool ... and I never felt unsafe."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During 1996-1997, multiple states pass gun reform laws to a national standard. As part of gun buyback scheme 700,000 weapons were surrendered.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=9news.com.au" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul></ul></div></div>