Australia’s Port Arthur Affair in Retrospect

by Mary W Maxwell, LLB

I have been asked to summarize the case for Martin Bryant’s innocence (as if everybody didn’t already know!) as we move towards thirty years of his ridiculous incarceration. I will divide this summary into 4 parts:

1. Bryant’s Personal Background, 2. The Port Arthur Massacre, 3. Prosecutorial Dishonesty, and 4. The Normalcy of Patsy-ism.

But first I should say that many people have worked to undo the injustice from Day One, such as the gunsmith Stewart Beattie, the retired cop Andrew MacGregor, the citizen letter-writer Mal Hughes, the singer Cheri Bonney, the rapper MC Greely, the barrister Terry Shulze, and the lady who dispensed truth at ablution blocks, Wendy Scurr.

Bryant’s Personal Background

Martin was born in May 1967 in Tassie (Tasmania). Early in life he became a ‘patient’ of Dr Dax who had been sent to Oz (Australia) by the mind-control nutjobs (Tavistock) in UK. At age 19, he became friends with an older woman, Helen Harvey, heiress to the Tatersall lottery money. There was a car accident in which she was killed. Martin’ father suicided (was killed) in a dam on his property. At age 21, Martin was under hypnosis in South Australia. He seems to have spent a short time at Sandhurst (for military experience?). Although he did not even attend Port Arthur on the fateful day, May 28, 1996, he was sentenced to life in prison for it. He was also said to have killed the owners of Seascape (a B&B) on his way to the event (over an old grudge). After the massacre, he “brought a hostage” (can you imagine!) back to Seascape where he was heard on tape “negotiating” with Officer McCarthy. From May to July, he was in a prison hospital for burns on his back, gained when he set fire to (was trapped in) Seascape cottage.

The Port Arthur Massacre (at the Touristic Site of an Old Convict Prison)

This event, later imitated in other countries, is known as a gun-control hoe-down. It is rumored that John Major was the brian behind it, and Oz Prime Minister John Howard carried it out, and that Ari Ben Menashe, formerly of Mossad, was seen at the site. At 1:30pm, on April 28, 1996, a beautiful day (all Oz days are beaut), a young fellow with long blond hair (a wig) went into the Broad Arrow Café and purchased lunch including a can of Solo drink. Soon he went to his duffel bag, pulled out a rifle, and shot 20 adults, mostly with one headshot. A customer, Anthony Nightingale (later found to be “Intel”), stood up and said “No, not here.” But ‘Martin’ killed him summarily. Some Broad Arrow staff tried to escape via the back door but the lock was broken.

The man of the hour then went out and killed persons in the parking lot, including one on a tourist bus. Not satisfied, he saw a mom with her two little girls and shot them to heaven. Then drove to the exit where he gave up his Yellow Volvo in favor of a BMW, having first shot all its four occupants, who, it turns out, were ASIO (an FBI type thing). Across the street he entered the driveway of a General Store, run by Jim Laycock (who later offered to testify that the offending blond was not MB whom he had known for year). That’s where he grabbed his hostage, Glen Pears, and put him in the boot of the car. (Try doing that while also holding an AR-15). They sped off to Seascape where he set the offending car on fire, as you do. Along that road he had shot at the finger of a lady who turns out to be wife of Canada’s consul.

After resting for a few hours and cooking bacon and eggs for the very hoteliers whom he had grudge-killed, Bryant was heard asking for a swap — a helicopter ride to Adelaide, and freedom. Yeah, right. (When the public hears ‘hostage taken,’ no rules of logic get applied; it’s a magic word.) At the same time as Martin was negotiating, shots were heard (translated as Cough, Cough) and action was seen by a second shooter (de rigueur in such cases). Meanwhile a cop asked Fogarty for permission to shoot and was told “No, this has to happen.” Citizens who owned CB radios struggled to interpret the meaning of that (not). Cop Pat Allen was pissed off (or pissed in) at being ordered to remain in a ditch the whole evening, for safety. The next morning, fire fighters arrived at 7am, apparently crystal-balling that the now-megastar of Port Arthur would kill himself by burning down the cottage while in it (the Sampson Option). But out he came, on fire, at 8am, and was arrested. More than 29 years ago. How time flies!

Prosecutorial Dishonesty

As contrasted with other cases where the prosecutor, defense attorney, and judge all carry out their noble duty of seeking justice (I suppose there are a few of those somewhere; let me know if you see any), all parties stood firm to blame Martin for the deaths of 35 people. Please choose which of these legal doings is more egregious:

1. There was no trial because, after 6 months of pleading Not Guilty, Martin changed his plea to Guilty when his mom told him (per the advice of Defense attorney John Avery) that she could not visit anymore unless he said “I dunnit.”
2. It had taken 13 visits to Risdonia by the said Mr Avery, to try to arrange mistakes for Martin to make at the trial if one was ever scheduled. Example: Mr Avery “explained” that Martin must not tell Avery he was innocent, as such a lie would rub off on Avery who would then have to quit the case in the face of ethics rules (!!!) Indeed, Mr Gunson, SC, Martin’s previous lawyer (and president of the Bar Association for Pete’s sake) “had quit the case over that very obstacle.”
3. Psychiatrist Dr Ian Sale went all “ex parte” by chatting to Martin in his cell while working not for the Defense but for the Prosecution. (Don’t worry if you can’t distinguish the two, it’s not you.)
4. When cops visited Martin in jail in July 1996, as a foursome, and told him there were photos of him at the site on the day, he asked politely if he could see those photos. I won’t tell you whether they said Yes or No, so as to let you wrack your brian trying to decide.
5. It still looked like there may have to be a trial, since the “No confessy no Mommy tactic” had not yet been outlined (by John Major or someone like that). So the Prosecutor had to choose witnesses. Fifty dollars for anyone who gets this quiz question wrong: Did the prosecutor accept Jim Laycock’s offer to testify – he was the only person who had both known Martin from youth and who saw the gunman up close?
6. Ten dollars for this one: Did the prosecutor accept (dissident) Wendy Scurr’s demand to testify that she arrived at the Café minutes after the big kill and helped do triage? Yes or No.
7. No cops bothered to sequester the Solo drink can, or the steering wheel of the Volvo, for purposes of, you know if you’ve ever watched a cop TV show, testing the fingerprints.
8. Martin’s inheritance from the will of Helen Harvey (quelset-up!) had to be under Public Trusteeship since Martin, not being the sharpest tool in the shed, needed a guardian. You might assume, given his low IQ (rumored at 66), that a counselor would be with him when he announced in court “I am guilty.” But you’d be wrong.
9. You might think that when ABC-TV’s show Background Briefing” was filmed inside the prison for the “First Anniversary of the massacre, the reporter Ginny Stein would be careful not to incite the murder of the prisoner. Again, go to the back of the class. She made at least ten remarks of this nature: “Last year there was a great clamor for the death penalty to be reinstated and for Bryant to be strung up.” “There are rules among inmates and Bryant has broken them all.” (Seriously!! – he was mainly in solitary.) “Hate mail continues to be directed to Bryant from right around Australia and from overseas.” Wait till you hear this: “In the Yards, things happen and it’s not always possible to see who did it.” (Jee-zuz.)
10. Now we move to the political side of things – which is not to suggest, of course, that the Prosecutor side of things wasn’t political. In this case, we see Ray Groom, premier of Tassie step down, for no reason, and instead take up the portfolios that would be needed for massive cheating in the days to come, including, of course the Attorney General portfolio.
11. And now I’ll turn off my sarcasm to show respect for a subsequent Atty General, Vanessa Goodwin, whom we court-watchers thought may break out in a rash and help Martin. She had already invoked a new law that said “Fresh evidence found down the track can be used as a case-reopener.” That probably sealed her fate – plus, she had sent Cheri Bonney some hugely incriminating stuff (not incriminating Martin, mind you), and it led to our discovery of a seminar held on the case.
12. Vanessa died at age 43, of a brain tumor.
13. One of the items in the Big Boy seminar shows that Steven Parry, a former embalmer, stated that sufficient embalming material was sent to Hobart days in advance. (Advance of what?). So how about Parry’s job, was he being a businessman? No. He was a member of Parliament in Canberra on the day. He later rose to President of the Australian Senate, as one does.
14. The judge who sentenced Martin to several lifetimes behind bars was Chief Justice William Cox, born 1936 (still alive to apologize). He would know that many confessions from prisoners are not truthful (such as those in which the Mafia causes Sam the Stabber to take the blame for higher boss Bob the Bayoneter). Did he have to accept Martin’s no-confessy-no-mommy Guilty plea? Consider this: Cox was simultaneously chief justice and lieutenant governor, in 1996. He later rose to governor (representing the monarch). But an examination of Tassie’s Constitution shows that it’s No worries, Mate, about balance of powers. The judiciary isn’t mentioned in that state’s Constitution. (And a recent enactment has eliminated the grand jury.)
15. Ask me about Tasmania’s Director of Public Prosecutions in 1996, Damian Bugg, who later rose to Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. I mean don’task. The chain of promotions tells you what you need to know.

The Normalcy – and Near-Ubiquity — of Patsy-ism

All of that said, about the 1996-2025 crucifixion of Martin Bryant, the fact is that such behavior in the legal system has become normal. We are all potentially crucifiable. There is no disciplinary power over the lawyers — who are known in Oz as solicitors. Wait, I said there is no ‘disciplinary’ power. I mean discipline as in moral discipline. As in, “If you continue to block justice you will be sacked.” Quite possibly there is ‘discipline’ of another sort. As in central control. As in “If you step outside this new normal you will be killed.” Witness Vanessa Goodwin. (And me any day now, if they are paying attention.)

So why doesn’t the public step in to prevent such injustice? I can spell it out for you: Gimme an ‘L’. Gimme an ‘A.’ Gimme a Zed. Gimme a “Why.” What have you got? LAZY. We are all lazy. Lazy and scared and too well fed. And too willing to believe the media. Heck, Aussies believed every word from the Murdoch press for decades. Even a vulnerable shrimp like John Howard never got whacked. He was preceded by the Undertaker and the phony Union leader. He was succeeded by Rudd, Gillard (Aspen Institute), Abbott (looks like Tony Blair), Turnbull (Goldman Sachs), Morrison (Hillsong) and Elbow. The mind boggles, does it not? People think Australia is called The Lucky Country due to its beauty, camaraderie, and all that. No. When Donald Horne wrote his famous 1964 book “The Lucky Country,” he meant “Whew! We’re lucky that things ride along pretty well, given our sub-par leaders.”

Martin Bryant was a patsy. Patsies are standard today. False flags and psy-ops abound. The script writer conjures up a crime and gets all the players organized for the “sudden emergency.” Picture the script writer for Port Arthur. He is a guy of high power – able to control police, parliament, journo’s, and housewives. (OK, OK, house husbands.) The script writer probably nominates the patsy-du-jour well in advance, as his ‘bad deeds” have to be on record before the event. Oswald had to defect to the USSR 4 years before he shot Kennedy. (He didn’t shoot Kennedy; that is the whole meaning of Patsy.) Not much could be pinned on Bryant except a childhood accident that made it to TV, but hints galore were made about his having been on the road with Helen Harvey, and about him smirking when informed that his father had drowned.

The script writer had to see to it that the government purchase the Broad Arrow Café (yes, it was de-privatized!) and, shortly before the event, had to arrange the Café’s un-openable back door. (Why does this remind me of the Coconut Grove fire in Boston in 1942?) Someone at Murdoch’s national rag, “The Australian,” had to be ready to publish a photo of the suspect with wild eyes — decades before photoshopping became universal. The ‘scriptwriter’ had to nudge the premier of Tasmania, Ray Groom, to step down. The scriptwriter had to make sure the right kind of guy was DPP on the day (Damian Bugg). There had to be a psychiatrist on call to assess the accused regarding fitness to stand trial. (“Yep, he knows right from wrong.”) I shan’t name this professor as I cannot stomach the guy.

Note: The four people had to be in the BMW waiting to be shot, and the hostage had to be ready to climb into the boot. All five of those turned out to be coverts. Makes ya wunda if they were whistleblowers or upstarts who had to be removed. “We kill our own if need be.” More chores for the scriptwriter – John Major’s tea boy? – included training Hobart’s SOG leader Dyson. He had to have had similar experience in New Zealand prior to the event and also not be seen anywhere during the massacre. The gun dealer, Terry Hill, who was busy repairing Martin’s gun far away, even as ‘Martin’ deployed it on 35 souls (and a Canadian finger, to help get all Canucks interested) apparently refused to take a bribe. That’s one of those unplannable hiccups, but it can always be ‘got around.’ Quote unquote Lord Milner: “Ignore the screamers.”

Neighbors at Seascape who heard the stand-down order “This has to happen,” also presented a hiccup but Hey, those words could have meant something else. Like Larry Silverstein meant something else about Building 7 when he said “Pull it.” The Port Arthur script writer ain’t no milquetoast — he had to arrange the deaths of Maurice Bryant, the dad, and Helen Harvey, the heiress, whose money in the hands of prisoner Bryant had to be meted out — to whom? — as retribution. Shades of Judge O’Toole’s order for Jahar Tsarnaev, aka Patsy Tsarnaev, to pay a million dollars in retribution to the Boston Marathon amputees. I also think the death of beautiful Vanessa Goodwin had to be organized, medically.

Certainly the drug bust that called local police away from the area of ‘Bryant’s’ shootings had to planned down to the minute, as did the fact that an international conference of journalists was being held nearby, that weekend. And how about the fact that top employees of the PA Historic site were conveniently at a distant location? They say this is protocol when a terrorist incident is planned. Any official who might look naughty has to be “not in town” that day. On the other hand, was it a scriptwriting booboo that placed John Howard at both the London Tube event in 2011 and within smelling distance of the Twin Towers on the famous September Morn? That’s the same Howard who had only been prime minister for a few weeks and who had the gun-control legislation already typed up and ready to roll.

To conclude, The Fooling of The People is now standardized, to the point where we can recognize shootouts as garbage — yet we stand there accepting it as real. Gimme an L, gimme an A… etc.

Let’s do better. Let’s not be jerks.

Thank you, Wendy et al, for spreading the word. Thank you, Vanessa, for what you might have done to make History do a 180-degree turn around.

Thank you, Martin, for enlightening us about ourselves and our “realities” more than any bloke Down Under has ever done.