Beyond the Neck | Background

The mass shooting at Port Arthur occurred on 28 April 1996 nearby and at the former penal colony Port Arthur, a tourist attraction and popular picnic location in Lutruwita/Tasmania. The perpetrator, Martin Bryant, killed 35 people and wounded 23 others, in the deadliest massacre  in modern Australian history. The attack led to fundamental changes in Australia’s gun laws. The  National Firearms Agreement between state and federal governments was announced within two weeks of the massacre. 

The ‘old’ café referred to in the script is the Broad Arrow Café at Port Arthur. The shooting there lasted approximately 15 seconds, during which Martin Bryant fired 17 shots, killed 12 people, and wounded 10 more. He  then moved to the Gift Shop and car park where he killed and wounded many more people before killing the children Alannah (6 years old) and Madeleine (3 years old) and their mother Nanette Mikac as he was leaving the site. The murder of this family resulted in the creation of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation by their father Walter Mikac AM and a small group of volunteers, driven by the belief that all children and young people should be able to live a happy and safe life, free from violence and trauma. Further killings and woundings took place at the toll booth, a nearby service station and Seascape, where he was finally captured after an 18-hour police standoff.

Bryant received thirty-five life sentences, plus 1,652 years in prison, without the possibility of parole, all of which is to be served concurrently; this life sentence being applied is "for the term of [his] natural life”. He is held in the Risdon Prison in Hobart. For the first eight months of his imprisonment, Bryant was held in a purpose-built suicide-prevention cell in almost complete solitary confinement. Ironically, Port Arthur Penal Colony used the relatively ‘new’ practice of solitary confinement. The inmates would be put into an individual cell, they would have to undertake some form of cell-bound labour, and would stay there for approximately 23 hours a day. This is also referred to in the play.

The young girl in the play refers to conspiracy theories around the shooting. Following the massacre, many pro-gun activists in Australia began falsely promoting conspiracy theories about the massacre.  One of the most popular conspiracy theories regarding the attacks involves the idea that the attacks were carried out by the government to strengthen gun laws, or that the government had prior knowledge of the attacks.

The original café is now a monument and memorial garden dedicated to the victims of this horrific event and a new restaurant has been built.

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