154 / Howard's gun legacy

It would be hard to mistake me for someone who would have agreed with anything John Howard, or his government, did - with one exception.

In April 1996 - shortly after Howard beat the Keating government in March - the Port Arthur Massacre shocked the nation (do you remember where you were when it happened? I do, just like I remember where I was and what I was doing when John Lennon was shot.)

John Howard rose to the occasion and he never - before or after - was greater. He banned semi-automatic weapons in Australia and begun a buy-back scheme. As was reported in SMH, to stunning effect: 200 lives of would-be suicides a year were saved since then.

I said it at the time, and I say it again: I'll never forget what you did then, John Howard. For all the dreadful stuff your government was responsible for over the years, this action stands out as one of the most enlightened undertakings by a politician ever. Australia is a better place for it.