"He was after the ferry, you know"
Ian Kingston The Port Arthur Parking and Security Officer,
immediately after the Port Arthur massacre.

There are many clues that signify that the actual target for the day at the Port Arthur Historic Site was the ferry, The Bundeena. The first clue comes from the girls in the broken down car outside 'Seascape', when after purchasing $50 of marijuana the gunman told the girls, "I'm going to the Isle of the dead to get rid of some wasps."

On page 71 of the Court Document Mr Bugg states, "The security manager at the site, Mr. Ian Kingston, was directing people in the carpark when he saw Bryant, who indicated that he wanted to park his vehicle near the waters edge. Mr Kingston directed him away from that area because it is normally reserved for campervans and the carpark area was quite busy on that day. Mr Bryant became argumentative but drove off in his car and parked it near the information centre. Mr Kingston attended to other matters and then later noticed that Bryant had moved his car back to the water's edge."

In fact the full implication of the gunman's parking was recognised by Ian Kingston immediately after the massacre at the Broad Arrow Café when he approached another colleague and stated, "He was after the ferry you know. He wanted to park down by the water, and from there he would have had a field day with the visitors lined up to embark and with those disembarking. He could have shot over 200 people." Ian Kingston was the local head of the SES, the State Emergency Service, a volunteer service used in various aspects of accidents and emergencies, and was astute enough to realise the full implications of what may have occurred.

Assistant Commissioner Luppo Prins, the police officer in charge of the operations to capture the gunman, until ASIO took control, has been quoted by the Mercury newspaper on the 31st December 1996 as saying, "The potential was even worse. At one stage we thought he was trying to get on a boat which a lot of people were on, to go to the Isle of the Dead. Had he got on the vessel he could have shot everybody on board so the potential was there for it to be a lot worse than it was."

That this massacre didn't eventuate means that this situation can only be put forward as a thesis, but there are some compelling pieces of evidence to demonstrate the enormity of the plan that had been devised for the removal of firearms in Australia. One of the most uncomprehended statistics in Tasmania, with all its firearms, and supposed lax firearm laws was that there were only 7 murders in Tasmania in 1995, which was about the norm, and that according to the Australian Institute of Criminology firearms account for only 25% of murders.

When the overall events have been studied, it becomes apparent of the vast amount of thought and planning that had gone into the preparations for the massacre, and this in itself is proof that Martin Bryant could never have been part of this portion of the massacre.

The only two members of the Tasmania Police had been removed from the area by a hoax call regarding a quantity of heroin was supposedly stashed at Saltwater River, which turned out to be jars of soap powder. This must raise questions, being; who set up the soap powder at Saltwater River, as it could not have been Martin Bryant. Who made the telephone call to police in relation to the supposed heroin bust, at what time, and to what police station? If we consider that the call to police was made roughly one hour prior to the massacre, then that would be at the time Martin Bryant was at Seascape, and just prior to the gunman arriving at Port Arthur tollbooth.

The next question would be, was the call made to police headquarters at Hobart? If it was then the call would very likely have been recorded. However, if the call was made to one of the local police stations, being either Nubeena or Dunalley, then the call would more than likely not have been recorded, but there would have been the possibility that the station would have been unmanned. This means that it is more likely for this particular call to be made to Police Headquarters at Hobart, and thus should have been recorded. Was the voice on this recording that of Martin Bryant?

The next question would be, if the ferry, the Bundeena was to be the actual target, then why was the target moved to the Broad Arrow Café? If we consider the overall picture, such as the seminars by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, at Hobart, which finished at 1.00 p.m. and the police decoyed away for that particular time of 1.30 p.m., then it can be understood the necessity for the massacre to start at approximately 1.30 p.m.

However, the ferry The Bundeena, which had embarked on the tour to the Isle of the Dead at 1.30 p.m. all summer long had changed from the summer peak season schedule, to the off-peak schedule at the end of Easter, just two weeks prior to the massacre. As it was, on the day with the fine weather and the extra visitors to the Historic Site, an extra run was scheduled for the ferry at 2.30 p.m. However the 2.00 p.m. tour was too late for the massacre, and so the agenda for the massacre was changed.

The next items to consider are the weapons, which were contained within the Volvo. These include the Daewoo shotgun, and the Colt AR15, which were able to be carried in the Prince sports bag, and the Belgian FN, which would not fit in the sports bag. The weapons also include the two jerry cans of petrol and the three packets of 'little lucifer' fire starters.

Now what must be considered is that had the gunman boarded the ferry, then he would have removed his escape path, and so that scenario should not be considered. However, the gunman could have approached the ferry carrying his 'Prince' sports bag, containing both the Daewoo shotgun and the Colt AR15.

So consider this scenario. There are approximately 120 persons on board the ferry, waiting to disembark as it approaches the jetty. There would be approximately another 120 persons waiting at the jetty to board the ferry. The gunman would have stood at the rear of the crowd and waited until the ferry berthed. He then would have used the shotgun to take out any of the crew near the ropes that tied the ferry to the jetty, and to clear the crowds at the jetty. People in a state of panic would have jumped into the cold water to escape the gunman and would have suffered hypothermia, or drowned or both. The gunman would have then retreated to the back of the Volvo and used the FN to remove any more resistance from the victims. He would have then possibly tossed the smaller jerry can containing the 5 litres of petrol onto the jetty, and poured the 20 litres of petrol into the water surrounding the ferry and the jetty. Then using the fire starters, he would have ignited the petrol. We now have over 240 victims in a disaster extremely similar to the airport disaster that had been rehearsed the weekend prior. It is worthwhile to stop and just contemplate exactly what has just been put to you, and the absolute horror that was to be perpetrated on innocent tourists at Port Arthur.

The Royal Hobart Hospital was prepared for this scenario, with 64 beds including 8 critical care beds, 8 resuscitation teams, 5 operating theatres, 42 doctors including 25 specialists from around Australia, including burns specialists, 18 medical students, a staff of 70 and a fully prepared and rehearsed disaster plan called 'Code Brown' and then there were three rescue helicopters, instead of the normal one, a hearse capable of carrying 22 bodies and the list goes on.

If we consider the comment made by the gunman, "There's a lot of wasps, not a lot of Japs", we have another aspect. It was quite normal for busloads of Japanese tourists to arrive at Port Arthur, and part of their tour would be the ferry trip to the Isle of the Dead, or the harbour cruise. Consider the effect of a busload of Japanese tourists among the dead and wounded. The Japanese Government would have reacted very strongly in relation to Australia's firearm laws, especially the supposed laxity in Tasmania, as firearms are forbidden in Japan. The pressure exerted by the Japanese Government on the Howard Government in Australia would have been enormous.

We now have the full aspect of what had been planned down to the smallest detail for that Sunday at Port Arthur. There were two priorities, Japanese tourists and children. That is why the gunman stopped and deliberately targeted Mrs Mikac and her two daughters.

When we look at the over-all scheme of events of that Sunday, it is more than obvious that simple Martin Bryant would have had a minimal involvement, if any at all. However, that can not be said for certain bureaucracies within the Australian government, and when it is considered that the Australian Labor Party was pushing for the States to cede their constitutional powers in relation to firearms to the Federal Government, then that must raise some concern.

However, there were also players within the Liberal Party who were pushing similar policy, and if it is remembered that the Liberal member from Western Australia, Daryl Williams, the Federal Attorney General, whose comments when told of the event at Port Arthur was to push for stronger firearm laws, something outside his portfolio, then that must also raise concern, especially when we also find out that the very same member was responsible for a grant of $80,000 to the gun control movement in Western Australia. A politician funding a lobby group that was lobbying his administration.

There is one final fact worthy of consideration. Inside the Broad Arrow Café, when the massacre commenced, a Loans Officer from the Commonwealth Bank at Keysborough, Victoria, by the name of Anthony Nightingale, jumped up and called out, "No, no not here!" This person, who very quickly realised just exactly what was happening, made a very strange move. Instead of immediately seeking cover, as did all of the other patrons, when they realised what was happening, Anthony Nightingale, stood up and called out, immediately drawing the gunman's attention to himself. He was shot and died because of his unexplained actions. What did Anthony Nightingale mean by, "No, no, not here!"?

Notice: TGS HiddenMysteries and/or the donor of this material may or may not agree with all the data or conclusions of this data. It is presented here 'as is' for your benefit and research. Material for these pages are sent from around the world. If by chance there is a copyrighted article posted which the author does not want read, email the webmaster and it will be removed. If proper credit for authorship is not noted please email the webmaster for corrections to be posted.