The premiere of I Was Actually There next week on ABC hears from eye witnesses at the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996.
In a crisp autumn morning at Port Arthur’s historic convict settlement, a gunman walked into the Broad Arrow Cafe wielding an assault rifle and opened fire, killing 20 people in the first 90 seconds and 35 by the end of the ordeal.
But these details are not what we learn from this show. Instead, we go deep inside the experience and hear from the tourists who ran for their lives, the local GP first on the scene, the journalist that spoke to the gunman on the phone, the sniper that had him in his sights, to understand what it was like to live it.
Brigid Cook (pictured) was working as a chef at Broad Arrow that day and was shot by the gunman. “It felt like someone had driven a star picket into my leg. It was really immediate and really wrong,” she says. Somehow, she managed to escape and warn others of what was happening, saving countless lives in the process. “I was so full of adrenaline I could still run,” she says.
Victorian police sniper Craig Harwood was watching the situation unfold on TV. He was flown to the scene and sworn into the Tasmanian force, tasked with taking out the perpetrator. He spent hours lying alone in the darkness, waiting for an opportunity to bring the siege to an end.
But the moment never came. “My own mum asked me why I didn’t pull the trigger on him. Once you arbitrarily decide to throw the rule book out, you’re as bad as them,” he reflects. 28 years on, we learn about the ongoing impact of the day – on first responders as well as survivors.
For Pam Fenerty, a local GP who was among the first on the scene to treat victims, dealing with patients in the aftermath became the hardest to cope with. “There’s a thing called compassion fatigue from listening to the same story over and over again, which is what happened. You can only take so much.”
Interviewees:
Peter Crosswell – a tourist who was inside the Broad Arrow Cafe at the time of the attack. He was shot by the gunman
Amy Roganovic – a 10-year-old girl who was visiting Port Arthur with her family
Mick Beekman – a tourist who was sitting on the balcony of the cafe when he encountered the gunman
Brigid Cook – a chef at the Broad Arrow cafe. She was shot by the gunman, but managed to flee and warn others to escape
Robyn Dell – a volunteer ambulance officer who was one of the first on the scene at Port Arthur
Pam Fenerty – a GP at nearby town Nubeena. One of the first to arrive at the scene and knew many locals involved
Alison Smith – ABC Hobart journalist who had a phone conversation with the gunman
Ricardo Piacenza – helicopter pilot who transported the injured to hospital
Craig Harwood – a Victoria Police sniper who was sworn in the Tasmanian force and tasked with taking out the gunman
Andrew Fisher – ABC political journalist called in to report at the scene overnight until the siege ended.
8pm Tuesday on ABC.
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