The Massacre that Changed Australia

On Sunday, 28th April, 1996, The historic penal colony and international tourist destination of Port Arthur was the scene of the world’s worst massacre by a lone gunman.

Using high powered, semi-automatic rifles, the convicted perpetrator, 29 year old Martin Bryant, killed 35 men, women and children and injured 23 others. The resultant backlash and outrage led to the biggest shake up in firearm ownership in Australian history, when Prime Minister John Howard brought in sweeping bans on semi-automatic and military style weapons.

Despite Byant’s guilty plea, much controversy and mystery surrounds the tragedy, with many questioning the official narrative, alleging that Bryant was not responsible for the shootings and was unjustly imprisoned. 

Paul Moder is a writer of screenplays and novels, a multi award winning film producer, live performer, and the creator of ‘The Wasp Files’ – an ongoing series of educational discussions on the tragedy of The Port Arthur Massacre.

In pursuit of his intention to film a full feature based on the crime, back in 2016, Paul researched the tragedy exhaustively for nine years, an investigation that continues to this day, and is currently documented on The Wasp Files, a filmed podcast channel on YouTube.

Paul is scientifically minded and over the many years of his research, he has dug deeper than most, speaking to the police who were directly involved, the survivors (some of whom have become good friends) the first responders, the families who lost loved ones that day, people who grew up with Martin, inmates who knew Martin in Risdon Prison, ex prison guards and other associated persons. 

Coincidences or Pre-Knowledge of The Port Arthur Massacre?

Paul feels very strongly that there is nothing wrong with asking questions, particularly in the absence of publicly available information, and that the only way traumatic events such as Port Arthur can be laid to rest, is with open examination and resolution of the unanswered questions in the cold, hard light of day. 

Paul is not a conspiracy theorist, an activist or social media influencer. His charter is simply to shine a light on this dark chapter in our nation’s history and educate the public on what they don’t know about Port Arthur, and what our governments and the mainstream media, won’t tell them. 

In addition to The WASP Files, Paul is deeply spiritual and espouses a principle of a new way of living, that empowers the individual in us all, on all fronts, spurning the current engineered, divisive cultural labelling and ‘isms’, that serve only to keep us fighting each other, preventing us from evolving and attaining real freedom and control over our own lives, and of those we hold dear.   

Paul is a peaceful warrior and guardian of the truth.  

‘When the world is at peace, a gentleman keeps his sword by his side’ – Sun Tzu – The Art of War

He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his Great Dane, Max.

We are absolutely thrilled to hear from Paul at the Cosmic Consciousness Conference this December, not only about his research into the Port Arthur story, but his solution for a new way of living that brings empowerment and freedom over our own lives.

The 9th Cosmic Consciousness Conference is being held at Tamborine Mountain Glades, an hour from Brisbane/Gold Coast airports. To find out more visit www.cosmicconsciousness.com.au 20-22 December 2025