During the 2016 federal election campaign , Keenan was accused of starting a smear campaign against the Muslim Labor candidate Anne Aly , in reference to her previous counter-terrorism work . Keenan appeared with Liberal MP Luke Simpkins , the incumbent in Cowan whose seat was challenged by Aly , to make accusations against her . However , prior to Aly becoming a Labor candidate , Simpkins had written to her in admiration of her counter-terrorism work . As justice minister , Keenan oversaw the first national firearms amnesty since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre . It ran from July to September 2017 , allowing people to hand in unregistered or unwanted firearms . The amnesty had been approved in March 2017 by the Firearms and Weapons Policy Working Group ( FWPWG ) to reduce the number of unregistered firearms in Australia that were being used in Islamic terrorist attacks
1996 Port Arthur massacre
Port Arthur massacre (Australia)
Michael Keenan