Australian PM rules out minor party deal to protect gun laws

FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2019, file photo Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison addresses media at Parliament House in Canberra. Morrison, on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, accused an influential minor political party of trying to "sell Australia's gun laws to the highest bidders" by asking the U.S. gun lobby for donations. (AP Photos/Rod McGuirk, File)

In this June 21, 2018, file photo One Nation party senator Pauline Hanson addresses the media at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, accused the One Nation party of trying to "sell Australia's gun laws to the highest bidders" by asking the U.S. gun lobby for donations. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk, File)

CANBERRA, Australia – Australia's prime minister has ruled out any vote-sharing deal with an influential minor party in a bid to protect the nation's strict gun controls.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison made his decision on Thursday after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson apparently questioned the official account of a 1996 massacre in which a gunman acting alone killed 35 people in Tasmania.

Less than two weeks after the Port Arthur massacre, Australia banned semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. New Zealand similarly banned a range of semi-automatic firearms after a lone gunman killed 50 worshippers in two Christchurch mosques on March 15.

Morrison said his conservative Liberal Party would disadvantage One Nation candidates under Australia's preferential voting system at general elections due in May by refusing to share votes. Hanson did not immediately comment.