> It significantly de-armed

In the sense that there are more private registered guns than ever before in Australia, sure.

> Most importantly, Australia removed "self-defence" as a reason to own firearms.

More importantly, it unified gun laws - before the Port Arthur shooting, Queensland, Tasmania, the Northern Territory, probably the Australian Capital Territory were all unregulated.

Unregulated states with no border control effectively made the entire Federation of States unregulated.

Regulated states, at least the ones that I lived in prior to Port Arthur, didn't have "self defence" as a reason for owning gun - it was always about hunting, feral control, specific security (regularly carrying money) etc.

The last I checked, the emphasis was more on where you intended to use / carry a gun; shooting club (common), carry for security in street (rare), rural (property owner or have letter of authority to shoot from a property owner).

> There was a near-total ban on "military style" guns.

Sure .. they serve no real purpose, the only activity that requires high fire rates and larger magazines is pig shooting, maybe camel control, and rat shooting.

Rats can be shot with professional BB guns .. a better choice when shooting in sheds, silos, etc - no spark or risk of punching holes in tin walls.

If you're pig shooting in bulk, that's a contract shooting licence.