Yinping Zhang, the mother of Hao Kai, who was shot and killed in a siege in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton on 5th June, has spoken out in support of the government’s decision to confiscate illegal weapons.
"If the killer didn't have a gun, the tragedy would not have happened,” Ms Zhang tells SBS Mandarin.
“It’s common sense,” she says. “Everybody knows."
Ms Zhang’s son Hao Kai, known to friends as Nick, Mr Kai, a 36-year-old Chinese-born Australian, was working at Buckingham Serviced Apartments on the night of June 5 when he was shot dead by Yacqub Khayre.
He had no connection with Khayre and police said he was simply in the "wrong place at the wrong time.”
Ms Zhang’s comments follow the announcement today that Australia is launching a three-month gun amnesty in a bid to crack down on illegal weapons being used in terrorism and other crimes.
The emotional mother says she doesn’t want the tragedy to fall on any other Australian family, “no matter they are born here or anywhere else in the world.”
“The loss is simply too heavy to bear,” she says.
The three-month amnesty will allow people to hand in unregistered guns from July 1.
"This is an opportunity for people to present the guns to authorities, no questions asked and with no penalty," Justice Minister Michael Keenan said.
"If the killer didn't have a gun, the tragedy would not have happened. It's common sense. Everybody knows."
Two men have been charged with illegally supplying the gun used in the terror siege at Brighton that lead to the death of Hao Kai.
Mr Keenan says illegal guns were used in the Lindt Cafe siege and the death of police accountant Curtis Cheng in Sydney, as well as being used in organised crime.
"We have seen, through terror attacks in Australia, that illegal guns have been used," Mr Keenan said.
"Now is the time to run another amnesty, with the aim of reducing this pool of illegal guns."
While the gun amnesty may help save lives in future, that is little consolation for Ms Zhang who tells SBS Mandarin in tears that she is “desperate, hopeless and has lost direction of life.”
