Is shotgun-loving senator Bridget McKenzie a double agent inside the newly formed Parliamentary Friends of Gun Control?
The National Party senate whip, who last year defied Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull by crossing the floor to vote in favour of allowing the importation of the rapid-fire Adler shotgun, says she is not.
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Nats break ranks over Adler shotgun ban
Nationals senators have voted against government policy to end the import ban on the lever-action Adler shotgun.
While even the groups' co-convenor, Labor's Andrew Leigh, described her membership of the Friends of Gun Control as "a tad surprising", Senator McKenzie told Fairfax Media she was attracted by the promise of "evidence and facts" in the debate over guns.
"If the group sticks to what it says it wants to achieve there won't be any disagreements about anything because the focus will be on evidence-based firearm regulation in Australia," she said.
During last year's debate, she accused state premiers of making a "political decision based on fear" instead of tackling illegal gun violence when they tightened restrictions on lever action guns such as the seven-shot Adler.
Senator McKenzie, who established the Parliamentary Friends of Shooting in the last term of parliament, is the sole National to join the Gun Control friends so far.
North Sydney Liberal Trent Zimmerman is the only other Coalition recruit other than co-convenor John Alexander, the Bennelong MP who backed the group's formation in honour of John Howard's legacy on gun control.
Coalition members are outnumbered by 13 from the ALP, including shadow ministers Mark Dreyfus, Richard Marles and Kim Carr, and two Greens.
The group was the idea of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, the charity established by Walter Mikac to honour his daughters, aged six and three, who were among the 35 people killed by Martin Bryant at Port Arthur in 1996.
Senator McKenzie said: "I'm not sure how many members will want to also join me in the Parliamentary Friends of Shooting but we will extend them the invitation.
Mr Leigh said he was "delighted to welcome Senator McKenzie inside the growing tent of the Parliamentary Friends of Gun Control".
"The majority of Australians want to keep our gun laws strong, so it is important they see strong representation on this issue from all sides of the Parliament," he said.
"Because Senator McKenzie defied her own Prime Minister and the legacy of the Howard government to vote for the ban on the Adler seven-shot to be lifted, her membership of a group in support of strong gun laws is a tad surprising. But I live in hope that the senator has simply been convinced by the overwhelming evidence in support of strong gun control."
Lesley Podesta, chief executive of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, said: "It is so important that we continue to have bipartisan support for the laws John Howard and Tim Fischer introduced following Port Arthur."
"The overwhelming majority of Australians believe our strong gun controls have kept us all safer, and all the evidence supports that. The pro-gun lobby may be vocal but the evidence shows that strong gun laws help keep potentially deadly weapons out of the wrong hands."