CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — 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.