Man charged over threats at Australian lawmaker’s office

Australian police said Thursday they had charged a man over threatening behaviour at a lawmaker’s office, days after an attack on a parliamentarian that has put a spotlight on security of elected officials.

The 56-year-old was arrested on Wednesday after he allegedly made threats and brandished a pair of nunchucks, Western Australian state police said.

The incident took place at the electoral office of state lawmaker Hannah Beazley, a member of Australia’s ruling Labor Party, local media said.

The man has been charged with making threats as well as possession of cannabis and will face court on Thursday, police said.

It comes days after lawmaker Helen Haines was struck by a car outside her office in the rural town of Wangaratta, northeast of Melbourne.

Surgeons had amputated both her legs, her husband Phil Haines told journalists on Wednesday.

Haines’ alleged attacker faced court on Wednesday.

The incident has prompted soul-searching in a country where political violence is rare but where police have documented a steady rise in threats and abuse towards elected officials in recent years.

The attacker’s motive remains unknown and authorities have said they will not speculate while the investigation is ongoing.

But the attack has prompted calls for a dialling down of the temperature of political debate.

Governor-General Sam Mostyn – King Charles III’s official representative in Australia – said the nation was crying out for “decency”.

“Australians are yearning for kindness and care, and they’re asking us why we’ve lost the great skill of disagreeing well,” Mostyn said on Wednesday.

Threats against Australian lawmakers and electorate offices doubled between 2021 and 2025, with 1,067 incidents reported to police last year.

Federal lawmakers and their staff were briefed on security on Wednesday by Australia’s spy agency and the federal police.

Primeminister Anthony Albanese said Thursday there had been a “normalisation of behaviour that can be very aggressive” in recent years.

“It was incredibly unusual for there to be people charged with threatening MPs ten years ago,” he told ABC Sydney radio.

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