Threats against Australian MPs rise amid political conflict, Barrett says

Women face more individualized sexual violence threats, Barrett says

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the threat environment for politicians had changed and that political conflict sometimes correlated immediately with threats and abuse. Barrett spoke on ABC’s Insiders program as safety concerns for elected representatives at all levels remained in focus after the alleged deliberate attack on independent MP Helen Haines outside her Wangaratta electoral office. Haines remains in serious but stable condition at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital after a double leg amputation.

Barrett said male and female MPs were targeted equally with threats and abuse, but women were more often singled out individually, often through threats of sexual violence. “My hope is that this really causes people to pause and have a think about what’s happening in this country and the impact of that,” she said.

Barrett warned that the Haines incident might not be the only such case, asking, “And if this is not the incident, then what is?”

Barrett said one of her first tasks each morning is to read an AFP report summarizing all threats reported over the previous 24 hours. “Now, some days that report is pages and pages long,” she said. The AFP, which is responsible for protecting federal politicians and office-holders, has held a number of emergency safety briefings with parliamentarians since Monday.

The Guardian reported that Barrett had drawn a direct link between politicians’ rhetoric and threats and abuse directed at leaders. The outlet also reported that the move from sending physical hate mail to online threats had played a significant role in the increasing volume of worrying material and had highlighted the influence of inflammatory political imagery and language. Barrett separately said: “We do see where there is particular political conflict or discourse occurring … it does have a direct correlation to what we see in terms of threats and abuse, and sometimes it’s very immediate.”

One Nation cartoons that previously depicted political figures, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, being hit by cars or buses resurfaced in the days after the alleged attack on Haines. Barrett said there was “a reaction amongst the community” to material such as the cartoons.

Barrett said the AFP was not interested in policing free speech or intervening in political discourse. “But I would challenge any Australian to read some of these threats and some of the abuse that is reported to us from federal parliamentarians and for anyone to argue that that is free speech or political discourse,” she added.

Federal MPs from across the political spectrum have acknowledged the difficulty of balancing personal security with access to voters. Liberal frontbencher Ted O’Brien told News24 on Sunday: “As a local MP, I don’t want to stop going to community events.” He added: “That open access is a cornerstone of democracy. We’re particularly good at it in Australia. We can’t take away grassroots politics.”

Labor minister Catherine King said she had been contending with deteriorating safety for some time. “It is when, not if, that something will happen to one of us and we’ve been saying that certainly for the last five years or so,” she said. King said she had used a mobile caravan for almost 25 years but no longer did because it had no second exit point. “If someone did kick off and I’m trapped in the van, it’s very hard to deal with that,” she said.