Independent MP Helen Haines was struck by a car and severely injured outside her office in the regional Victorian town of Wangaratta on Monday, an attack the Prime Minister said appeared deliberate.
Police arrested a 43-year-old man at the scene and seized a knife, though they have not confirmed the incident was intentional. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, however, told the national broadcaster: "This wasn't an accident. There was a deliberate act, it would appear." He had been briefed by federal police, whose counter-terror squad is assisting state investigators.
Albanese became emotional as he spoke about the growing fear among MPs that they would become targets. Earlier this year, he was evacuated from his official residence over a bomb threat, and as of August about 20 cases involving accusations of violent threats against him were passing through courts around the country.
According to government statistics, there were 1,067 reports of "harassing and threatening behaviour" against high office holders in the year to June, an increase on the previous year. In recent years, politicians have been mailed bullets. Female MPs and in some cases their children have been threatened with sexual violence. A Jewish MP's office was firebombed, a Sydney mayor's car was torched, and countless other politicians have had their workplaces vandalised. Just last week, Small Business Minister Anne Aly said she received a wave of death threats after an opposition politician said she should be "shamed and stoned in the square" over a tax policy.
Deakin University Professor Josh Roose, an expert on violent extremism, told the BBC that socioeconomic strain, growing mental health problems, "grifters" who benefit from whipping up discontent, and a "carcinogenic" online environment are driving the trend, which has escalated dramatically since the pandemic. "We've seen a willingness to cross previously sacred terrain - you know, not targeting individuals, not targeting their families - but we now see that this is part and parcel of Australian political life," he said, adding that the political class must also take responsibility.
Mike Burgess, head of Australia's spy agency, has warned for years that political violence is looming. In his annual threat assessment for 2026, he said: "Just as climate change increases the likelihood of extreme weather but does not forecast specific storms, politically motivated violence, including acts of terrorism, is more likely even though we cannot predict a specific attack." Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett recently told the ABC that "grievance" is radicalising people: "They're feeling distanced, they're feeling alone, they're looking for something to attach to, to give them meaning and purpose."
There have been frustrated rumblings in Canberra from some MPs who say security arrangements have not changed with the climate. Albanese stressed the importance of maintaining open access to politicians. "Here in Australia, it is a good thing that politicians are able to go about their community and engage with people," he said. "I don't want to see a political system in which you can't have conversations with people at the supermarket, in the street, at street meetings, public forums - that's an important part of our democracy."