‘People have lost all sense of shame’: three threats against federal politicians reported to police every day | Australian police and policing

Around three violent or threatening threats against federal politicians are reported to police every day, with rates nearly doubling in two years, according to Australian federal police data.

The growing danger for elected officials and their staff reached new levels this week when Anthony Albanese was evacuated from The Lodge in Canberra due to a bomb threat.

AFP confirmed that reports of violent threats, including death threats against federal politicians, had increased, with reports almost doubling to 951 in 2024-25 from 555 in 2021-22.

The disturbing statistics add up to at least 21 accusations against individuals since October.

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The Prime Minister was evacuated from his official residence in Canberra for three hours on Tuesday night after police responded to a bomb threat against him.

The threat was believed to have been made in relation to upcoming performances by the Chinese performance group Shen Yun, which is affiliated with the political spiritual movement Falun Dafa, a group banned in China and publicly opposed to the Chinese Communist Party.

But many of the recent accusations of violent threats against politicians point to aggrieved lone actors on social media.

Since taking the reins, the AFP’s new commissioner, Krissy Barrett, has set up National Security Investigations teams tasked with investigating those who “cause high levels of harm to Australia’s social cohesion”.

In December, Barrett described the police squad as “a flying squad of hate disruptors focused on high-harm, high-impact politically motivated violence, civil violence, and hate crimes that do not meet the threshold for a terrorism investigation but cause fear and division.”

Independent Wentworth MP Allegra Harcama told police in November that he had “rhetorically threatened” to rape her. The threat was made on a neo-Nazi channel on Telegram after Sender condemned a neo-Nazi rally outside the New South Wales parliament. A well-known neo-Nazi has since been accused.

In December, a 31-year-old Sydney man was accused of threatening to kill communications minister Anika Wells and her family in two emails.

Greg William Tait, 43, was accused of threatening to kill a federal MP believed to be the prime minister shortly after the Bondi shooting in January, while a 55-year-old Western Sydney man was also accused of threatening to kill federal treasurer Jim Chalmers last week.

‘We must stay alert’

Western Australian senator Fatima Payman told Guardian Australia her office has been “bombarded with hate and death threats almost every day” since leaving Labor.

“It’s sad that people seem to have lost all sense of shame,” the independent senator said.

In November 2025, 51-year-old Victorian Sean David Sharman Sentenced to 18-month community corrections order for using a transport service to make threats to kill.

The threat was aimed at Payman. ABC reported. Sharman called the senator a “domestic terrorist” and said he wrote Payman’s name on a bullet aimed at him.

One Senate estimates trial will be held in FebruaryPayman asked his commissioner how political staff can determine whether a threat is serious. The senator said his team reported other death threats but was told by federal police to “keep a file and decide when the behavior reaches the threshold.”

Payman said he tries not to dwell on violent comments posted on social media, but it’s “absolutely exhausting” for him and his team to constantly monitor.

“These comments mostly come from sad, lonely, pathetic keyboard warriors or farm bots,” he said.

“But we must remain vigilant, especially after what happened here in WA on Invasion Day.

“Why do we have to wait for a major disaster to happen before we take anything seriously?”

Fear grows among politicians

A. examination of parliamentary sources The report, published in August, showed that 72% of MPs and staff surveyed believed there had been a steady increase in the number of violent and threatening behaviour.

85 percent of survey respondents said they had encountered violent and threatening voters, and 46 percent said they experienced this behavior more than once a month.

The report recommended regular security assessments of constituency offices and greater guidance to staff on how to report incidents.

Barrett said the safety of politicians, their families and staff remains the “number one priority.”

“We also have a permanent threat assessment team that looks at the behaviors you describe, whether someone is escalating the situation and whether we need to intervene,” he said.

“This may not always be a police intervention. It may be a mental health intervention or a joint intervention by the authorities.

“Please encourage your office to continue recording and reporting information to us so we can get the full picture.”