AFP Commissioner Says Heated Political Rhetoric Is Fuelling Threats Against MPs

Every morning, before most of the day's business begins, Australia's federal police commissioner reads a report. It summarises every threat reported to the Australian Federal Police over the previous 24 hours. Krissy Barrett told the ABC's Insiders program that on some days the report runs to pages and pages.

Barrett was speaking in the shadow of an alleged attack on independent MP Helen Haines, who was allegedly deliberately attacked outside her electoral office in Wangaratta. Haines remains in a serious but stable condition at the Alfred hospital in Melbourne, following a double leg amputation. The case has put the safety of elected representatives at every level of government back in front of the public.

The commissioner said there is no doubt the threat environment for politicians has changed. She drew a direct line between the heat of political debate and the abuse directed at leaders. Where there is a particular political conflict, she said, it correlates directly with the threats and abuse the AFP sees, and the effect is sometimes very immediate.

Barrett was careful about where she drew the boundary. She said she is not interested in policing free speech or intervening in political discourse. But she challenged any Australian to read some of the threats and abuse reported to the AFP by federal parliamentarians and then argue that it amounts to free speech or political discourse.

Part of the growth in worrying material, she said, comes from a shift away from physical hate mail and towards online threats. That shift has also highlighted the role of inflammatory political imagery and language. In the days since the alleged attack on Haines, older One Nation cartoons have resurfaced, depicting political figures, including prime minister Anthony Albanese, being hit by cars or buses. Barrett said there is a reaction in the community to material of that kind.

The AFP is responsible for protecting federal politicians and office-holders, and it has held a number of emergency safety briefings with parliamentarians since Monday. Barrett said male and female MPs are targeted equally with threats and abuse, but women are more often singled out individually, and those threats often involve sexual violence.

She said she hopes the moment gives people pause to consider what is happening in the country and its impact. "And if this is not the incident, then what is?" she asked.

MPs from across the political spectrum have acknowledged how hard it is to balance personal security against access to voters. Liberal frontbencher Ted O'Brien told News24 on Sunday that he does not want to stop going to community events as a local MP. He called open access a cornerstone of democracy, one Australia is particularly good at, and said grassroots politics cannot be taken away.

Labor minister Catherine King said she has been dealing with deteriorating safety for some time. "It is when, not if, that something will happen to one of us," she said, adding that colleagues have been saying so for roughly five years. For almost 25 years she used a mobile caravan for community engagement, but she no longer does, because it has no second exit. If someone became aggressive while she was trapped inside, she said, it would be very hard to deal with.

The emergency briefings are continuing, and MPs are left weighing how much of their open contact with voters they can keep.