Albanese vows 'swift' response on MP safety as panic buttons are considered after Indi attack

In the first Labor partyroom meeting since the alleged attack on the Indi MP, Dr Helen Haines, last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave a long address and made a promise: a "swift government response" to threats against politicians. He said MPs and their staff had put up with the threat environment for too long, and that this week "must be a turning point" for civil discourse and for how threats are handled.

Albanese gave no specifics. He did say numerous MPs had raised the idea of duress alarms, or panic buttons, that would alert authorities to a safety incident in electorate offices, and that these were one of a "series of options" under consideration. He told colleagues he was determined to do everything for their safety and that of their staff, and conceded the government needed to do more and invest more in security.

Home affairs minister Tony Burke told the same meeting the government was also looking at safety at polling booths around election time. Government sources said a number of changes were being weighed, with a fuller proposal likely to be revealed in the coming days. Concerns raised by MPs include hardening electorate offices, better communication with federal police, and resources such as CCTV and lighting for private homes. All of these are understood to be under consideration. Labor will also expedite an ongoing review into commonwealth workplaces, with recommendations on safety and security due soon.

On the other side of the chamber, opposition leader Angus Taylor told Coalition MPs that conversations with the government on personal safety were continuing and that it was important to get it right. He did not raise any specific proposals.

The alleged attack on Haines has prompted MPs across the political divide to speak forcefully about the need for more protection for their offices, and about threats and violence aimed at their staff. Politicians have also been disclosing the scale of the abuse they receive, online and offline, including death and rape threats.

The prime minister's remarks came hours after Senator Fatima Payman, who quit Labor in 2024 to sit on the crossbench, again criticised her former colleagues. At a Senate estimates hearing on Monday night, she complained that the prime minister had not answered her request for more staff in line with other independent offices. The prime minister has discretion over personal staff, who are typically more senior advisers. All politicians receive electoral office staff, but according to an internal document tabled in the hearing, Payman has no advisers, while 16 other crossbench MPs and senators share 30.

Payman asked minister Don Farrell whether the shortfall reflected a personal grievance on Albanese's part, and said her staff were severely overworked and burning out. She then asked pointedly: "Is the prime minister waiting for something, like what happened to Dr Helen Haines, to occur to my office? To me?" Farrell and other Labor senators strongly rejected the insinuation. Payman declined to withdraw the comment until her staffing request was dealt with.

Payman told Guardian Australia last week that death threats and hate comments had risen massively since she left Labor in 2024. She said her office manager opened mail last year containing human faeces, which required a biohazard team to respond. "We had all these people in hazmat suits come through," she said, adding that no office or worker should have to endure that.

The government's fuller safety proposal is expected within days, and the expedited workplace review will follow. Payman's staffing dispute remains unresolved.