Victorian minister Paul Edbrooke fears for family's safety after bullet inscribed 'RAT' left on his car

Paul Edbrooke was away from his car for about an hour on Saturday. The Victorian emergency services minister had gone to a community event in his Frankston electorate, and when he came back, he found a bullet lying on the bonnet. Scratched into it was the word "RAT", along with his old firefighter ID number.

The Herald Sun first reported the discovery on Monday. Edbrooke later spoke to reporters and called the moment "chilling". He said he was shocked to realise it was a bullet at all, and more so to see what had been inscribed on it. In his reading, the placement carries its own message: someone had to know which car was his, which means, he believes, that someone has been following him.

The car is not only his. His children, now young adults, drive it too, and he said the incident has been traumatising for them. It could just as easily have been one of them who found the bullet, he said, and that thought terrifies him. He called the episode totally unacceptable but said he would not be intimidated and refused to be bullied.

The five-digit number etched on one side dates from his time as a firefighter. Edbrooke said it is a personal detail only firefighters would know, not something the wider community is likely to be aware of. He also said the only people sending him aggressive threats and abuse on social media are members of the United Firefighters Union.

That union is in a long-running dispute with the government. It is taking action in the Fair Work Commission against Fire Rescue Victoria, the agency Edbrooke oversees, over the firefighters' enterprise bargaining agreement, which the parties have failed to settle since 2021. The UFU is also campaigning against the state Labor government ahead of next month's election. It has vowed to run an expensive advertising campaign, put firefighters on polling booths, and hand out authorised material urging voters to put Labor last. It plans to hold a members' meeting on whether to disaffiliate from Victorian Labor altogether.

UFU leader Peter Marshall condemned the threat "without qualification" and said whoever left the bullet does not speak or act for firefighters or the union. Threatening anyone, he said, including a minister the union strongly disagrees with, is the opposite of what the union stands for. He also addressed a video posted to the UFU's social media account on Friday, in which he warned Edbrooke and Premier Ben Carroll that they were "in the gun". Marshall said he meant at the ballot box, and that anyone watching would understand that.

Edbrooke urged other parties to reconsider their relationships with the union. Liberal, One Nation and Greens members have met with it in recent months, with the Greens appearing closest. Their Pascoe Vale candidate, Angelica Panopoulos, is due to co-host an event with the UFU on Saturday, billed on social media as a "free day of family fun with the Greens and United Firefighters Union". In a joint statement, Greens MPs called the incident distressing, said there is absolutely no place for threats and intimidation, and sent support to Edbrooke and his family.

Opposition leader Jess Wilson said her thoughts were with the minister and his family. Speaking to ABC Radio Melbourne, she pointed to last week's alleged attack on federal MP Helen Haines and said it is incumbent on everyone to lower the temperature. Nothing in the reporting suggests the two incidents are linked. Carroll said he was disgusted and described Edbrooke as tough, someone who will work doubly hard for firefighters, police and his Frankston constituents.

Victoria Police confirmed that detectives from its security investigation unit are investigating a threat against a member of Victorian parliament, alleged to have happened in the greater Frankston area. It was reported to police on Sunday. Who left the bullet remains unestablished, and with the election weeks away, the inquiry will be watched closely.