‘Pages and pages’: Police boss reveals rising scale of threats against MPs

The alarming scale of threats made against MPs in Australia has been spotlighted following the alleged attack on member for Indi Helen Haines.

Police have seen a concerning rise in violence and threats targeting politicians, Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.

Barrett told ABC’s Insiders she reads reports of threats almost daily.

“It summarises all of the threats that have been reported to the AFP over the last 24 hours. Now, some days that report is pages and pages long,” Barrett said.

“It’s important for me to say we are not here to police free speech.

“We are not here to intervene in political discourse, but I would challenge any Australian to read some of these threats and some of the abuse that is reported to us from federal parliamentarians and for anyone to argue that that is free speech or political discourse.”

In the majority of cases, reports of threats escalate after a policy announcement is made.

Barrett said there is a “50-50” on the gender of parliamentarians who are targeted.

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Women in politics face more serious threats of violence, including those of a sexual nature.

“The abuse that is targeted at female parliamentarians is far more focused on the individual,” Barrett added.

“It is very often sexual violence threats... absolutely abhorrent threats targeted at our female parliament.”

Nationals MP David Littleproud has revealed he has faced threats of violence, including his own children being targeted while he wasn’t in the country.

Amid calls for increasing protection for politicians and elected officials, Littleproud revealed he had also faced personal threats during his time in politics.

“I was overseas when I was agricultural minister, and someone made threats against my children,” he told Weekend Today on Sunday.

“In fact, they knew where my children went to school.”

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Littleproud, who is the MP for Maranoa in southern Queensland, said he remembered feeling helpless because he was away from home, and said it revealed the “vulnerability when you’re trying to serve.”

The threats have continued, he said.

“Just last week, someone was charged in my own electorate for trying to make a threat of blowing my own electorate office up in Warwick,” he said.

Littleproud’s experience has been felt by MPs across all sides of politics.

Former Nationals leader Littleproud said social media companies have a responsibility to quell threats against public figures made online

“We’ve seen a dehumanisation of politics and politicians, particularly online,” he said.

“I think there is a lot of work that our AI companies and these data companies that put in, they can actually fix this, they know the algorithm, they can fix this, they have the technology.”

“I think that Meta and co need to lift their game if they want a social licence, there’s consequences.

“Helen Haines is that [consequence], her family and her life has been shattered by the [alleged] actions of this individual, so why wouldn’t big tech act?”

It is not just federal members of politics who have reported more threats made against them in recent times; Mayor of Logan City, Jon Raven, said he had spoken to colleagues who have been on the receiving end of threats made by members of the public.

“Just last week I was at a local government conference for all of Queensland, and we heard from mayors and councillors who were talking about… rape threats, threats of violence,” he told Today.

He said he had been lucky not to experience this, he said that the thought of having to deal with abuse was turning people away from serving in local government roles.

“I know some elected officials, some councillors not wanting to run again because the fear and the risk is just too great,” he said.

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“That’s a shame for our democracy and our country.”

9News Political Editor Charles Croucher revealed politicians returning to Canberra on Monday will have increased security.

“Politicians are being briefed about what’s going on, and the message is, effectively, there is no increase or no greater threat,” he said.

“But MPs and their staff, their families will be aware this has been happening for a long time, these kinds of threats.”