Why hundreds of AFP officers protected politicians this election
More than 600 Australian Federal Police officers worked around the clock to protect politicians during the election campaign, here’s why.
Victoria
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More than 50 serious threats to the safety of politicians and candidates were made during the federal election campaign.
Menacing behaviour in-person and online are among a range of alarming alleged offences targeting parliamentarians that were reported the Australian Federal Police.
Security was beefed up during the five week campaign after a spate of protesters gatecrashing events held by both Anthony Albanese, then Opposition leader Peter Dutton, and senior members of their teams.
The Herald Sun can also reveal the AFP had more than 600 members working around the clock to protect all political candidates and thwart threats during interactions with the public as part of Operation AUSTRALIS25.
At least 51 reports of crime were assessed by the Electoral Investigations Coordination Cell, resulting in 10 AFP investigations.
Fifteen criminal complaints were either initiated by external agencies or referred for investigation, with six investigations ongoing.
Two reports are being evaluated and a further four people living in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia were charged with state-based election related offences.
AFP Commander Protection Operations Mark McIntyre said: “Any threat or risk reported to the AFP throughout the election period was mitigated and there was no significant incident or criminal conduct that compromised the integrity of the election”.
“The AFP takes seriously reports regarding the safety and security of federal parliamentarians and it is a criminal offence to target them with online or physical threats of harm or violence,” Mr McIntyre said.
“The criminal offences of using a carriage service to make a threat to kill; or of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend, each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years and five years’ imprisonment, respectively.”
The number of security threats to parliamentarians and candidates, as well as reports of electoral-related crime, fell compared to the 2022 poll when 82 formal complaints were assessed.
Mr McIntyre said Operation Australis was a testament to the AFP’s unwavering commitment to safeguard parliamentarians and democracy.
He said it also reinforced the importance of co-ordinated law enforcement efforts – with the taskforce providing intelligence, protection assessments, covert and specialist operations, investigations and close personal protection.
Ahead of the election, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw raised concerns about the “nature of threats and comments” directed at female parliamentarians and high office holders.
“Australia’s politicians and high office holders are being targeted because they have a public profile, because of the comments they have made in the media, or their positions on policy,” he said.
“In some cases it appears male offenders are targeting women – because they are women – or women with an ethnic background.”
Threats and reports of harassment, nuisance and offensive communications have almost doubled over the past two years.
The number of threats made this year is expected to surpass last year’s figure of 1009 with, more than 700 reports made at the end of February.
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