Fringe anti-immigrant figure disrupts Albanese as climate activists repeatedly target Dutton

The two main parties are set to toughen their security arrangements for the federal election after suffering embarrassing breaches on the first full day of campaigning, with gatecrashers disrupting Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton’s events.

The prime minister and opposition leader both kicked off campaigning in Brisbane on Saturday, highlighting their determination to win back three inner-city seats claimed by the Greens at the previous election, but had to deal with hecklers using intrusive tactics.

Fringe anti-immigrant writer Laurence McIntyre, who has been pictured with neo-Nazi figures Joel Davis and Blair Cottrell in an image circulating on social media, shouted questions at Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers at a press conference in Brisbane.

A fringe anti-immigrant figure, Laurence McIntyre (in cap), heckles Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The Australian Federal Police have increased security for politicians as fringe political ideologies grow in prominence, raising questions about how the protesters were able to enter the medical clinic where Albanese was speaking and the XXXX brewery hosting Dutton.

Another protester from the Rising Tide environmental group later gatecrashed Dutton’s visit to a Chinese restaurant in the suburb of Sunnybank, where the opposition leader was courting members of the Brisbane Chinese-Australian community in a bid to repair ties with a crucial voting demographic.

The interventions could easily have proven dangerous for the party leaders if the protesters had been carrying weapons or intended to cause physical harm.

Some of the intruders gained access to the carefully curated campaign events, which are held at closely guarded locations, by posing as members of local media.

The AFP said in a statement that its “responsibility is to maintain the safety of the principal [such as an MP or other high office holder] and preserve their dignity”.

“It is not the responsibility of the AFP to interfere in democracy or stop members of the public from attending political events. The AFP works closely with state and territory agencies to ensure the balance is right [between safety and the right to protest].”

Brisbane woman Donna, who disrupted Dutton’s lunch event for Rising Tide and declined to provide her surname, said: “This is the first time I’ve disrupted the Coalition at an event like this, but it’s a public space and we have the right to enter that space.” She would not say how she had learnt about the event but argued that the intrusion was justified because of an urgent need to address climate change.

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said last week that threats against federal politicians and their staff had soared in recent years, rising from 555 in 2022 to 1009 last year, and that record was set to be broken this year, although there is no suggestion that any of Saturday’s gatecrashers have made such threats.

Greens leader Adam Bandt also launched his party’s election effort in Brisbane with an anti-Dutton rally.

Albanese’s first press conference of the campaign was interrupted by McIntyre, who was holding a small camera and criticised Labor’s approaches to housing affordability and immigration policy.

“Everyone my age is stressed out. We’re so terrified of the next five to 10 years because we don’t have anywhere to go,” said McIntyre, who identified himself as the heckler on his X account, after being ushered away.

The fringe writer, who this masthead attempted to contact for comment, has reposted clips from white nationalist Thomas Sewell arguing that Australia should be a home for “white people” and spoken of going down a “rabbit hole” with the conspiracy theorist David Icke, who has been named in parliament as a Holocaust denier.

Heckler Laurence McIntyre poses with extreme right figures Joel Davis and Blair Cottrell.Credit:

Albanese used the heckler’s appearance to defend his government’s record on affordable housing. “The previous government didn’t even have a housing minister, let alone have a plan on public housing,” he said as he campaigned in the opposition leader’s outer Brisbane electorate of Dickson.

That seat is not viewed as winnable by Labor, meaning Albanese’s decision to head to the suburban seat on day one was intended to play mind games with Dutton.

The opposition leader’s first event to kick off the election campaign was at the XXXX brewery in the Greens-held electorate of Brisbane, but it was interrupted by Rising Tide, whose activist was carrying a banner that read “No new gas or nuclear”.

“Why are you lying to the Australian people about the cost of your nuclear policy?” the protester shouted as security guards shepherded her away, causing the woman to almost fall down a set of stairs.

Dutton said protesters did not represent most Australians’ views. “People who are extremists who want everything shut down tomorrow – that is not where the vast majority of Australians are,” he said.

As he claimed underdog status for the campaign, Dutton declined to say how much electricity prices would fall under the Coalition’s gas reservation plan, which he announced in his budget reply speech on Thursday night.

But he vowed to release modelling before election day. “If you bring more gas into the market, you’ll bring the price down,” he said, adding that modelling had been done by Frontier Economics, the same firm that modelled the Coalition’s nuclear policy.

Dutton’s decision to eat a lunch of dumplings and noodles with leaders from Brisbane’s Chinese-Australian community was the latest sign of his determination to win back votes with a demographic that swung hard against the Liberal Party at the last election.

Dutton’s lunch was held in the marginal seat of Moreton, which has a sizeable Chinese-Australian community. The Liberals believe they can win it from Labor following the retirement of popular local member Graham Perrett at this election.

Dutton announced a Coalition government would provide an extra $225,000 for the Chinese Museum of Queensland.

The Liberal Party’s 2022 election post-mortem identified regaining the trust of Chinese-Australian voters as a crucial priority after relations between Beijing and Canberra soured under Scott Morrison.

Peter Low, a leader of Brisbane’s Chinese-Australian community who attended lunch with the opposition leader, said: “Originally, a lot were against [Dutton] because of his stance on China.”

But Low said Dutton’s noticeably softer rhetoric and the departure of Scott Morrison had lifted the Liberal Party’s standing with Chinese-Australians.

After Albanese implicitly compared Dutton to US President Donald Trump on Friday by suggesting the Coalition’s policies on cutting public servants were copied from overseas, Dutton pushed back without addressing the substance of the prime minister’s sledge.

“I just think the personal attacks will come from the PM … because they haven’t done a good job over the last three years,” Dutton said during a brief interview on Saturday morning.

Albanese’s remarks were underpinned by weeks of Labor campaign research showing Australian voters becoming increasingly worried by Trump’s erratic style, opening the door for Labor to provide clearer critiques of the president.

Next week is likely to be dominated by two big political events: Donald Trump’s tariff announcements and the Reserve Bank’s April 1 board meeting.

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