More than 1000 reports of harassment towards federal MPs in a year: AFP

Federal MPs were allegedly threatened and harassed more than 1000 times last financial year, pointing to the rising threat of political violence.

The slogan "Zionism is Fascism" was sprayed on the electoral office of Labor MP Josh Burns in June. Picture: William West/AFP

Federal politicians faced 42 per cent more threats in the last financial year, underscoring the rising prospect of political violence in Australia as conflict in the Middle East flares tensions domestically.

Parliamentarians allegedly endured threatening messages and harassment 1009 times from July 2023 to June 2024, according to new data from the Australian Federal Police, compared to 709 complaints in the previous financial year.

The uptick in threats came during a period of rising anti-Semitism in Australia including the vandalism of Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns’s electoral office, prompting pleas from ASIO for an end to “inflamed language”, and highly public criticism from independent Senator Lidia Thorpe of her own AFP police guard.

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw and ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess. Picture: NewsWire

AFP Commander Stephen Fry pointed to charges laid against alleged offenders in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory in recent years.

“We take seriously all reports regarding the safety and security of federal parliamentarians and people who work with them,” Mr Fry said.

“A threat of harm or violence against a federal parliamentarian is a criminal offence.

“The AFP is committed to providing protective services to Australian and foreign dignitaries, and to internationally protected people, to ensure they are able to discharge their duties without fear or harm.

Following the Adass Israel Synagogue firebombing in Melbourne on December 6, ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess redoubled his appeal to pull violent rhetoric out of national politics, a point he has laboured since raising the national terrorism threat level from “possible” to “probable” in August.

“Politically motivated violence is now one of ASIO’s and this country’s principal security concerns,” he said at a press conference in December.

“Provocative and inflammatory language (is) being normalised.

“Inflamed language leads to inflated tension, and that can lead to violence. We all need to watch our words.”

For Mr Burns, the alleged vandal behind the defacing of his St Kilda electorate office remains on track to avoid a criminal conviction. The alleged youth offender is said to have smashed in windows and spray-painted “Zionism is fascism” across the exterior.

The AFP assigns officers to protect MPs and senior bureaucrats, though in October Senator Thorpe alleged her detail had failed to protect her from far-right extremists who tagged her in a video of a masked man performing the Nazi salute before a burning Indigenous flag.

AFP estimates it provided security for more than 3600 events in the 2023-34 financial year, including protests.