A Victorian man has been charged for allegedly sending an email to a federal politician in which he threatened to kill them.
The Australian federal police (AFP) charged the 51-year-old from Ballarat on Thursday as part of an investigation into two emails he allegedly sent to a commonwealth politician on 27 March.
Police executed a search warrant at the man’s home on Thursday, when they “forensically reviewed an electronic device”.
He was charged with one count of using a carriage service to make a threat to kill, and one count of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend. The offences carry a maximum penalty of 10 years and five years respectively.
The man was granted conditional bail by the Ballarat magistrates court, and was next scheduled to appear before court on 24 June.
AFP Det Supt Simone Butcher said the force “supports freedom of speech and political expression, but criminal behaviour such as threats and harassment will never be tolerated”.
“The AFP will identify and locate individuals who commit these serious crimes and prosecute them,” Butcher said.
At a Senate estimates hearing last week, the AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, said threats against Australian politicians and dignitaries have nearly doubled in the last two years, including a particular rise in female MPs targeted.
“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,” Kershaw told the hearing.
“However, in some cases it appears male offenders are targeting women – because they are women – or women with an ethnic background,” he said.
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Kershaw said threats and reports of harassment, nuisance and offensive communications had gone from 555 in 2021-22 to 1,009 in 2023-24, with 712 reported between July last year and the end of this February.
Thursday’s charges follow a case last month when a Victorian man was charged for allegedly making death threats and antisemitic comments to a federal member of parliament.
The man had allegedly contacted the MP using social media multiple times between 7 January and 19 February this year, making death threats and antisemitic comments.
Source: www.theguardian.com