PM reaches out to opposition leader as Brisbane teenager, 16, charged with commonwealth offenceElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignPolls tracker; election guide; full federal election coverageGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastThe prime minister has reached out to Peter Dutton after allegations the opposition leader was the target of a terror plot.A Brisbane schoolboy allegedly planned an attack involving the Coalition leader in the first half of 2024 before being arrested in August, according to News Corp.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading…PM reaches out to opposition leader as Brisbane teenager, 16, charged with commonwealth offenceElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignPolls tracker; election guide; full federal election coverageGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastThe prime minister has reached out to Peter Dutton after allegations the opposition leader was the target of a terror plot.A Brisbane schoolboy allegedly planned an attack involving the Coalition leader in the first half of 2024 before being arrested in August, according to News Corp.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading…
The prime minister has reached out to Peter Dutton after allegations the opposition leader was the target of a terror plot.
A Brisbane schoolboy allegedly planned an attack involving the Coalition leader in the first half of 2024 before being arrested in August, according to News Corp.
AAP confirmed the 16-year-old was on Thursday committed to stand trial in Brisbane’s supreme court after being charged with a commonwealth offence of committing acts done “in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act”.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said a growing number of threats against parliamentarians had led to strengthened security measures.
“There’s no place whatsoever in politics for any of this and I have ensured that any time any member of parliament, regardless of who they are, have asked for support, they have received it,” he told reporters in Darwin on Friday.
“I’ve reached out to Peter Dutton this morning.”
Speaking at a leadership forum in Perth on Friday morning, hosted by the West Australian newspaper, Dutton brushed off the alleged threat.
“Well it’s a brutal business, no question about it. It’s the reason my three children have been cured of any interest in politics whatsoever and I see it as a small blessing,” he said.
“I feel an immense sense of pride being able to work in the job I work in. And it takes a decision, at some point in your life, that you want to abandon your anonymity and contribute to a country that you love very much. And that’s a decision I took, probably off [the back of] my policing career obviously, and seeing some of the injustices there, but also off my small business career …
“I believe very strongly that Liberal Party has the ability to [keep] our country strong and I think we face significant headwinds as we’ve seen in the last few days.”
Dutton’s deputy, Sussan Ley, said the case was concerning.
“We can’t let this become the new normal in Australia,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program on Friday.
Ley noted the alleged plot added to recent difficult personal news for Dutton, whose father was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack, ahead of his election debate with the prime minister on Tuesday.
The news of the alleged terror plot also came after new polling showed Dutton’s standing with voters had slipped again.
The YouGov poll released on Friday found Albanese had increased his lead as preferred prime minister by four points to 48%, against Mr Dutton’s 37%.
As politicians travelled the country in the lead-up to the 3 May national election, Labor minister Jason Clare, speaking on the same panel as Ley, hoped the leaders could continue interacting with the public as usual.
“In Australia, in a democracy, you make your arguments with words, not weapons,” he told Sunrise.
“If people want to come up to us and have a chat, they can.
“If they don’t like us, then they might mumble something under their breath or cross the road – you never want to see the sorts of threats of physical violence happen, like we’ve seen overseas.”
Speaking on ABC News Breakfast on Friday morning, the Coalition’s campaign spokesperson, James Paterson, said Dutton had “served our country in public life for 20 years” and “unfortunately, sometimes there is a price to pay for that”.
“It’s a price that Peter doesn’t just have to pay personally, but his family has to pay as well,” he added. “It’s why they require around-the-clock personal police protection.”
Asked about politicians’ safety on the campaign trail, Paterson said that Australia was “remarkably safe” but that recent years had seen “disturbing trends”.
“We don’t have the history of political violence that a lot of other countries do,” he said.
“[But] the federal police have said that threats to politicians and other public figures are higher than they have ever been. And I think that is extremely worrying for two reasons.
“One, if an act of political violence happened in this country, it would change our country forever in a significantly worse way. Two, frankly, significant police resources are diverted to protecting politicians from things like this, as they have to be. But that’s police resources that can’t be out there solving crime and protecting Australians.”
Dutton was in Western Australia on Friday to spruik a Coalition promise to abolish penalties for fuel-guzzling cars if the Coalition wins government.
The federal government’s vehicle efficiency scheme is currently designed to encourage the uptake of electric and more fuel-efficient cars. It sets emission targets for vehicles and imposes penalties on automakers whose fleets fall short of those limits, or if they fail to trade credits with other car brands.