CANBERRA: Australia's opposition leader -- and alternative Prime Minister -- Peter Dutton has been identified as the target of an alleged terror plot.
News Corp Australia newspapers on Thursday night reported that a 16-year-old from Brisbane was in August 2024 arrested and charged by police over an alleged plan to attack Dutton, the leader of the opposition Coalition, at his home north of Brisbane.
According to the News Corp report, the alleged plot involved the use of a drone and homemade explosives.
The teenager faced a hearing in the Brisbane Children's Court on Thursday where he was committed to stand trial in the Queensland Supreme Court on a single charge of committing acts done in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the News Corp.
Addressing the incident on Friday, Dutton told reporters on the campaign trail for the upcoming general election that he has complete faith in the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to protect him and his family.
"I'm incredibly grateful to the AFP that my family are kept safe. I've never felt unsafe one day in this job, particularly with the protection from the AFP. It hasn't stopped me from doing anything, " he said in Western Australia.
PM Anthony Albanese, whose governing Labor Party is aiming to win a second term in government at the election, earlier on Friday confirmed he had reached out to Dutton to discuss the alleged plot.
"It is a fact that the number of threats that have been made to parliamentarians has increased in recent times and that has been reported on by the appropriate authorities, " he told reporters in the Northern Territory.
"I myself have been the subject of a range of issues, at least one of which is before legal processes at the moment."
Albanese said he has confidence in the AFP's ability to keep parliamentarians safe. The AFP provides full-time protection to the PM, selected ministers and other parliamentarians based on identified risk.
Appearing before a Senate hearing on March 27 -- the day before Albanese called the election -- AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said that 1, 009 threats were made against high office holders, federal parliamentarians, dignitaries and electorate offices in 2023-24 -- up from 555 in 2021-22.
He said that 712 such incidents were reported in the first seven months of the current 2024-25 financial year.
Kershaw said that in the 13 weeks before he addressed the Senate committee the AFP had charged six men over five separate incidents for allegedly threatening parliamentarians and one man for allegedly threatening a political organisation.
He encouraged all politicians to contact police for advice on how to protect themselves during the election campaign.
"The nature of threats and comments directed at female parliamentarians and high office holders are particularly troubling, " Kershaw said at the time.
Albanese said on Friday that he had facilitated security for any parliamentarian who had sought it.