A 56-year-old man has been charged after allegedly threatening staff while carrying nunchucks at Western Australian minister Hannah Beazley’s electorate office in Perth.
Police said officers were called to the office on Albany Highway in Victoria Park at about 1.15pm on Wednesday, 21 October, following reports of a disturbance and verbal threats involving an improvised martial arts weapon described as nunchucks. The man was arrested nearby in Bentley.
On Thursday, the man was charged with being armed in a way that may cause fear, making a threat to unlawfully do an act, and possessing cannabis. He was refused bail and was due to appear before Perth Magistrates Court. The allegations have not been proven in court.
Beazley, Western Australia’s local government minister, was not at the office during the incident. She said two staff members were present and had been left shaken by what happened. According to her account, the man allegedly tried to lean through a security screen while seeking access to her. No one was injured.
The incident has intensified concern about the safety of elected representatives and their staff, coming days after federal independent MP Helen Haines was seriously injured outside her electorate office in Wangaratta. The separate cases have prompted renewed discussion about threats directed at public officials, while authorities have not publicly established a motive for the Perth incident. Read our report on the Helen Haines case and questions about political security for related context.
