00:01Well, the Prime Minister has left the residence, the lodge here in Canberra.
00:06About an hour ago, he's making his way to Melbourne to carry on with official duties
00:12after what was a pretty late night here.
00:15Police asked him to evacuate from his home around six o'clock because of an alleged security
00:21threat.
00:22He was taken to a secure location for about three hours while the AFP conducted a thorough
00:28search of the property.
00:30They didn't find anything suspicious, though the Prime Minister was able to return home
00:35just after nine o'clock.
00:37He has thanked police for their work and we are still waiting to hear more information
00:44from the AFP about the exact nature of this incident and what exactly the threat was.
00:50In a statement last night, the AFP said that more information will be made available at
00:56an appropriate time but has confirmed this morning that there won't be any further updates
01:02today.
01:03It's a very unusual incident but it has sparked great concern.
01:08We heard from the Finance Minister Katie Gallaher earlier today describing it as extraordinary
01:14and very troubling, also reflecting on the really sharp rise we have seen in threats against
01:21parliamentarians from all sides of the political spectrum in the last few years.
01:26Let's hear what she had to say.
01:29This happens not just to government members, it's across the parliament where some politicians
01:35are subjected to just unbelievable threats against their safety.
01:40We are well supported by the police but it is troubling and I think again for all of us
01:45it's just for everyone has the right to go to work and be safe and that's no different
01:50for politicians.
01:51Now look, as I say, we don't know the exact nature of this threat but it does follow a
01:57recent trend in an uptick of politically motivated threats.
02:02The AFP recorded 950 threats against parliamentarians just in the last financial year which is a 63%
02:10increase on the last four years combined.
02:14So this is an incident that police have to take very seriously and do take very seriously.
02:22The AFP recorded 950 relations, the AFP recorded 1043, and the AFP recorded 11 permettant
02:24of the AFP recorded 950
Comments