00:01These briefings will involve police, but they'll also involve the spy agency ASIO as well as
00:08officials from the Home Affairs Department. MPs have really been left shocked in their
00:13reeling in the wake of this attack on independent member for Indi, Helen Haynes. MPs who've
00:19spoken to the ABC on background have described feeling exposed in the wake of this attack
00:25and attention now is really turning to the safety and security that's on offer for our
00:31federal parliamentarians. Many want to strike a real balance here because they still want
00:35to be able to get out and about and talk to their local constituents, but they also acknowledge
00:41there's a need here perhaps to bolster the safety that they receive. Now, the AFP Commissioner,
00:47Chrissie Barrett, she spoke in the last hour or so and she says that the AFP has extensive
00:53resources dedicated towards the protection of Australian office holders. She also said that
01:01her team is charging almost one individual every week for targeting Commonwealth parliamentarians
01:07or high office holders. She was also asked about the level of protection on offer for MPs. She says
01:15that extensive resources are put towards that, but she was also asked if it's possible for all
01:21parliamentarians to have personal protection. And she said something like that would require very,
01:26very, very extensive resources. Here's more of what she said earlier.
01:31The current criminal threat environment is febrile. And when it comes to federal parliamentarians,
01:38the AFP continues to record the growing volume of online abuse, threatening rhetoric and intimidation,
01:45increasing political polarisation and anti-government sentiment, conspiracy driven and grievance based
01:53behaviours, lone actors motivated by a convergence of personal grievance, mental health vulnerabilities
02:00and ideological concerns, and the potential for violence to emerge with little or no forewarning,
02:08particularly where individuals have no previous protection intelligence footprint.
02:13Now, as I said earlier, MPs will be getting a briefing today from the AFP, ASIO and officials from the
02:20Home Affairs Department. We understand this will actually be happening throughout the day. MPs will be
02:25getting the chance to ask those officials questions. The AFP says six of these briefings have actually
02:32already happened just this year alone. But we've heard some concerns from MPs where they claim lacklustre
02:38advice has been provided in the past. We heard from Liberal Senator James Patterson on ABC Radio National
02:45earlier today. He spoke firstly about electorate offices. He says that the protection on offer at
02:51electorate offices is essentially inadequate. He says that needs to be bolstered. But he also spoke about the
02:57advice offered at these briefings, these multi-agency briefings. He says that yes, this advice can be
03:04useful, but sometimes it's difficult to implement. Take a listen. For example, it's been reported in the
03:10past that we're advised to never pre-advertise our attendance at a function or a place where people
03:18gather. That's just not practical for most members of Parliament because they need to be able to tell their
03:22constituents where they are so they can be accessible to their constituents.
03:26Obviously, our agencies are monitoring all of that. We take the advice that they give
03:31us in terms of what security is needed and we put in place the security that is required
03:37based on that advice. I think all of us are experiencing the environment is tougher out there.
03:46And Jack, we've been hearing from more MPs talking about their concerns for their safety. Tell us about that.
03:52Yeah, well, MPs who've spoken to the ABC on background say that they feel essentially
03:58exposed in the wake of this attack on Helen Haynes. One said they felt unsettled. Another said that
04:04as a woman, they felt pretty nervous at the moment. And publicly, we've heard from
04:08the Finance Minister Katie Gallagher saying that her colleagues have told her they feel afraid.
04:14This is just some of the sentiment that we've been hearing from MPs in recent days. Indeed,
04:20this morning, we heard from the Transport Minister Catherine King. She says that she used to hold
04:25mobile offices in a caravan out and about in her electorate in Victoria, but she says she can no
04:30longer do that due to the security implications. She also says she's less likely to advertise in advance
04:37when she will be holding one of those mobile offices. One Nation MP, Barnaby Joyce, has also
04:42spoken about his own experiences. He's recounted an incident where he says a man in a car tried to
04:51attack him on the side of a highway. Now, this attack on Helen Haynes has really brought to the
04:56fore longstanding concerns that authorities have had for some time now about the safety of MPs. We know
05:03that in the past financial year, in the last financial year, the AFP say they received 1,067
05:09reports of nuisance, offensive behaviour, threatening behaviour, harassing behaviour directed towards
05:16federal parliamentarians and high office holders, as well as protected locations. And that's almost
05:22double from what it was in the 21-22 financial year. So, this is a real difficult security situation
05:29now for MPs to navigate, but also for police to navigate.
