A man has been charged after allegedly threatening staff and wielding nunchucks at the electoral office of the Western Australian local government minister, Hannah Beazley.
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man → charge → minister
The arrest on Thursday came after federal independent MP Helen Haines was hospitalised with severe injuries after an alleged attack outside her electorate office in Wangaratta in Victoria earlier in the week.
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Haines → come → week
Electoral staff at Beazley’s Victoria Park office in Perth called police after a man caused a disturbance on Wednesday afternoon.
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man → call → afternoon
Police said they received reports the man was making verbal threats while in possession of an “improvised martial arts weapon” described as “nunchucks”.
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man → say → nunchucks
They arrested the 56-year-old man nearby and took him into custody.
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They → arrest → custody
On Thursday he was charged with being armed in a way that may cause fear, making unlawful threats and cannabis possession.
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that → charge → threats
Nobody was injured in the incident.
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Nobody → injure → incident
The man was refused bail to appear at Perth magistrates court on Thursday.
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man → refuse → Thursday
Beazley was not in the office at the time but told reporters on Wednesday evening her staff were “rattled” by the “confronting situation”.
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staff → tell → situation
He did want access to me, I believe, but we don’t know his motivations at all,” the minister said.
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minister → want → motivations
Beazley said there had been two staff members in the office at the time.
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Beazley → say → time
The man allegedly attempted to lean through the security screen but her staff were a safe distance away, she said.
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she → attempt → screen
“It’s not the first time I’ve had threats made against me.
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threats → ’ → me
They called the police.”
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They → call → police
The prime minister, Anthony Alabanese, said Hannah Beazley was a friend “because I’m a good friend of her dad”, the former Labor defence minister Kim Beazley.
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I → say → dad
“This is far too prevalent,” Albanese told Perth radio on Thursday.
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Albanese → tell → Thursday
“It’s not who we are as Australians.
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we → ’ → Australians
We can have our discussions and debates and settle those issues at the ballot box.”
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We → have → box
The governor general, Sam Mostyn, speaking generally on Thursday discussed the gendered dynamics of threats and abuse directed at women in high-profile positions.
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general → speak → positions
“Like any woman who has stepped up into any position across any part of our society, there is a unique and pernicious form of attack that comes our way,” Mostyn told ABC TV.
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Mostyn → step → TV
“I still receive that online.
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I → receive → that
In fact, I was just saddened this morning to see some of the comments on my own Instagram page, in capitals with expletives, once again questioning the very nature of what it is that I do.
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I → sadden → that
“Women across the country know that there are certain things that are reserved for women … that go to our gender and they are often vicious and just despicable.”
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they → know → gender
A community vigil was held for Haines in Wodonga on Wednesday evening after it was revealed the MP had lost both her legs after Monday’s alleged attack.
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MP → hold → attack
Haines’ predecessor as the federal member for Indi, Cathy McGowan, said on the sidelines of the event the community was grappling with “mixed emotions”.
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community → say → emotions
McGowan had spent time with Haines’ staff and she told Guardian Australia they were “all crying together because of the emotion that’s been building up”.
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that → spend → emotion
“The people here tonight don’t want violence … but that’s not to say when violence happens in their communities they know what to do about it,” McGowan said.
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McGowan → want → it
“What the attack on Helen has brought to our mind is, this is us.
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this → bring → mind
We can’t just pretend that everything’s OK in the regions and we’re doing fine.”
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we → pretend → regions
The Aporia
