A man has been charged for making threats and swinging nunchucks outside the electorate office of state MP Hannah Beazley on Wednesday afternoon, just days after West Australian politicians voiced their concerns about their safety following the attack on Helen Haines.
asserted
politicians → charge → Haines
Police said they received reports about the man with the alleged weapon around 1.15pm Wednesday, after he entered Beazley’s Victoria Park office.
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he → say → office
Police attended quickly and found the man nearby in Bentley, arresting him.
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Police → attend → him
A 56-year-old Bentley man has since been charged with being armed in a way that may cause fear, making a threat, and possessing cannabis.
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that → charge → cannabis
Hannah Beazley, who is WA’s Minister for Local Government and represents the electorate of Victoria Park, said in a statement she was aware of what had unfolded.
“Staff within my electorate office were faced with a confronting situation when a member of the public entered the office armed with a weapon,” she said.
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she → represent → weapon
“I have spoken to my staff, who are understandably shaken and upset by what took place.
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what → speak → place
Fortunately, no one was injured during the incident.
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one → injure → incident
The incident comes just days after federal member for Indi Helen Haines was attacked outside her office in Wangaratta on Monday, after a man allegedly repeatedly hit her with a white Toyota four-wheel-drive.
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man → come → drive
The Haines incident and the incident at Beazley’s office has prompted discussion about MP and staff safety in Western Australia.
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incident → prompt → Australia
WA Premier Roger Cook will hold a meeting with party leaders this afternoon to discuss security concerns.
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Cook → hold → concerns
Cook said there were three tranches to public service security; Parliament House, electorate offices and the private residences of MPs.
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Cook → say → MPs
“We’ve significantly improved the security arrangements at Parliament House ... but I think there’s more we can do, it’s still an open car park, people can be confronted, and I know an upper house member was recently confronted in the car park,” he told ABC Perth Radio on Thursday.
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he → improve → Thursday
Mindarie Labor MP Mark Folkard said he had “idiots” stalking him, revealing he had been dealing with one individual for a number of years.
“How do we deal with bats**t crazy?
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we → say → bats**t
That’s the question, and how do we take the heat out of the conversation?” he said.
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he → ’ → conversation
When asked whether it was possible to take the heat out of political discourse he said it was but society needed to address what was driving it.
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what → ask → it
“Is it our super rich people trying to force their opinions upon ourselves, which is driving that angst?
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which → try → angst
I don’t know, but anyone saying let’s take the heat down, but what’s the driver of heat?
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’s → know → heat
Greens MP Sophie McNeill revealed she had recently reported to police a message received on social media that was so graphic she couldn’t share it.
“
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she → reveal → it
It’s pretty confronting, and I guess it’s got to a point where you just feel like it’s part of the job, but it shouldn’t be, but that’s that’s how upsetting it is that it it feels that that’s how it is
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it → ’ → job
,” she said.
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she → say → ?
Shadow police minister Adam Hort said his position on illicit tobacco had prompted concerns from WA Police for his and his office’s safety.
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position → say → safety
Hort said it would be disappointing if the Beazley office incident and the attack on Indi MP Helen Haines meant the public had less access to politicians.
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public → say → politicians
Any MP that has to second guess being available for their community is awful,” he said.
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he → have → community
On Wednesday, One Nation WA leader Rod Caddies said a man threatened to kill him while he was driving home from parliament on Tuesday night.
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he → say → night
Caddies revealed he was about a minute away from Parliament House in the Perth CBD and stopped at traffic lights when a man pulled up next to him and gestured him to wind his window down.
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man → reveal → window
Caddies did and said the man started yelling profanities at him and threatened to kill him.
“I just said to him, ‘mate, there’s no need to get angry’ and he just kept yelling quite an amount of abuse, and said he was going to bash me and he was going to do different things, and then he said he’d follow me home,” he said.
“He said I don’t care about the police, I’ll follow you home and kill you.”
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I → do → you
A WA Police spokeswoman confirmed police were investigating the incident but no charges had been laid.
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charges → confirm → incident
The Aporia
