Tonight, the AFP provides our ongoing thoughts for the Member for Indi, Dr Helen Haines, and her family, who have chosen strength and bravery over anger and despair.
Senators, there is a heaviness that hangs across Australia after the horrifying event last week.
The alleged offender accused of attacking Dr Haines is before the court, facing a number of charges.
I am limited in what I can say about this Victoria Police-led investigation, however, I can reaffirm that the alleged offender was unknown to the AFP.
Across the world, we are witnessing a trend where violence emerges with little or no warning, particularly where individuals do not have a protection intelligence footprint.
Lone actors are being motivated by a convergence of personal grievances, mental health vulnerabilities and ideological concerns.
What helped keep us safe in recent times, such as our geography, analogue systems and far away criminals, has been impacted by fully-integrated technology, social media and artificial intelligence.
Tech has enabled an instant pipeline of hate. This pipeline of rapid rage, often unhinged and violent, is being home delivered or to the places we work because of the devices we use.
The threats are instant and voluminous. And they instantly shock and cause legitimate fear. Perceived or real anonymity have given cowards courage.
When I am asked what has changed in recent years, this is what has changed – the vector of tech and social media is converging with the angry, the haters, the unstable and the amoral, who wrongly believe threats and violence are tolerable if their cause is noble.
The contagion of online hate has breached the digital compound and is spilling into the physical world.
This is corroding our communities and has normalised violence – and it continues to impact on many, most notably, the Jewish community.
Antisemitism is often the early warning sign of a decay in our society and the poisoning of our compact with each other. History shows us this.
Words can become deeds that forever change our country’s values and moral compass.
Our collective consciousnesses must be awake to this threat – and acknowledge there will always be another target group to hate if we do not recognise where it can start.
This is why in October last year, I announced the National Security Investigations teams, which I call a flying squad of hate disrupters.
These NSI teams target high-harm antisemitic individuals and help ring fence our democracy by investigating those who threaten Commonwealth Parliamentarians and high office holders.
Our investigators are charging almost one person a week for targeting Commonwealth Parliamentarians or high office holders.
From the 1st of January to the 1st of July this year, the AFP received 785 protective security reports that contained adverse content about federal parliamentarians.
Adverse content does not always meet a criminal threshold. However, the AFP takes all reports seriously. When adverse content does not meet a criminal threshold, it is used to inform our assessment of threat, risk and vulnerability.
Of those 785 reports:
50 per cent (394) were directed at male parliamentarians, and
47 per cent (371) were directed at female parliamentarians.
The remaining three per cent were generic threats to politicians.
Female parliamentarians were three times more likely to report receiving offensive or threatening contact that was sexualised or gender-based in nature.
Female parliamentarians from culturally and linguistically diverse communities were also more likely to experience frequent and varied offensive contact.
The threat themes directed at male parliamentarians also include threats generally gendered in nature, with accusations of weakness, femininity or subordinate masculine traits.
Our caseload shows that threats to parliamentarians generally relate to four key aspects: policies, perceived performance, profile and personality.
It would be wrong to think only inflammatory comments are creating the flood of threats. In some cases, just the debate causes the hate.
In some cases, parliamentarians are being targeted because of their accent, what they look like, or their political party.
The fact is this: at times there is an almost immediate link from a policy announcement or comment to a threat being sent.
But that should not be taken as veiled advice. I am providing this information to explain what we are recording in our caseload, and to highlight there is not one single measure alone that will stop the threats – because this goes to a wider societal problem Australia is facing.
The AFP is not here to make judgement on how parliamentarians do politics.
But we are here to help keep federal parliamentarians and high office holders safe. We work closely with the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Finance, which are responsible for the security of electorate offices and the homes of parliamentarians.
I want to thank every member within the AFP who keeps parliamentarians safe. However, we will do better in showing you how we take these threats seriously and we will introduce better training and consistency in this approach.
I will also raise the issue of democratic and parliamentarian security with state and territory Police Commissioners at an upcoming meeting.
That brings me to research I commissioned when I was Deputy Commissioner National Security and is now finalised.
The research was a psychological analysis of 55 Joint Counter Terrorism Team youth cases from 2020-2025.
The 55 cases involved youths aged between 12 and 17 years. All were boys and none were entirely radicalised in the physical world. They were radicalised all, or in part, online.
Overall, more than one ideology was held, underscoring the complexity of terrorism investigations.
In terms of ideology, jihadist extremism was the most prevalent, followed closely by anti-government/anti-authority or white supremacist ideology.
The ideological presentation in youths has shifted over the past two years, with fewer presenting with clearly defined ideologies, and an increasing number having mixed/hybrid ideologies, unclear/ incoherent ideologies, a superficial understanding of ideologies and ideological fluidity.
More than one-quarter did not have a stable male role model and about one-third had witnessed or experienced violence from their caregivers.
There were also early warning signs: 13 per cent were suspended or expelled in primary school and more than one third were suspended or expelled from high school.
In three out of five cases, the youths had received support, treatment or intervention for a mental health condition.
But there were also youth cases where there was a secure bond to one or both caregivers. This shows kids who come from stable family environments and have few vulnerabilities are also becoming radicalised and manipulated.
The research underscores that there is no single profile of a radicalised young person and no one pathway to violent extremism.
While this information does not provide all the answers, it does show trends that may be able to help the AFP and policymakers to intervene earlier to prevent youth offending.
The research is intended to be publicly released because we need a whole-of-society effort to safeguard our country and our values.
We need to invest in measures that make our country resistant to manipulation, radicalisation and hate, while at the same time creating a public receptive to purpose, belonging and service to community and country.
Before I take questions, I will pay tribute to Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney, who after more than 30 years of service with the AFP, will retire in the coming weeks. Ian has often been at the forefront of combatting the worst of humanity, while maintaining his own. Ian retires with enormous gratitude from myself and the 8000 members of the AFP.
Finally, I acknowledge the service of Shadow Home Affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam. Senator Duniam, you have asked the AFP tough questions, and you have rightly held us accountable to the public. And you have done this with respect and the graciousness of a politician with the best interests of Australia in your heart and mind.
Thank you.
