Anika Wells closes Brisbane office after security incident as politicians face growing threats

Anika Wells’ electorate office in Brisbane has been closed following a security incident on Wednesday morning.

“On Wednesday there was an incident at my electorate office where police were called,” The Communications Minister said in a statement.

“We made the decision to close the office temporarily while security improvements are made.

“Our staff deserve to feel safe at work and this kind of behaviour is always unacceptable.

“We will reopen as soon as possible and continue to be accessible to the community and contactable while this temporary closure is in place.”

The incident comes two days after member for Indi Helen Haines was allegedly struck by a car driven by Brendan Nugent on Monday, and hours before a man carrying ‘nunchucks’ stormed into WA MP Hannah Beazley’s office and allegedly threatened her staff.

Federal member for Indi Helen Haines underwent the amputation of both her legs after 43-year-old Brendan Nugent allegedly deliberately struck her with his four-wheel drive.

She remains in a critical condition in Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital.

In the days since, police forces across the country, the Department of Home Affairs and state leaders have moved to strengthen security measures and provide briefings to politicians.

Queensland Police have charged a 47-year-old Nundah woman with public nuisance over the incident at Ms Wells’ office.

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen urged members of the public to leave politicians alone, regardless of which party they belonged to.

“Whether it’s ‘stone them in the square’ or whether it’s Warren Mundine, frankly, telling jokes at CPAC about bashing me up, physical violence to me, it’s not funny,” he told News24.”Every Australian in politics is doing a job, plenty of people I disagree with, but they’re fine Australians, just going about trying to do their job. No one deserves violence.”

Mr Bowen was referring to Question Time comments by Liberal MP Angie Bell suggesting Small Business Minister Anne Aly should be “stoned and shamed in public”.

Former Liberal party candidate Warren Mundine joked at the conservative CPAC conference earlier in October that a friend had admonished him not to murder Mr Bowen after bumping into him in Canberra.

In NSW, some parliamentarians who attended a state police-run briefing said they were left with broader concerns about their safety and felt examples given were politicised.

They were told to monitor their surroundings closely and alert NSW Police to their movements.

An app for a beacon to alert police of safety concerns was also encouraged.

A series of images of public protests - including a March for Australia rally, a pro-Palestine march against the Sydney Harbour Bridge and an image of children at a climate protest - were reportedly shown as examples of situations where MPs could be unsafe.

Victorian politicians also received a security briefing. A second briefing for those unable to attend will occur on Friday night.

Victorian Greens Leader Ellen Sandell called on Premier Ben Carroll to put together a memorandum of understanding between all political parties before the state election next month.

“We should all be setting the example and a higher standard when it comes to political discourse and campaigning,” she said in a statement.

Federal parliamentarians have also been briefed on keeping themselves and their staff safe.

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- with aap