SMH · Paul Sakkal · Tuesday 31 March 2026
At least 10 people charged with violent threats against MPs since September, prompting new security measures as politically motivated intimidation escalates across Australia.
Ten charged since September, and the response is more bollards and bodyguards — treating the symptom while the fever rages. You don't get a country threatening its politicians because the country's gone mad. You get it because the politicians stopped being accessible when they were trusted and now want protection when they're not. Thirty years of focus-grouped cowardice hollowed out the compact, and now both sides act stunned that the vacancy's been filled by blokes with death threats instead of questions.