Second Australian Politician Targeted Days After MP Lost Legs in Vehicle Attack
PERTH — A 56-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday afternoon after allegedly storming the electorate office of Hannah Beazley, Western Australia's local government minister, in Victoria Park, Perth, carrying a nunchucks-like weapon and making verbal threats to staff, the Times, Australian
Associated Press and AP reported. No one was injured; Beazley was not in the office at the time and said her staff had been left shaken.
The man, John Lawrence Smart, appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with being armed in a way that may cause fear, making an unlawful threat and possessing cannabis. His lawyer said the items may have been claves, wooden percussion sticks, and that Smart described himself as a musician of 20 years. The magistrate was given a multi-page mental health assessment and noted Smart's history of schizophrenia; bail was refused and he will appear again on October 29.
Just two days earlier, on Monday, federal MP Helen Haines was struck twice by a four-wheel-drive vehicle outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, Victoria, and both her legs were amputated. She remains in critical but stable condition. Brendan Nugent, 43, has been charged with several offences and remains in custody; police have not established a motive. Police say the two incidents are not connected.
The two incidents, days apart, have intensified concerns about political violence in Australia, where reports of threatening and harassing behaviour towards federal MPs have quadrupled since 2020. Mike Burgess, the director-general of Asio, Australia's national security service, warned last year that the risk of politically motivated violence was "already flashing red" and was expected to remain elevated until 2030.
(GSM, based on The Times, Australian Associated Press and AP)
Source: GSM · America
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 堪培拉国会大厦暮色（资料图）。照片：Thennicke，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Parliament House in Canberra at dusk (file photo). Photo: Thennicke, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-19Australian Independent MP Helen Haines Critically Injured in Vehicle Attack Outside Her Electorate Office; Man Arrested as Counter-Terrorism Team Investigates
- 2026-10-19Lawmaker Haines Remains Critical After Overnight Surgery; PM Says Attacker's Car Made a U-Turn
- 2026-10-20Follow-Up: Australian MP Helen Haines Loses a Leg After Car Attack, Doctors Fighting to Save the Other; Still Critical
- 2026-10-20Death Toll in Storm Adam Flooding in Eastern Spain Rises to Four: Up to 700 Litres of Rain in 24 Hours in Parts of Valencia, More Than 400 Rescues Carried Out
- 2026-10-21Accused in Vehicle Attack on Australian MP Haines Appears in Court and Does Not Seek Bail: Lawmaker in Critical but Stable Condition After Amputation Surgery
- 2026-10-21Australian Lawmaker Helen Haines Has Both Legs Amputated After Alleged Deliberate Car Attack, Husband Says: She Is Alive and Stable
- 2026-10-23Second Australian Politician Targeted Days After MP Lost Legs in Vehicle AttackThis story
