A Victorian man has been charged with making death threats and antisemitic comments to a federal member of parliament. He's also accused of harassing a Victorian state MP. The investigation has been led by a new Australian federal police operation set up in the wake of rising antisemitism in the country.
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00:00The 33-year-old from the Melbourne suburb of Reservoir has been accused of making death
00:07threats and sending anti-Semitic abuse to a federal MP from New South Wales and a Victorian
00:12state MP.
00:13He has been charged with multiple offences, including using social media and email to
00:18make a death threat against the federal MP, as well as menacing or harassing both that
00:23member and a Victorian state MP.
00:26Each offence carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail.
00:30The man is accused of contacting the MPs last month.
00:33His house was raided yesterday by Victorian police and members of a specialist AFP task
00:38force investigating anti-Semitic threats and violence.
00:43Now it's put the focus back on the safety of MPs, after the offices of several federal
00:48and state politicians were vandalised last year.
00:52The truth is that we do live in circumstances where the number of threats that have been
00:59made towards elected representatives has increased substantially.
01:07Special Operation Avalice was formed in December with more than 20 AFP officers.
01:13Last month the task force laid its first charges against a Sydney man, and on Wednesday a separate
01:18Victorian man was charged for alleged anti-Semitic abuse of a political organisation, before
01:24yesterday's charges.
01:26And with a number of individuals under investigation, federal police say more arrests are expected.