Anthony Albanese and his team were confronted by two men associated with the fringe rightwing “freedom” movement at their Melbourne hotel overnight, with one man who claimed responsibility saying they just “walked straight through the lobby door”.
But the prime minister said he would not be deterred from interacting with the public, despite a growing number of protesters managing to discover the location of political leaders and evade security at election events – even though campaign schedules have been tightly held.
“Nothing stops me,” Albanese said on Wednesday.
In video shared on social media app Telegram, two men managed to intercept the prime minister as he was walking through the hotel in Melbourne’s CBD on Tuesday afternoon. Both men were stopped by security and Albanese’s staff before they could reach the prime minister, but managed to get relatively close.
The videos were attributed on Telegram to “Melbourne Freedom Rally”, a large right-wing group that led protests against Covid restrictions during the pandemic.
Daniel Jones of self-defence company Tactical Force Combatives claimed on Facebook to have taken part in the stunt. In a video posted this morning, Jones claimed to be “asking Albanese some questions”, and said there was nothing “James Bond” about tracking down the prime minister.
“We walked straight through the lobby door,” he said. “It is what it is.”
Jones, who has posted images of himself on social media with various weapons including what he claimed was a grenade launcher, has a history of associations with the far right, including acting as a bodyguard to activist and content creator Avi Yemini.
One of the men asked the prime minister about Australians who were “unable to afford housing”, saying “when are you going to put Australians first?” In the second clip, which appears to be filmed around the same time as the first but in a different part of the hotel, the other man asked Albanese about “the rise in immigration”, saying “do you think it’s fair?”
In the first video, filmed in the hotel lobby, the man approached Albanese, who was accompanied by one security guard and a staffer. Filming with a phone, the man managed to get within a few metres of the prime minister and ask his question, before Albanese’s team created a physical barrier and several more security guards arrived to escort the man from the building.
In the second video, Albanese was heading for a lift inside the hotel when a second man saw him. Also filming on his phone, the man yelled to the prime minister before being quickly shut down by security.
Neither man involved in the incident was carrying weapons and there was no suggestion Albanese was at risk of physical harm. Jones has been approached for comment.
The incident is the latest in a long line of protests and confrontations in the election campaign. Albanese and Coalition leader Peter Dutton have been continually interrupted by pro-environment protesters at press conferences and public events. On the first morning of the campaign, a Rising Tide protester managed to enter a closed factory and stand close to Dutton before criticising his nuclear and gas plans.
Federal police and security agencies have warned of safety risks to politicians during election campaigns.
Questions have been raised about how protesters have discovered the locations of political leaders, with campaign plans and movements a tightly held secret. Even journalists travelling with Dutton and Albanese are not told the location of press conferences until shortly before they begin.
Albanese wouldn’t publicly discuss that issue when asked on Wednesday, saying “it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to broadcast it, frankly”. He has previously said he was concerned about others “copying” protests.
“I have faith in the AFP. As I’ve said before, I have no intention of going into security discussions. That’s not in the interests of security,” Albanese said on Wednesday.
Asked if the situation had limited his public movements, Albanese said he had made numerous public appearances during the campaign.
“I go into uncontrolled environments. You’ve seen it happen time and time again.”
Albanese last week revealed he had been “the subject of a range of issues, at least one of which is before legal processes … There was a pretty serious incident.” Dutton was allegedly the target of a terror plot planned by a Brisbane schoolboy last year, who was later arrested, according to News Corp.
