Police are investigating alleged criminal damage to federal Labor MP Peter Khalil’s office in Melbourne.
In a statement, Victoria police alleged paint was sprayed and a door damaged between 2am and 9am on Monday at the building on Sydney Road in Brunswick.
Police said the alleged offenders poured an unknown liquid through the door, and no one was inside at the time.
Khalil said his staff had arrived at work on Monday morning to find the office vandalised. He said this included an inverted red triangle, a symbol associated with Hamas and that has been used to indicate Israeli military targets.
Staff also noticed an unknown substance had been pumped into the office via a hole that had been made, Khalil said.
“The stench was so unbearable that staff immediately closed the door, and five hours later still feel overwhelmed and sick from the intensity,” he said.
“This behaviour is unacceptable. I have always supported peaceful protest as a fundamental part of our democratic society.
“But when that behaviour escalates into actions that harm people, as it has today, then that is not protest. That is unacceptable both under the law and morally, and it needs to be called out.”
Khalil said his staff had a right to be safe at work and reiterated his support for peaceful protests.
He had earlier told the ABC that a hazmat team and Fire Rescue Victoria were called “given the possibility there could be something toxic there and dangerous”.
A FRV spokesperson said it responded to a triple zero call at 9.09amm and firefighters found red liquid sprayed inside a premises when they arrived. The scene was deemed under control at 9.25am, the spokesperson said.
“FRV’s Hazmat team determined the liquid did not contain flammable materials and conducted further tests,” the spokesperson said.
Photos provided by Khalil’s office show the phrases “Land Back” and “Glory to the martyr” in red spray paint on an exterior wall.
An inverted red triangle has been graffitied on a door while the office signage is also sprayed in red paint.
Khalil, the federal government’s special envoy for social cohesion, has previously been targeted by pro-Palestine activists. In November last year, protesters dumped fake corpses outside his Coburg electorate office in Melbourne’s north.
Adam Bandt, the leader of the Greens – who are hoping to win Khalil’s seat of Wills at next year’s federal election, condemned the attack.
“Protests must always be peaceful and non-violent. Everyone should feel safe at work, and we wish Peter Khalil and his team well after this vandalism overnight,” he wrote on X.
The Liberal senator for Victoria, James Patterson, said the continued targeting of Khalil’s office and staff was “totally unacceptable”.
“The perpetrators of this intimidating and dangerous behaviour must feel the full force of the law,” he said in a post on X.
