New Zealand MPs attacked and threatened
BEN HEATHER
Last updated 20:38, May 7 2015
Marion van Dijk/Fairfax NZ
Nick Smith's family have been threatened with chainsaw attacks and 1080 poisoning.
The pay may be good, but many of our MPs face death threats and attacks on their homes, staff and families.
A study based on an anonymous survey of 102 sitting MPs found nearly all of them had been subjected to unwanted harassment. More than one in 10 had been assaulted, and a similar number had been stalked, or had received deaths threats.
One in three had suffered property damage at the hands of angry constituents, and half had been physically confronted by their harassers. Most had been harassed more than once.
Grahame Cox
Sue Bradford received two death threats during the passage of the so-called anti-smacking bill.
One received 1080 poison in the mail, another had their back door smashed and a bullet thrown through the window of their family home, terrifying their daughter and partner.
Attacks have involved a gun, a molotov cocktail, sticks and placards.
The authors of the study have called for better monitoring of threats to MPs, warning they are often lightning rods for a small group of severely mentally ill people who pose a serious risk to the public at large.
Clare Curran was in her first year as an MP when a commenter made an indirect rape threat against her.
The study cited Man Haron Monis, the man who took 18 people hostage at Lindt Cafe in Sydney last year, ending in his death and that of two hostages.
According to the study, Monis had previously been flagged by police in Britain for sending threatening letters to the royal family, who referred their concerns to Australian Federal Police three times.
"Once someone gets to that last-resort thinking and acts on their threats, it may be people that are more accessible that become the victims," co-author Susanna Every-Palmer, of Otago University, Wellington, said.
These "fixated people" were usually severely mentally ill, though she stressed that the vast majority of mentally ill people were not dangerous.
Even as a psychiatrist dealing daily with mental illness, she said she was shocked by some of the abuse our politicians endured. "What the MPs reported, having their family affected, it was really a notch up."
Conservation and Housing Minister Nick Smith has endured several death threats. In 2005, someone blew up his caravan with a molotov cocktail, while his young children were inside the family house nearby.
"My daughter had a lot of nightmares at the time, it was pretty dramatic," he said.
"It's one of those things that discourages people from choosing a career in the public light."
He has also been threatened by people saying they would attack his family with a chainsaw, and poison his children with 1080.
"That was particularly unnerving, but I think overall New Zealanders are pretty good [compared to overseas]."
Former Green MP Sue Bradford copped plenty of abuse during the passage of the so-called anti-smacking bill, including two death threats.
"I thought I was pretty tough, but it was hard, pretty overwhelming, at time," she said. "I think my family, my husband and my children, felt it quite strongly."
The study shows Parliament itself was also targeted, with the Parliamentary Service listing 600 people as known security risks. Just last year, one "agitated" man sparked a total shutdown of Parliament after turning up with a gun.
Labour MP Clare Curran said a commenter on one of her blog posts a few years ago made an indirect rape threat against her. "It's probably the most disturbing thing that's happened to me."
As a first-year MP, it was a scary experience, she said. But she was well supported at the time, with the Diplomatic Protection Service and local police both getting involved.
Fellow Labour MP Jacinda Ardern said she had received threatening letters from people who were quick to point out they knew where she lived and what kind of car she drove.
"If you ask any MP, I think they'd tell you that, at times, Parliament doesn't feel like the safest place to be."
It wasn't just MPs in the firing line either, she said. The staff that look after their electoral officers also deal with threats, sometimes daily.
Speaker David Carter said that, because of their high profiles, MPs would always risk attracting unwanted attention.
"But the strength of the comments from MPs surprised me," he said. "Clearly the presentation of this report ... means we have to be very aware of the risks."
Carter said he had spoken to Health Minister Jonathan Coleman about improving the co-ordination between mental health services, police and the Parliamentary Service.
"I don't think there is a high degree of co-ordination."
Parliamentary Service general manager David Stevenson said the report confirmed much of what was already known, and had arisen after the service's own investigation of "fixated individuals" overseas.
The report's recommendations would be considered and could result in better security co-ordination with other agencies, such as police and mental health agencies, he said. "Our goal is to reduce risk for our staff and MPs, and this will be a valuable part of that."
Assistant Commissioner Mike Rusbatch said police already had established systems for dealing with threats to MPs and Parliament.
The paper was written by Every-Palmer, forensic psychiatrists Justin Barry-Walsh, at Capital & Coast DHB, and Michele Pathe, at Queensland Forensic Mental Health Services. It was published on Thursday in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.
MPs UNDER ATTACK
2012: A Canterbury earthquake refugee living at Waikanae Beach was charged with threatening to kill Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee and an unnamed parliamentary staffer.
2011: A Palmerston North man was found guilty of threatening to kill Prime Minister John Key and his wife. The diagnosed schizophrenic said he would become a suicide bomber and blow the PM up because he was "attempting to poison everyone".
2009: Key's Helensville electorate office was attacked with a firebomb, and a staff member's car was deliberately damaged.
2007: Labour MP Clayton Cosgrove's life threatened on a website after he said he would crack down on boy racers.
2007: Green MP Sue Bradford received a death threat over her anti-smacking bill.
2005: National MP Nick Smith's caravan was destroyed in a molotov cocktail attack.
- Stuff
