Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been ambushed by alt-right video makers in the lobby of his Melbourne hotel, sparking safety concerns about the ability of extremists to infiltrate secure locations despite increased security on the campaign trail.
A Labor source said the incident was concerning and underscored the growing risk of extremism around politics. The AFP is understood to have been aware of the incident and the prime minister’s office declined to comment.
A video circulating on far-right social media accounts on Tuesday showed two men confronting Albanese, demanding answers about housing and immigration.
One man interrupts the prime minister mid-conversation with communications staffer Fiona Sugden, saying: “There are hundreds of thousands of Australians around the country, who are unable to afford housing … when are you going to put Australians first?”
Sugden asks the man his name before the prime minister’s security detail manages to push him away. The video then switches to the view of a second man, shouting after Albanese in the lobby: “Albo, how do you feel about the rise in immigration, mate? Do you think it’s fair?”
The man argues with the prime minster’s security detail before Sugden says: “Unfortunately, you’re not staying here, so you can leave.”
Neither man threatens anyone directly, but it is not known how the pair slipped past security or were able to approach the prime minister’s group in the hotel’s foyer without being stopped.
Melbourne Freedom Rally claimed responsibility for confronting Albanese about housing at the hotel.
The group led massive protests through the COVID-19 pandemic, promoted baseless conspiracy theories about doctors fraudulently claiming that people have died of COVID to exaggerate the scale of the pandemic, and campaigned for an end to pandemic measures. Its key organisers had links to the far-right.
