Victorian Minister Says Bullet Left on Car Was Intended as Death Threat

Paul Edbrooke, Victoria's emergency services minister, said he now worries about his family's safety after finding a bullet resting on his car bonnet on Saturday. The ammunition was marked with his former firefighter ID number and the word "RAT". His children drive the same vehicle. The Herald Sun first reported the discovery on Monday.

Edbrooke told ABC Radio Melbourne he was "shocked" and "horrified". He said the specific ID number, "very specific to a firefighter", would not be known to the wider public. He described the object as "that's a death threat, a bullet with my firefighter ID number on it and the word 'rat'". The Labor minister said the discovery raised unsettling questions, including whether he was being followed or surveilled.

Edbrooke linked his concern to the alleged attack on federal MP Helen Haines last week in Wangaratta, though there is no suggestion the two incidents are connected. He said he was not going to be intimidated by the message. "We enjoy a great democracy in Australia and Victoria," Edbrooke said. He said Australians can go to a polling booth, have a snag, and disagree politically while still talking to one another.

The minister said the only people sending him aggressive threats and abuse on social media were members of the United Firefighters Union. That union is pursuing action in the Fair Work Commission against Fire Rescue Victoria, an agency Edbrooke oversees, over the firefighters' enterprise bargaining agreement. The parties have been unable to resolve the agreement since 2021.

The union is also campaigning against the state Labor government ahead of next month's election. It has vowed to run an expensive advertising campaign and staff polling booths with firefighters, and it has authorised material urging voters to put the party last on the ballot. The union is also planning a members' meeting on whether to disaffiliate from the Victorian Labor party altogether.