BRISBANE, Australia—Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has warned against allowing extremist ideologies to fester in Australian society, arguing violence against public servants like Helen Haines is part of a broader problem that has gone unchecked.
Frydenberg made the comments in Brisbane during the Oct. 20 launch of his book, A Grateful Son, which documents his life and upbringing.
His comments came a day after Haines, the Teal federal independent for the Victorian electorate of Indi, was allegedly rammed twice by a Toyota LandCruiser driven by 43-year-old Brendan Nugent.
Nugent is facing multiple charges and remains in police custody.
“She’s a thoroughly decent person, inoffensive in every way, and so my thoughts go out to her, to her family, because I think this is devastating,” Frydenberg said.
“The thing that we’ve all got to realise from this attack is it wasn’t an isolated incident. Hate in this country has become normalised.”
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Frydenberg said Australia was seeing a “very nasty, vitriolic debate,” while also quoting Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Director General Mike Burgess, who said words lead to violence.
“This is un-Australian in every way,” he said.
Frydenberg said the government still failed to address radical Islamist ideology almost a year on from the Bondi Beach massacre, which killed 15 people.
“I’m disappointed that the prime minister was not called before the Royal Commission (on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion) to account for the failures of his government,” he said.
“I asked John Howard if he were prime minister on Oct. 7, ‘What would have you done?’” he said.
“John Howard said ‘I would have rung [former Labor leader] Kim Beazley and said, ’Please come down and stand alongside me in the prime ministerial courtyard, and let’s send a message to the Australian people, these are the red lines that won’t be crossed’”
Frydenberg said he was not making a partisan point, but a point on leadership.
Radicalisation Under the Microscope
Frydenberg’s warning comes as Australian law enforcement agencies struggle to trace how people can become radicalised and take violent action.
The AFP also raised concerns about the influence of online platforms on young Australians during a Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) inquiry into the nature and drivers of radicalisation in Australia.
Acting Deputy Commissioner of National Security Investigations Sandra Booth told the inquiry that investigators had examined cases as extreme as a 13-year-old boy plotting a school shooting.
The inquiry also examined the investigation into firebombings targeting Jewish businesses and places of worship in 2024—Lewis Continental Kitchen in Bondi and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne.
Liberal MP Andrew Wallace questioned officials about the charges laid against those accused of carrying out the attacks, noting that local perpetrators may not have known they were acting on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Australian authorities say directed the attacks through intermediaries.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Peter Crozier said investigations were ongoing and that police had laid criminal—not terrorism—charges based on the available evidence.
“There are a range of reasons, but primarily we will follow the evidence, and the evidence suggests those charges are the ones that are most appropriate,” he told the inquiry.
Government Response So Far
The federal government has announced several measures to counter violent extremism, including $74 million over two years for a Counter Terrorism Online Centre to help authorities detect and disrupt online radicalisation and terrorism.
The government says the funding is in addition to the government’s $106.2 million allocated over four years from 2024-25 as part of the release of the “A Safer Australia–Australia’s Counter-Terrorism and Violent Extremism Strategy 2025.”
It has also accepted all 14 recommendations directed to the Commonwealth in the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion’s interim report.
“Everyone needs to be alert to potential threats from terrorist and extremist organisations online and I urge anyone who sees something that raises concerns to contact the National Security Hotline (1800 123 400)”.
