The Prime Minister has contacted Peter Dutton this morning after reports the Opposition leader was the target of an alleged terror plot. A teenager has faced the Brisbane children's court charged with buying and testing explosive materials. Peter Dutton's name was not mentioned in proceedings but there are reports he was the intended target.
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00:00A Queensland teenager has been charged over an alleged plot targeting opposition leader Peter Dutton.
00:08The ABC has not confirmed that Mr Dutton was the subject of that plot,
00:13but Liberal Senator James Patterson this morning identified him as the subject.
00:18Overnight, the Australian reported a 16-year-old had been committed to stand trial on Thursday.
00:23Police alleging the teenager had researched bomb-making instructions, purchased explosive ingredients and tested homemade explosive.
00:33They also alleged that over a two-month period from May last year, the teenager had been preparing for this plot.
00:42Opposition leader Peter Dutton asked about it today, brushed off the alleged threat.
00:48We have the same security package as the Prime Minister does and as the Governor-General does,
00:53and that's been the case for some time, obviously since I cancelled the visas of a lot of bikies and rapists and organised crime figures and I wouldn't change that.
01:04I mean there's been an impact on my family, they've been stoic and never complained about the security that's been around me and my family
01:11and Federal Police at home and the AFP have been absolutely amazing.
01:15But that's what started the need for security and I wouldn't change any of that.
01:20Speaking from Darwin, Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister, said he had reached out to Mr Dutton to share his concern and say there is no place for violence in Australian politics.
01:32I've reached out to Peter Dutton this morning and it is a fact that the number of threats that have been made to parliamentarians has increased in recent times
01:51and that has been reported on by the appropriate authorities.
01:58I myself have been the subject of a range of issues, at least one of which is before legal processes at the moment.
02:10There was a pretty serious incident.
02:12Mr Dutton has been in Perth today where he committed to a plan to scrap penalties associated with laws designed to reduce car emissions.
02:22The new vehicle efficiency standard is due to take force from July and it is a law that the industry had asked for saying that without it it was difficult to get access for in-demand electric vehicles.
02:35But in the context of US President Donald Trump's tariffs on foreign imports, the industry has become uncertain.
02:42Opposition leader Peter Dutton saying those laws will drive up car prices when they take effect
02:48and promising that the coalition, if elected, would set the penalty rate to zero dollars, effectively removing it.