Second Australian female politician 'threatened' days after alleged car attack on MP Helen Haines

Second Australian female politician 'threatened' days after alleged car attack on MP Helen Haines A man entered the office of an Australian politician with nunchucks just days after an MP lost both of her legs in a 'car attack' A man has been charged with threatening an Australian politician's staff with nunchucks just days after a MP had both of her legs amputated after an alleged car attack. Police said a man, 56, entered the electoral office of Hannah Beazley, a Western Australian state government minister, brandishing nunchucks and making verbal threats, on Wednesday. Beazley was not in the office, in suburban Perth, at the time of the incident. The man was arrested and charged with being armed in a way that may cause fear and with threatening to perform an unlawful act. He spent the night in police custody and will appear in a Perth court later on Thursday, police said. This comes after MP Helen Haines, 65, was left critically injured after she was "rammed twice" by a 4x4 on Monday. There was no allegation the man's behaviour was connected to the driver who hit Ms Haines with his car in the east coast state of Victoria. Ms Beazley said she was in the state parliament when the man entered her electorate office demanding to see her. She said two members of her staff had been "rattled" but had remained safe behind a security screen. On Wednesday she told reporters: "We don't know his motives at all." These incidents comes as concerns are heightened over the safety of female politicians' in Australia, where politicians are highly accessible to the public. Ms Haines's alleged attacker, Brendan Nugent, appeared in court on Wednesday charged with intentionally causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing serious injury and causing harm to a federal official. He did not enter pleas and remains in custody and police are still searching for a motive. The independent MP's husband, Phil Haines, shared an update on his wife saying both of her legs were amputated after she was airlifted to Melbourne but "two most important parts of Helen", her heart and her mind, were in "good shape". Just under 50% of federal politicians and a majority of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s cabinet are women. Mr Albanese said the fact that the threat to Ms Beazley came so soon after the alleged attack on Ms Haines was "just heartbreaking". Ms Beazley is the daughter of Mr Albanese's former federal colleague, Kim Beazley. Mr Albanese, speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, said: "We can have debate and disagreement, but do it in a way without descending into the sort of violence that we have seen in too many parts of the world. It's certainly not who we are as Australians." The Prime Minister attended an online security briefing this week for female politicians in his Labour Party. Security agencies addressed misogynistic threats directed at them. Mr Albanese said: "Of course people are concerned. They're anxious. There has been a normalisation of behaviour that can be very aggressive in a way that wasn't happening a couple of decades ago."