A West Australian man who sent an antisemitic message threatening to assassinate Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns has been given a suspended jail sentence.
Will James King, 20, was sentenced in Mandurah Magistrates Court on Friday to seven months in prison, conditionally suspended for 12 months.
The court heard King sent the message directly to Minns’ Instagram account in January.
“You’re a Jew, not a real Semite,” the message said.
“You’re an Ashkenazi Jew. Anti-Semitism does not apply to you or to any other Jews. You’re the Gentiles.
“I’ll assassinate you and Albo, and the country will be a better place.”
Defence lawyer Tendayi Chivunga said King had been angered by Australia’s housing shortage and immigration policies and had been reading political articles and online comments before sending the message.
Quoting from a psychological report, she described his actions as hyperbolic, rage-filled keyboard venting prompted by frustration and powerlessness. She said he had not intended to carry out the threat.
The court was also told the “difficult political climate” following the murderous Bondi Beach shootings and the economic pressures facing young Australians provided context for his offending.
“This was an emotional and immature outburst,” Ms Chivunga said.
Magistrate Clare Cullen found King had engaged in antisemitic hate speech and said the language he used had historically spread hostility, prejudice and discrimination against Jewish people.
“Antisemitism and any form of hate speech stand in opposition to the Australian values of respect, fairness, and liberty,” she said.
“Hate speech, coupled with the word ‘assassinate’ in your message, conveyed a meaning of sinister intent, and your words were uttered at the time of heightened social unrest.”
Ms Cullen said parliamentarians were entitled to serve the public without facing threats of violence or intimidation.
“The ability for our politicians to carry out their duties is of prime importance to a well-functioning, democratic society, and the courts regard attacks on those in public office as a grave breach of the law,” she said.
The court heard King, an unemployed construction worker, had been disconnected from the effect that words written online could have in the real world.
“The cowardice of keyboard warriors is all too common in modern-day life,” Ms Cullen said.
“This mentality that you can say what you want when you want, regardless of harm and distress that it causes… cannot be tolerated.”
Ms Cullen noted the Australian Federal Police had recorded a 42 per cent increase in December 2024 in incidents involving harassment and threatening communications against politicians compared with the previous year.
“The message is not getting out there,” she said.
Detectives from Western Australia’s State Security Investigations team arrested King at his home in Mandurah, about 70 kilometres south of Perth, soon after the message was sent.
King told investigators he had not intended the message to be a threat.