Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in secret kidnapping drama in days after Bondi massacre: One man, 27, is arrested
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has broken his silence on the alleged kidnapping threat made against him, after Daily Mail revealed a self-confessed ‘far-right’ tradie has been arrested and charged over the incident.
Nathan Ballesty, 27, is accused of using a carriage service at his Beacon Hill home on Sydney’s northern beaches between 12.01am Friday and 8.40pm Sunday to threaten serious harm against the PM.
Speaking in Canberra on Wednesday morning, Albanese called to ‘lower the temperature of political debate’ when asked about the case.
‘We need to be able to have civil political discourse in this country. We need to be able to disagree as well as agree respectfully,’ he said.
‘There is no place for the rise in violence that has occurred.’
Albanese said security agencies had warned against heightening tensions through political debate.
‘The director-general of ASIO has made this very clear publicly that we need to lower the temperature of political debate,’ he said.
He also urged fellow politicians and members of the media to act responsibly as tensions rise.
Nathan Ballesty, 27, is accused of making a threat online calling for Anthony Albanese to be kidnapped
‘There is a responsibility on both public office holders, a responsibility upon people in the media as well, to engage in a way that they would like to see themselves spoken about,’ he said.
‘I encourage people to engage, particularly young people to engage in political discourse because in a democracy, participation is an essential component. But it does need to be respectful.’
Ballesty was swiftly identified after the Australian Federal Police’s new National Security Investigations team launched an immediate investigation and allegedly traced the threats back to him.
‘It will be alleged the man made an online post calling for the kidnapping of the federal parliamentarian,’ an AFP spokesman said, in a statement that did not reveal the most powerful politician in Australia was the subject of the threat.
The reality that it was Albanese who had allegedly been threatened was only made clear in court documents seen by the Daily Mail late yesterday.
Albanese swore at the end of the press conference on Wednesday when he realised he had forgotten to acknowledge the passing of former Liberal MP Dr Katie Allen, who died on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister said ‘s***’ before returning to the podium to make remarks about Allen.
‘Doctor Katie Allen is someone who I had enormous respect for. She has passed far too soon. And I think for her colleagues in the Liberal Party,’ he said.
Police will allege the threat against the Prime Minister (pictured in Bondi) was made on December 19
Anthony Albanese paid tribute to former Liberal MP Katie Allen, who passed away on Tuesday
‘But right across the Parliament, she had respect.’
Allen was elected to the Melbourne seat of Higgins in 2019. She lost her seat in 2022 and made an unsuccessful attempt at a political comeback in 2025.
She passed away after being diagnosed with a rare cancer, surrounded by family and loved ones.
Ballesty’s home was raided between 6pm and 8.30pm on Sunday, with officers seizing a number of electronic devices for forensic examination.
During the search of his home, computers and mobile phone, police allege Ballesty failed to comply with the directions of the investigating officers.
He was taken to Manly Police Station and charged with using a carriage service to threaten serious harm and contravening an order to provide access to an electronic device.
At Manly Local Court on Monday, Magistrate Ian Guy granted Ballesty bail under strict conditions which ban him from contacting any members of Parliament or their offices.
He must abide by a nighttime curfew, is banned from accessing encrypted applications including Discord, must surrender his passport and cannot possess more than one phone.
He must also report to police three times a week, cannot consume drugs or alcohol unless prescribed, and must see a GP and accept any treatment reasonably recommended.
Ballesty’s posts on social media show he frequently expressed right-wing views, with his bio on X describing him as a ‘Catholic, Anti-Communist’ – with the political tenor of his posts ramping up in the wake of the deaths of 15 people at Bondi on December 14.
On December 19, he professed on social media platform X: ‘I am far right.’
It followed an earlier post 11 weeks ago when he insisted: ‘It’s okay to be far right.’
On December 14, under a link to Albanese’s immediate reaction to the Bondi attack, he posted: ‘Words cannot describe the contempt I have for this rat’ .
On December 21, the day of his arrest, he shared a Change.org petition calling for Albanese’s resignation in the wake of the alleged terror attack at Bondi Beach.
‘In light of recent tragic events at Bondi Beach and pressing national concerns, it is time to address the leadership of our country,’ the petition reads.
‘The shocking mass shooting at Bondi Beach, which claimed numerous innocent lives, is yet another reminder of the urgent action required to safeguard our communities.
Anthony Albanese is pictured at a memorial for the Bondi Beach massacre victims on Sunday
Fifteen people died and dozens more were injured when a father and son allegedly opened fire at the iconic beach on December 14
‘Equally concerning is the ongoing mass migration, a shift that surveys and polls consistently show is opposed by a significant portion of the Australian population.
‘Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took office with the promise of steering Australia toward a safer and more prosperous future for all.
‘However, many Australians now feel that promise has not been kept.’
In December last year, Ballesty shared a post about then-opposition leader Peter Dutton after the politician announced he would remove the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags from government press conferences if he was elected into power.
‘Australia has one flag. This flag,’ the post read.
In another post, he shared a graph indicating the biggest threat to Western civilisation was ‘white liberal women with arts degrees’.
The incident comes as Mr Albanese has faced scrutiny in the wake of the alleged mass shooting.
The Prime Minister was heckled and booed as he arrived at Bondi Beach for a memorial service attended by an estimated 15,000 people on Sunday.
Alleged Bondi terrorist Naveed Akram is pictured
The AFP created National Security Investigations teams in September to ‘target groups and individuals causing high levels of harm to Australia’s social cohesion, including the targeting of federal parliamentarians’.
Ballesty is next due to face Sydney Downing Centre Local Court on March 3.
