'Blood flows like a river': Chinese embassy said it had no knowledge of bomb threat to PM

The Shen Yun group, which is associated with the Falun Gong spiritual movement, is due to perform several times in Australia over the coming months.

A spokesperson for the Falun Gong told The Canberra Times that organisers received two threatening emails demanding the shows be cancelled.

They said they believed the threats were linked to the Chinese Communist Party, but no relationship or motive has been established by authorities.

One of the emails reportedly stated that explosives had been placed around The Lodge, and that they would be detonated if the performances went ahead.

The spokesperson later confirmed performances would still continue.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Canberra said they were aware of this reporting but had "no knowledge" of the threats.

"China always opposes all forms of violent attacks.

"We believe that the Australian people are able to distinguish right from wrong," the spokesperson said.

It is understood that the second threatening email was received on Sunday, February 22, and reported to the Australian Federal Police two days later.

"Large quantities of nitroglycerin explosives have been placed in the Australian Prime Minister's Lodge, located at Adelaide Avenue.

"If you insist on proceeding with the performance, then the Prime Minister's Lodge will be blown into ruins where blood flows like a river," a translation of the alleged email, seen by The Canberra Times, read.

The Chinese embassy spokesperson vehemently denied any knowledge of the emails, saying: "The so-called Shen Yun is a political tool used by Falun Gong to disseminate anti-China narratives and cult ideology, seek to expand its influence, and amass financial gains under the guise of promoting traditional Chinese culture".

Falun Gong's spokesperson described their group as "a peaceful spiritual practice rooted in the Buddhist tradition", which they said had been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party for several decades.

The Canberra Times does not suggest the emails were linked to the Chinese Communist Party, only that they were accused of being.

Mr Albanese was sent to another location, away from his main, heavily guarded Canberra residence, for more than three hours. He returned home after 9pm.

The Prime Minister thanked the AFP after being evacuated from his main residence about 6pm on Tuesday.

"We trust the AFP to do their jobs and thank them for their work," a spokesperson for the Prime Minister said.

Finance Minister and ACT Labor Senator Katy Gallagher said police had spent "a few hours investigating" at the scene and the prime minister "was able to return once they'd confirmed it was safe to do so".

Senator Gallagher said the Albanese government "really appreciates the AFP and all those that work at The Lodge," calling the alleged threat "very distressing and unsettling".

"Everyone deserves to go to work safe," Senator Gallagher said on Wednesday morning.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor posted to social media platform X that he was glad to hear that Mr Albanese was safe.

"Threats against any parliamentarian are utterly abhorrent, especially in a country built on expressing our differences through debate," Mr Taylor posted.

The AFP said it had completed a thorough search of the property and did not find anything suspicious. There was no threat to the community.

Mr Albanese took part in a live-streamed interview at The Lodge with broadcaster Karl Stefanovic just hours before the evacuation. More than 41,500 people watched the interview, which attracted a barrage of negative comments about the Prime Minister, on Mr Stefanovic's YouTube channel.

In a separate incident last week, the AFP bomb squad was called to Canberra's Hyatt Hotel after rocks were thrown through a window during a major Defence Force summit. The hotel is about a kilometre from The Lodge, Mr Albanese's main residence.

Hundreds of attendees were evacuated from that event. Mr Albanese responded to the incident by asking Australians to "turn the temperature down".

Senator Gallagher said on Wednesday that politicians in Australia were "for the most part ... very fortunate" to be able to do their jobs safely and that the AFP play a key role in assessing potential threats and providing "assistance if that's required".

But, she said, the rise of "keyboard warriors" had made it feel less safe for members of parliament to do their jobs.

"It has changed in my time in politics," Senator Gallagher, who was ACT chief minister before being elected to the Senate, said.

"I know that every MP across the parliament feels it to some degree," she said.

"We need to protect what's so great about Australia, which is that politicians are able to go about and do their work and mingle with the community safely."

Threats to the safety of politicians have increased over the past two financial years. The AFP received 1009 reports of incidents involving alleged harassment, nuisance, offensive and threatening communications in 2023-24. That marked a 42 per cent increase from the previous year.

A Queanbeyan man was charged last week with threatening two federal parliamentarians on social media.

AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett last year established a National Security Investigations team to target groups and individuals "causing high levels of harm to Australia's social cohesion, including the targeting of federal parliamentarians".

Ms Barrett has said the majority of the 21 individuals charged by the new units had targeted MPs and the Jewish community.

"We are witnessing the continued rise of individual grievance, including those who are willing to make threats in the online world and then carry them out in the real world," she said earlier this month.