Updated ,first published
Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson sold his bayside home because he “no longer felt safe”, it has been revealed, as he was targeted at a community event for the third time in nine months by the same far-right activist.
The treatment of Wilson and a bomb hoax that led to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s evacuation from The Lodge in Canberra this week has again raised the issue of MPs’ safety and concerns about a rise in reported threats.
Police are investigating white supremacist and serial protester Matt Trihey, who gatecrashed an event Wilson was hosting at Bentleigh East’s Boundary Hotel on Thursday night.
On Thursday night, Wilson’s forum on the topic “How do we build a respectful society?” was disrupted midway through when “blokes stormed in … two started recording and one started shouting”, according to the MP.
Video posted on social media shows Trihey, a leader of the far-right National Workers Alliance, enter the forum, before pointing and shouting at Wilson as a mostly elderly crowd watched. Trihey can be heard shouting that crime and immigration are “an existential threat to our people”.
The trio of gatecrashers left after about 10 minutes. In a statement, police said the men had left the area by the time they arrived and officers were making further enquiries.
It is the third time Trihey has confronted the Goldstein MP. Wilson said Trihey squared up to him outside a polling booth during last year’s federal election campaign and during a private meeting at a cafe last Friday.
“He was calm but intrusive during the middle of a meeting,” Wilson said about the cafe encounter.
“Security is an increasingly large part of our consideration as I have previously been targeted with antisemitic threats for standing up for the Jewish community, and homophobic threats, in an increasingly unstable political environment.”
Before Thursday’s incident, Wilson had outlined in a submission to the parliamentary joint committee on electoral matters allegations of intimidation during the federal election campaign, which escalated to the point he and his husband increased private security, required police protection, and ultimately sold their Sandringham home.
He describes “Greens and Labor interests collaborating under the banner of ‘teals’” and claims: “While they drape themselves in integrity, the evidence base clearly shows there was deeply dishonest, deceitful and at times illegal behaviour.”
The submission also alleges “an aggressive and homophobic whisper campaign run throughout the community by teal volunteers”, and cites academic research into abuse directed at LGBTQ politicians.
Wilson argued the incidents formed part of a broader pattern that “has led an explicit change in political culture in Goldstein for the worse” at the 2025 election, where he won the seat by 175 votes from teal independent Zoe Daniel.
“Before the 2022 election, electoral contests in Goldstein were robust, but respectful between opposing candidates based on competing views,” Wilson wrote.
“That changed at the end of 2020 with the arrival of a new political force that brought dishonest and extremist behaviour.”
In June, Zoe Daniel made accusations of “unfair” tactics employed by the Liberal Party and its “proxies”, specifically naming groups like Advance and Repeal the Teal. Describing the campaign against her as “vicious” and “personal”, Daniel revealed she had been the target of smear campaigns falsely labelling her as antisemitic and a supporter of terrorism.
The committee is examining campaign conduct, third-party activism and electoral laws as part of its post-election review.
The Australian Federal Police investigated 950 politically motivated threats in the 2024-25 financial year, 63 per cent up on the previous four years put together.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said the Wilson incident was “unacceptable” and he had spoken to Albanese after the bomb hoax about the behaviour faced by politicians.
“Whilst I understand that not everyone agrees with what politicians do, and not everyone likes politicians and parliamentarians, but that kind of violence is completely unacceptable,” he said.
At the last federal election, Trihey was part of a co-ordinated group of neo-Nazi associates ambushing politicians on the election trail, protesting and asking about immigration.
Angus Delaney is a reporter at The Age. Email him at angus.delaney@theage.com.au or contact him securely on Signal at angusdelaney.31Connect via email.
Rob Harris is the national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age based in Canberra. He is a former Europe correspondent.Connect via email.