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A man has been charged after allegedly sending death threats to the federal member for Mallee, Anne Webster.
Simon Raymond, 39, of no fixed address was arrested at Brisbane Airport by Australian Federal Police and appeared in a Brisbane court on Tuesday.
Nationals MP Dr Anne Webster is alleged to have faced death threats by a man arrested in Brisbane on Tuesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Raymond has been remanded in custody after facing several charges related to using a carriage service to make a threat to kill a person. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Webster’s office confirmed on Wednesday the Nationals MP for the Mildura region had been targeted by threats. A spokesperson said Webster would not be commenting at this time as the matter was before the court.
A source with knowledge of the case, who is unauthorised to speak about it publicly, said threats were made to multiple members of parliament as well as members of the public.
Police are yet to confirm whether there have been complaints from anyone other than Webster.
It is not the first time the Nationals MP has allegedly been targeted by the public.
Webster and her husband, Philip Webster, were awarded $875,000 in damages in 2020 after a judge ruled against conspiracy theorist Karen Brewer, who had accused Webster of being a member of a paedophile network.
Justice Jacqueline Gleeson ordered Brewer to pay damages after ruling that her Facebook posts, which were shared hundreds of times, were defamatory.
In her findings in 2020, Justice Gleeson pointed to the Websters’ extensive contributions to the Mildura community, which included setting up a not-for-profit, Zoe Support, which provides help to disadvantaged young mothers and their children through four centres in the town and surrounding areas.
Gleeson acknowledged the potential for Brewer’s claims to adversely affect Zoe Support and said there can be no serious doubt about the value of a charity such as this in a rural community.
“Ms Brewer’s defamatory publications are designed to undermine the charitable objects of Zoe Support, to the potential detriment of some of the most disadvantaged people within its community,” she said.
“Fortunately for the Websters, their long lives of decency and good deeds, coupled with the incoherence of much of Ms Brewer’s messages, make it reasonably unlikely that any, but the most suggestible individuals would think the less of them as a result of Ms Brewer’s publications.”
In 2021, Webster revealed she had been sexually harassed by another MP on the floor of the House of Representatives. She said at the time that the other MP had apologised, which she was satisfied with.
“But the point to me is what was deemed OK 50 years ago, 30 years ago, is no longer the case,” she said at the time.
Raymond will appear in Brisbane Magistrates’ Court again on Friday.
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