Victorian minister finds bullet with firefighter ID on car

Paul Edbrooke, the Victorian emergency services minister, found a bullet on the bonnet of his car on Saturday. The projectile was etched with the word 'RAT' and his former firefighter identification number. Edbrooke said he was 'shocked' and 'horrified' by the discovery, which he described as a direct death threat.

The minister had been speaking with community members when he returned to his vehicle. He told ABC Radio Melbourne that the incident left him stunned because he regularly interacts with the public. The timing of the find, one day after a reported attack on federal MP Helen Haines, added to the sense of alarm, though Edbrooke noted there is no suggestion the two events are connected.

Edbrooke said the specific firefighter ID number would not be known to the general public. This detail raised immediate questions about who had access to his personal information. He said he began to wonder if he was being followed or surveilled, a concern heightened by the fact that his children also drive the car.

The minister stated that the only people sending him aggressive threats on social media were members of the United Firefighters Union. The union is currently in a dispute with Fire Rescue Victoria, an agency Edbrooke oversees. The parties have failed to reach an agreement on the firefighters' enterprise bargaining agreement since 2021.

The union has intensified its campaign against the state Labor government ahead of next month's election. It has planned an expensive advertising push and will staff polling booths with firefighters. The union has also authorized material urging voters to rank the Labor party last. A members' meeting is scheduled to decide whether the union will disaffiliate from the Victorian Labor party entirely.

Edbrooke said he would not be intimidated by the gesture. He cited the safety of his family and other politicians as his primary concern. He warned that actions like this could force MPs to rely on more security, making them less available to the public.

He said Australians should be able to disagree politically while still engaging in face-to-face conversation. Edbrooke expressed fear that such incidents would erode that tradition of open democratic exchange.