Queensland man Norman Dean Lake was arrested on Saturday after he allegedly wrote on Facebook that he would “assassinate” Albanese and urged the public to “watch the news in two weeks”.
At a press conference today, Albanese said there was “no place” for violence in discourse.
“We just need to turn down the temperature,” he said.
“It’s something that I’ve tried to bring to political discourse in this country.”
Albanese said the problem had worsened in recent years.
“Issues that I face are far more acute than 10 years ago, five years ago,” he said.
“Certainly a lot more acute than when I was first elected.
“And I just say that the role of social media, people being able to say things that they would never say to your face is something I’ve spoken about regularly.
“There’s no place for violence, there’s no place for violent discourse either.
“Because we can’t normalise these sorts of threats being made and think that it’s business as usual.”
While he did not comment on the specifics of Lake’s case, which remains before the course, Albanese warned that rising anger in political conversation could lead to “real tragedy”.
“Well, the great thing about this country is I could go to a shopping centre in Sunnybank during the election campaign, I could do a walkthrough in south-east Queensland and engage with people,” he said.
“I don’t want to lose that as prime minister. I don’t want to be told I can’t engage in a normal way with people at random about preparation.”
Lake was refused bail in court and remains in custody.
His case will next be heard in November.
