The call for stronger government action is growing louder following a recent assault on an Indigenous gathering in Boorloo, Perth.

A 31-year-old man is currently in police custody, facing several charges after allegedly hurling an object filled with volatile liquids and shrapnel into an Invasion Day rally on Monday.

The man’s identity remains confidential due to a court-approved application to protect his anonymity.

On Wednesday, a collaborative task force involving WA Police, the Australian Federal Police, and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) confirmed that they are probing the incident as a potential terrorist act.

The task force stated, “A 31-year-old man has been charged and remains in custody. His next court appearance is scheduled for February 17 at Perth Magistrates Court.”

They further noted, “The investigation is active, and additional charges have not been dismissed. Public safety is not at risk.”

Police have described the incident as a potential mass casualty event.

Megan Krakouer, Director with the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project, said the incident had left the community shaken.

“I’m still really frustrated, angry, hurt about the hatred and discrimination,” the Menang woman said.

“The fact that somebody took it upon himself to hurt a large crowd of people at a gathering which is sacred to First Nations people … Elders, young people, men and women [there] to protest in relation to Invasion Day.”

Government urged to take threat more seriously

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss said the incident had caused “deep distress and fear” in Indigenous communities.

“While the motive is yet to be determined, there is no question that the targets of the attack were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their allies,” the Kaanju and Birri/Widi woman said in a statement.

“Had the device detonated, the results could have been catastrophic, and potentially as deadly as the Bondi terrorist attack.

“I call on the government and law enforcement agencies to treat this incident with the same urgency and seriousness.”

Ms Krakouer compared the relative silence of leaders from across the political spectrum following the attack to the unified condemnation that followed last year’s deadly attack at Bondi.

“This was a First Nations rally. It’s almost like they do not care about us,” she said.

“We have not been heard in ways that we should … To my mind, this was a hate crime.

“We have an elevation across the country of people who do not like First Nations people. We belong to this land, we belong to this country.

“The mere fact that we can have a rally which is impeded by a person who took it upon himself to cause danger is an absolute travesty.

“We are seeing, on the rise in this country, hate, discrimination, racism, and it’s been taken to new levels over the last decade.”

AHRC still waiting for response on antiracism framework more than a year on

Following the deadly terrorist attack on the Jewish community at Bondi Beach last year, the government called a royal commisison into antisemitism, enacted an antisemitism, hate and extremism bill, and said it would work through the recommendations of antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal’s 2025 report.

A report by the AHRC, titled the National Anti-Racism Framework, was tabled with the federal government in November 2024, but the organisation is yet to receive a response.

“We still haven’t heard as to whether they will endorse it, adapt it, or implement it,” said Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman.

“And that framework is First People centered, and it has specific measures in terms of combating the racism that target First Peoples.

“It’s built on a foundation of truth telling, building racial literacy within schools, within other parts of our lives.

“We don’t know if any one thing would have stopped the horrible attack in Boorloo Perth, but what we do know is that if you take the whole of government, whole of society approach to tackling racism, that’s really the only way to try and eliminate it from our systems, our institutions and from our streets.”

On Tuesday, the prime minister said authorities should “throw the book” at the alleged perpetrator.

“This was an incident that is quite shocking and he’s been charged with two serious offences and I look forward to him being prosecuted to the full force of the law,” he said.

However Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has been critical of Anthony Albanese for not taking more strident action.

“[The prime minister] needs to show leadership … to condemn what happened and stand with our people and call it for what it is, and that is a terror attack against First Peoples in this country,” she told NITV.

Following the Bondi massacre, the prime minister faced criticism from some quarters that warnings about such an attack had gone unheeded.

Addressing a memorial service for the 15 people killed in Australia’s worst ever terror attack, Mr Albanese said he was “profoundly sorry” that the attack was not prevented.

Senator Thorpe says similar warnings have been made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, particularly following the neo-Nazi attack on Camp Sovereignty in Melbourne last year.

“We’re sick of these words coming out of, particularly, the prime minister’s mouth by smoothing over these attacks on our people,” she said.

“We saw what happened at Camp Sovereignty. he needs to do more now, he’s shown leadership for other communities, he needs to show leadership for us.

“We’ve always been swept under the carpet, we’ve always had atrocities and violence perpetrated against us minimised by authorities and governments.”

Indigenous Australians minister Malarndirri McCarthy said on Thursday that the government had acted decisively with its hate speech legislation.

“Unfortunately we weren’t supported in a bipartisan way to get those laws through,” she told the ABC.

“We know that we have to work very serious in this country to keep social cohesion, and it doesn’t help when people go online and say things or do things that really impact that.

“As a government we will continue working for the safety of all Australians.”

Ms McCarthy said she had spoken with the WA government and families of those present at the rally on Monday.