A man has been charged after threatening staff members of a Western Australian state government minister with what appeared to be nunchucks, following a separate incident in which another female lawmaker was critically injured in a car attack. The events have intensified concerns over the safety and security of female politicians in Australia.

John Lawrence Smart, 56, appeared in a Perth court on Wednesday after entering the electorate office of Minister Hannah Beazley in suburban Perth while shouting and demanding to see the minister. Prosecutors said Smart was holding two pieces of wood tied together above his head as he stormed into the office, which was unoccupied at the time. Two of Beazley’s staff members remained behind a security barrier and were not harmed during the incident.

Nunchucks, or nunchaku, are martial arts weapons consisting of two or more batons connected by a cord, rope, or chain, and their possession in public is restricted under Western Australian law to legitimate use in sports, training, or martial arts instruction. Smart, however, told the court he was holding claves, a type of wooden percussion instrument, rather than nunchucks.

Minister Beazley described the encounter as "confronting" on social media, highlighting the unsettling nature of the threat. The charges against Smart come just days after a separate and more severe attack in which another female Australian MP was struck and critically injured by a vehicle, raising broader fears regarding the vulnerability of politicians, particularly women, who often maintain close public connections.

The sequence of incidents has prompted calls for enhanced security measures for lawmakers across Australia, amid ongoing debates about how to balance accessibility and safety for elected officials. Authorities continue to investigate the motives behind these attacks as they seek to prevent similar threats in the future.