A 52-year-old Mossman man has been charged over alleged abusive, threatening and antisemitic content directed at a religious organisation following an investigation by a newly established Queensland Police and Australian Federal Police hate crime team.
Queensland Police and AFP detectives executed a search warrant at a Mossman address before arresting the man on the Captain Cook Highway at Macalister Range on Thursday, 27 August. An electronic communication device was seized for forensic examination.
The man has been charged with two counts of threats with circumstance of aggravation, involving alleged serious vilification or a hate crime. He is due to appear in Cairns Magistrates Court on 21 September.
Police said the investigation concerned reports of ideologically motivated threats of violence. Further investigations are continuing.
The operation was carried out by the joint QPS-AFP Hate Crime Team, which brings together officers from Queensland Police’s Counter Terrorism Investigation Group and the AFP’s National Security Investigations capability.
Detective Superintendent Heath Hutchings said the partnership was intended to ensure cases with potential implications for community safety were properly assessed and investigated.
“The joint QPS-AFP Hate Crime Team reflects our shared commitment to protecting Queensland communities and ensuring matters that have the potential to impact community safety are effectively assessed and investigated,” Det-Supt Hutchings said.
“By combining the expertise, legislative capabilities and investigative resources of both agencies, we are better positioned to identify and respond to complex and emerging threats.”
He said the latest activity demonstrated the agencies’ continuing commitment to working together to keep Queensland communities safe.
AFP Detective Superintendent Anthony Conway said National Security Investigations teams focused on groups and individuals causing “high levels of harm to Australia’s social cohesion”.
“Harm to social cohesion at a local community level ultimately impacts on Australia’s national security – we will not allow divisive and hateful rhetoric to grow and spread more widely,” Det-Supt Conway said.
Police have urged people to report suspected hate crime incidents, including antisemitism, through Policelink or Crime Stoppers.
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