Paul Papalia commends ‘excellent’ police response after organisers complain of lack of communication at rally

Senior Government Minister Paul Papalia has backed the police response to an alleged bombing attempt at Perth’s Invasion Day rally after demonstrators criticised the way officers communicated with the Forrest Place crowd. The CBD space was packed with protesters on January 26 but had to be urgently evacuated after a man threw an object which included screws and ball bearings wrapped around a glass container of liquids — allegedly designed to explode on impact. The device did not detonate. A 31-year-old man remains in custody, charged with intent to harm and making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances. Mr Papalia — a former Police Minister, now the Minister for Racing and Gaming — came out hard on Wednesday after organisers of the rally said a “lack of communication” led to “confusion and unnecessary concern”. “It was a tense situation because the large crowd wasn’t familiar with the cause for the clearing of the area,” Mr Papalia said. “It was handled very well in my view. There has been some very ill-informed commentary from peripheral political players, they don’t know what they’re talking about, and they should be more responsible.” ‘Invasion Day’ rally organiser Fabian Yarran slammed the response on the day and called for better training. “There was a significant lack of communication from WA Police when the device was discovered, which led to confusion and unnecessary concern,” Mr Yarran said. “At no point was there clear, timely or transparent communication with rally organisers. “Police urgently need better training in community policing and significantly improved protocols for communicating with rally organisers that are done in a culturally appropriate way. “Effective community safety depends on strong, respectful relationships and that was completely absent in this case.” Mr Yarran also said previously reported complaints about threats being made in the lead up to the rally had not been “appropriately addressed“. But Mr Papalia said the police response was “excellent” in tough circumstances. “I understand that the event organisers didn’t know what was happening initially, as no one did with respect to the threat,” he said. “I can understand people initially responding in a negative way to being asked to move on, to clear the area, that’s understandable, but it was done really professionally and respectfully by the police. “I think we should commend them for that, and acknowledge what a good job they did.” The Australian Federal Police and and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation said it was investigating the incident as a potential terrorist act. On Tuesday, WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch had said authorities had been working together to determine what motivated the alleged attack. “To be an act of terrorism, it requires one of three things, either political motivation, a religious motivation, or some type of ideology and advancing that cause,” he said. Mr Papalia also warned that the risks around mass gatherings in Australia had changed in the wake of the Bondi massacre. “Australia changed on December the 14th last year, we had a horrific event, and mass terrorist acts, mass deaths was something that won’t go away,” he said. “The threat will ebb and flow with respect to risk, but we’ve got to at all times now assume that there is potentially a threat to mass gatherings — and you’ve seen the police respond appropriately. “But ultimately security authorities at the national level, and each jurisdiction, the police, will do constant monitoring and risk analysis and adjust measures as necessary.”