Story by Lana Lamb/BBC News
A bomb scare at the Australian prime minister’s home originated from written threats directed at a Chinese dance and music group banned by Beijing.
In emails seen by local media, performers of the Shen Yun group were told to cancel their upcoming Australian shows or risk explosives being detonated at Anthony Albanese’s official residence in the nation’s capital.
The claims were first reported in a newspaper associated with the Falun Gong religious movement, which is also banned in China and has ties with Shen Yun.
Authorities refused to comment on the emails, only confirming they had attended an “alleged security incident” at the leader’s home on Tuesday and “nothing suspicious was located”.
Albanese was evacuated from his home at 18:00 local time (07:00 GMT) and taken to another location for several hours, police said.
One of the emails, which was written in Chinese, said large quantities of nitro-glycerine explosives have been placed around the Lodge, the name of the prime minister’s official residence in Canberra.
“If you insist on proceeding with the performance, then the Prime Minister’s Lodge will be blown into ruins and blood will flow like a river.”
The threat was reported to police yesterday, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Asked about the email threats, a spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police declined to comment.
In a social media post on Wednesday morning, Albanese thanked police and people who had sent in “kind messages”, accompanied by a photo of his cavoodle guarding the door.
“Toto on alert but all good,” he said.
