PERTH: A homemade explosive device was thrown at an Invasion Day rally in Perth’s CBD at Forrest Place on January 26, 2026, but it failed to detonate, sparing roughly 2,500 attendees from injury. Police are treating the incident as an ‘terrorist act’.
AFP media release on 5 Feb., 2026 says, ” The man was charged by the WA JCTT with one count of engage in terrorist act, contrary to section 101.1 of the Criminal Code (Cth), which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
“Under the Criminal Code three key components must be met to charge for a terrorism offence, including:
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The action causes, or threatens to cause, serious harm to human life, serious damage to property, endangers life, creates a serious risk to public health/safety, or seriously interferes with critical infrastructure, and,
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The action is done with the intention of advancing a political, religious, or ideological cause, and,
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The action is done with the intention of coercing or influencing a government by intimidation, or intimidating the public, or a section of the public. “
The WA JCTT includes Western Australia Police Force, the AFP and ASIO.
WA Premier Roger Cook described the incident as a potential “mass casualty event” that contradicted Australian values. A 31-year-old Perth man, arrested at the scene, now faces WA’s first-ever charge of engaging in a terrorist act, upgraded from initial counts of making explosives and endangering life. He allegedly hurled the “fragment bomb”—packed with volatile chemicals, nails, ball bearings, and screws—from a first-floor walkway onto the stage as Noongar elder Herbert Bropho spoke.
Officers arrested the self-radicalised suspect after a bystander’s alert, evacuating the crowd while bomb units secured the area. Rally-goers, including Bropho, showed resilience by resuming their march post-evacuation amid initial chaos. WA Police, AFP, and ASIO are investigating his “hateful, racist ideology” and white supremacist online materials, with explosive precursors found at his home; no ongoing threat is reported, and he faces Perth Magistrates Court on February 17.
Sources – Australian Federal Police (AFP), BBC, ABC, The Guardian and AI.
Video in YouTube – AFP.
