3 weeks ago
8
February 6, 2026 — 3:02pm
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch has rejected claims by independent Senator Lidia Thorpe that there was intelligence suggesting the likelihood of an attack on January 26 and asked her to release evidence.
After announcing terrorism charges for the 31-year-old man who allegedly threw an improvised bomb filled with screws and ballbearings into a crowd at the Invasion Day rally at Forrest Place on January 26, Blanch said there had been no intelligence on that individual or any other planned attack at the rally.
He said broader intelligence continued to suggest the threat of a terror attack across the country was probable.
Speaking in Canberra after Thursday’s announcement Thorpe was asked about Blanch’s comments and said they were a lie, claiming she had seen an ASIO report suggesting a probable attack.
“That’s an absolute lie. There was an ASIO [Australian Security Intelligence Organisation] report, I saw it — it was three pages — clearly articulating the probable likelihood of an attack,” she said.
Blanch reiterated that police did not have intelligence to suggest an attack was planned for January 26.
“Could she release that document? Could we all see it?” Blanch said when asked about Thorpe’s comments at a press conference at WA’s police headquarters on Friday morning.
“I’ve seen intelligence products about the probable terrorist threat to Australia, which I’ve already referenced … but if there is anyone, including senators, who have information that suggests there is a targeted attack at a particular place and time, produce the document immediately.
“I certainly didn’t get a phone call from Senator Thorpe warning me or advising me so I could prepare my officers.
“If she was in a position to warn me or warn her own Aboriginal community that there was a risk, that’s probably another question I would ask. Why didn’t you?”
Blanch said police attendance and engagement with rally organisers was greater than it had ever been before, with officers carrying rifles and evacuation procedures in place.
Thorpe was approached for further comment.
Indigenous leaders met with representatives of the Commonwealth, police and WA government at Dumas House in West Perth on Thursday following the declaration of the alleged Invasion Day rally attack in Forrest Place as a terrorist act.
WA Premier Roger Cook led the meeting alongside Blanch, Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy, WA Police Minister Reece Whitby and elders and Aboriginal leaders including 2024 WA Australian of the Year Mechelle Turvey.
Among the leaders was Megan Krakouer, the director of the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project, who said the meeting was historic but wanted action in its wake.
“Today, mark my words, it is a historic day, and for the first time, as a black woman who’s been on that stage at Forrest Place hundreds of times, I feel that some form of justice have been served,” she said.
Krakouer said the prospect of a truth-telling and justice commission was raised in the meeting which was considered seriously by Cook.
“There needs to be a powerful statement made to all constituents in Western Australia and indeed right across the country, and that could be done with a Truth Telling Commission, which will bring all our community, black, white and brown, together to understand the First Nations stories,” she said.
