Anton Raymond Illich, 47, fronted Perth Magistrates Court on Friday accused of threatening to kill One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, and the court heard one of his Facebook posts said he would "hunt her down and kill her".

The Australian Federal Police charged him in July with two counts of using a carriage service to make a threat to kill or cause serious harm, an offence carrying up to 10 years in prison for each count. The AFP never named the parliamentarian he is accused of threatening. That detail only came out in court on Friday, and it is Senator Hanson.

The court heard Mr Illich is accused of making three Facebook posts, including on a One Nation members and supporters page.

It is the scenario Hanson's own office put in writing months ago, when chief of staff James Ashby warned a Cabinet Minister that "it only takes one crazy person" to physically harm the One Nation leader.

Representing himself, Mr Illich admitted the posts were "stupid, crazy" and told the court he made them because he wanted his Facebook account shut down. He said he had no intent and was "never a direct threat".

He indicated he wants to plead guilty, though the court heard the matter is likely to go to a higher court. The magistrate ordered that he cannot contact Senator Hanson, and he is on bail until his next appearance in the magistrate's court in October.

The AFP national security team moved aggressively after receiving notification of an alleged online threat to kill a federal parliamentarian on 6 July. By 17 July, officers had linked a man to the posts and executed a search warrant at a home in Bayswater.

"Public officials deserve the ability to carry out their duties without facing the threat of harm," Acting Inspector Fleur Jennings stated as charges were laid. "The AFP has the resources and technology to locate and identify offenders who threaten parliamentarians and high office holders and bring them before the courts."

Commissioner Krissy Barrett established dedicated investigation teams in October 2025 to target groups and individuals causing harm to social cohesion, including those targeting federal parliamentarians. The AFP reports rising threats, violent and menacing, against parliamentarians.

James Ashby warned cabinet minister of deadly threat to Pauline Hanson's safety

Hanson's office had been formally warning the Albanese government that "something terrible could soon occur" if her AFP protection was not upgraded, The Nightly reported in June. Ashby's "one crazy person" warning went directly to a Cabinet Minister in early May.

Her daughter, Tasmanian Senator Lee Hanson, told the Sunday Telegraph in June that death threats against her mother had ramped up as One Nation's support surged, and that she and her own children had received death threats too.

Two months after Ashby issued the urgent warning to government ministers, federal police received formal notification of the alleged online threat to kill Senator Hanson.

Physical violence flares as a One Nation staffer is allegedly assaulted and riot police are deployed

Hanson's name surfaced in court following weeks of escalating hostility targeting One Nation. On 17 August, a One Nation staffer in her 60s was allegedly punched at the party's Ekka stall in Brisbane, suffering a broken rib. Just two weeks earlier, Senator Hanson required Victorian riot police and mounted police to get through protest lines at her Hawthorn campaign launch. In June, dozens of protesters lined the streets outside her Midland fundraiser in Perth.

Following the violent Ekka assault, One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce told 2GB host Ben Fordham that protesters at the anti Hanson student walkouts "had chants the other day that they wanted to murder Pauline Hanson".

While none of these incidents involve Mr Illich, they form the hostile climate Hanson's office continually cited when begging the government for security upgrades.

Senator Hanson knows the AFP speed better than most. When complaints were made about her February interview comments on Islam, the agency dragged its investigation out for over five months before determining she committed no offence, even under Labor's aggressive new hate speech laws. When the alleged threat to hunt her down and kill her was reported, the exact same agency moved from initial tip off to executing a search warrant in just 11 days.

Five months spent scrutinising words spoken in a television interview. Eleven days spent acting on an alleged threat to kill a sitting senator.

Mr Illich faces the magistrates court again in October, where each charge carries up to 10 years in prison.