Threats to politicians are back in the spotlight, after revelations that Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was the target of an alleged terror plot.

A Brisbane private schoolboy allegedly planned an attack involving the Dutton early in 2024 before being arrested in August, according to News Corp.

The Australian reports the 16-year-old has been charged with buying ingredients to make bombs and testing “homemade explosives” in preparation to launch a terrorist attack on Dutton at his acreage home north of Brisbane.

The alleged plot, according to News Corp sources, involved using a drone.

The teenager, 16, was reportedly committed on Thursday to stand trial in Brisbane’s Supreme Court after being charged with a Commonwealth offence of committing acts done “in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act”.

It follows a joint counter-terrorism ­investigation by federal and Queensland police.

On Friday, Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the case was “incredibly concerning”, before saying she was confident that police and the judicial system would “do the right thing”.

“We expect this sort of thing to happen overseas, but never here,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program on Friday.

“We can’t let this become the new normal in Australia.”

Ley noted the revelation added to recent difficult personal news for Dutton, whose father was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack ahead of the first leaders’ debate on Tuesday.

In March, a parliamentary hearing was told threats against politicians and their staff had surged in recent years.

Sports minister Anika Wells said it was an issue MPs dealt with “all the time”.

“You think about your family, who are the unwitting conscripts to your work, and to the impact that the threats might be on them in particular,” she told the ABC on Friday.

As politicians travel the country ahead of the May 3 federal election, Labor minister Jason Clare hoped the leaders could continue interacting with the public as usual.

“In Australia, in a democracy, you make your arguments with words, not weapons,” he told Sunrise.

“If people want to come up to us and have a chat, they can.

“If they don’t like us, then they might mumble something under their breath or cross the road.

“You never want to see the sorts of threats of physical violence happen, like we’ve seen overseas.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had contacted Dutton after the terror plot allegations emerged.

“It is a fact that the number of threats that have been made to parliamentarians has increased in recent times,” he said.

“I myself have been the subject of a range of issues, at least one of which is before legal processes at the moment. There was a pretty serious incident.”

Dutton defensive amid criticism as Coalition bleeds

Dutton was in Western Australia on Friday to spruik a Coalition election pledge to abolish penalties for fuel-guzzling cars.

The federal government’s vehicle efficiency scheme is designed to encourage the uptake of electric and more fuel-efficient cars.

It sets emission targets for vehicles and imposes penalties on car manufacturers whose fleets fall short of those limits or if they fail to trade credits with other car brands.

But Dutton also faced a grilling over the opposition’s ailing election campaign, with polling suggesting the Coalition could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

He began Friday at an event hosted by The West Australian, where the paper’s editor-in-chief Chris Dore delivered an unconventional introduction that contrasted a “match-fit, super confident” Albanese with a “punch-drunk” Dutton.

Dutton used the comments from the Perth gathering – which included The West’s owner billionaire businessman Kerry Stokes, 84 – to declare he could handle the challenges.

“You’ll deal with all the slings and arrows and the derogatory comments and editors trying to be funny and not succeeding,” he said.

“That has steeled me for anything this job has thrown at me – or what could be thrown at me if I’m given the immense pleasure of being prime minister.

“I don’t need to attack the character of the Prime Minister to win the next election … what I want to offer the Australian people is a much more positive future.”

Dutton started the year with the wind at his back, driven by the cost-of-living crisis amid a worldwide turn against incumbent governments.

But the Coalition has bled support since the election was called. YouGov polling released on Friday had the two-party preferred vote at 52.5 per cent for Labor, compared to 47.5 per cent for the Coalition.

Albanese, meanwhile, headed to the Northern Territory to announce a $70 million pledge for health and aged care.

Labor also committed $60 million to build a new residential care home in Darwin. It will deliver 120 care beds for the NT capital.

Albanese also promised $10.1 million for CareFlight to buy a plane to support medical evacuations and transportation in the NT.

Labor is also committing to delivering an upgraded Medicare mental health centre in Alice Springs, and a youth specialist care centre in Darwin.

-with AAP