Threats against NZ MPs rise 'astronomically', says Speaker

Threats against New Zealand MPs have risen "astronomically" in recent years, prompting Parliament to ramp up security, the Speaker says.

Speaker Gerry Brownlee has sounded the alarm as RNZ reveals a specialist parliamentary security team handled more than 200 requests for help in just three weeks.

An Australian MP has been critically injured and has lost a leg, in an attack that has been condemned by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Brownlee said the attack would have left Australian politicians feeling deeply unsettled, and New Zealand MPs were not immune.

"They're not that far away from us."

New figures obtained by RNZ show Parliament's Security Information, Risk and Advisory Service (SIRAS) handled 216 requests for advice or support between 28 September and 18 October, and was deployed 81 times.

Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero told RNZ the specialist team supported MPs attending public events, travelling, dealing with protests and responding to threatening behaviour.

The service had expanded to meet growing demand, with extra capacity added ahead of the election amid fears security risks would increase.

Parliament would not disclose details of specific incidents for security reasons.

But Gonzalez-Montero said they had seen a "significant volume of threatening language and abuse directed towards members as they carry out their work".

He said social media was a key part of that, providing more direct access to elected representatives and a degree of anonymity that can enable threatening or abusive behaviour.

Brownlee said increasing threats against MPs over the past three years had forced closer cooperation with the police.

He described the current arrangement as "the strongest protocol we've ever had with the New Zealand Police".

Brownlee blamed growing public frustration, financial pressure and global instability for helping fuel the hostility.

"When some people get a feeling of not being in control, then they really do react in all sorts of adverse ways."

He also pointed the finger at the media, accusing it of reducing complex political issues to soundbites and treating democracy like entertainment.

"It's all this five second stuff."

Asked whether politicians themselves were contributing to the hostility, Brownlee defended robust debate in Parliament, saying attacking a policy was not the same as attacking a person.

He stressed most New Zealanders abhorred political violence, but warned the country was not insulated from the volatile forces overseas, particularly with inflammatory content so readily available online.

Brownlee feared continued intimidation could eventually drive politicians away from the communities they represent.

"The last thing we'd want is for politicians to become anonymous from the communities they represent because there's too many threats."

He said people willing to stand for public office should be "applauded", not frightened away.

"Democracy is a relatively fragile thing."