A Sydney man who went on an “abhorrent” social media tirade in which he made death threats against Anthony Albanese has avoided jail.
Alexander Phillip David Keating, 36, was charged last July over online threats he directed towards the Prime Minister in the lead-up to the May federal election.
He pleaded guilty in December to use carriage service to menace/harass or offend.
He appeared before the Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday for sentencing and sat quietly at the back of the courtroom as details of the case were read.
Keating, who suffers from complex mental health issues, made 45 posts on X (formerly Twitter) over a period of two months between February 2025 and April 2026.
While the posts are too graphic for publication, the court was told they are described as containing material that is racist, homophobic, Islamophobic and promoting sexual and physical violence.
Deputy chief magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis said the facts in the case “do not make for pleasant reading”.
“The conduct is abhorrent,” he said.
Mr Tsavdaridis said the posts were calculated to dehumanise entire groups of people and to promote extreme violence against them.
“The conduct for which the defendant stands charged represents a grave abuse of a social media platform and is a serious affront to the values of a civilised society,” he said.
“There is no place for this level of hatred in a country such as ours.”
Keating’s lawyer Tom Seeney told the court his client’s account had a mere six followers at the time and argued it couldn’t be established that anyone actually saw the posts.
His account, however, was open to the public, but one would need to actively seek out the post, Mr Seeney argued.
“One cannot know the width of one’s audience when it is transmitted into the social media ether,” Mr Tsavdaridis conceded.
The court was told that Keating had become “increasingly frustrated in government policies and the impact of these policies on his life” in the lead-up to the posts.
He cited “wokeness, communism and immigration policies” as the source of his frustration, and felt he was “unable to have an opinion”.
The court was also told that Keating’s emotions and behaviours at the time were related directly to his mental health issues, including problems with impulse control issues and regulating emotions.
He will require further ongoing mental health treatment and assessment, the court was told.
Keating was sentenced to a community corrections order of two years, and is to attend mental health treatment.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.
Meanwhile, the Australian Federal Police earlier said it had launched an investigation in March 2025, linked the threats to Keating’s social media account, and searched his Kingswood home in May.
His devices were seized during the search, and Keating was later charged.
AFP Acting Commander Mark Baron said the AFP took all reports regarding the safety and security of parliamentarians seriously and assessed each matter based on the information provided.
“The AFP supports freedom of speech and political expression, but I want to make it clear we will never tolerate criminal behaviour, including threats and harassment,” Commander Baron said.
