Inside the terrifying plot to kidnap Albo, kill Tony Burke on live TV - and burn down Parliament... after warning Pauline Hanson to take the day off

By STEPHEN GIBBS, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 09:58, 14 July 2026 | Updated: 09:58, 14 July 2026 A far-right tradie who suggested kidnapping Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and holding him for questioning also threatened to kill Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in Parliament House. Nathan Ballesty's online rants included his desire to trap federal politicians inside their Canberra workplace and burn the building to the ground. The 28-year-old planned to save One Nation leader Pauline Hanson from the inferno by sending her a letter saying: 'Don’t come to parliament today.' Ballesty, from Beacon Hill on Sydney's northern beaches, was arrested by Australian Federal Police on December 21 and charged with using a carriage service to threaten Albanese with serious harm. That charge was formally withdrawn on May 27 when he pleaded guilty to lesser offences and Ballesty now faces sentencing for six counts of using a carriage service to menace or offend.  Ballesty has also admitted performing a Nazi salute for an online audience and denying police passwords and PINs to access his electronic devices.  The full details of the fitter-machinist's offending can now be revealed after Daily Mail obtained a statement of facts tendered in Downing Centre District Court.  It can be revealed that when police raided Ballesty's home on the day of his arrest they found a copy of Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf and a Nazi uniform embroidered with SS insignia. Nathan Ballesty, a far-right tradie who suggested kidnapping Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and holding him for questioning, also threatened to kill Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in Parliament House. Ballesty is pictured Nathan Ballesty's online rants included expressing a desire to lock federal politicians - except Pauline Hanson (above) in their respective chambers and burn the Canberra building to the ground When police told Ballesty he was compelled to provide a PIN for his phone and a password for his desktop computer he declined to do so and said: 'The power of Christ compels me.' Ballesty was a regular user of X and the Discord platform, which allows voice, video, text and other communications.  He was a member of a collection of Discord chat rooms and voice channels called Server Down Under in which he engaged in debate about Australian politics.  On December 15 last year, Ballesty took part in a voice call on Server Down Under using the handle 'Cav' with other unknown participants on the Discord platform. Before and after that discussion, Ballesty 'expressed negative views' about Albanese on X and Discord, calling him 'a rat and a terrorist' and saying he was 'beneath contempt', according to the statement of facts. 'I personally believe - I genuinely believe - the best option is to f***ing grab him and put him in a room and force him to answer like every possible f***ing question,' Ballesty said. 'Like everything, like go through like religious questions, go through like f***ing economics and f***ing all of it and just give him the actual questions and force him to f***ing answer the questions.' Unknown male: 'Yes, but are you actually going to do it?' Ballesty called Albanese (left) 'a rat and a terrorist', while he warned Tony Burke (right) that if he cancelled a neo-Nazi's visa and deported him: 'I will kill you in parliament on live television'  Ballesty: 'I would, yeah. If anyone wants to f***ing, if anyone wants to like rent the van and help, and come and grab it with me, like yeah, let's go.' Second unknown male: 'If you do it, I will give you like ten grand, bro.' Ballesty: 'You'll give me ten grand?' Second unknown male: 'Yeah, bro. I'll donate to you straight up.' When the second unknown male suggested Albanese should publicly debate Ballesty he responded: 'No I don't think so, I've crossed into the f***ing realm of terrorism bro, I'm not trying to debate people man.' Ballesty then suggested 22-year-old far-right agitator Hugo Lennon, who goes by 'Auspill' online, would make a good politician but he himself would not. 'The only way I would take power is through force like, no one is going to vote for me, I don't believe in voting,' he said. 'I don't believe people are smart enough to pick the right choice. They're not.' During Ballesty's interview with police he 'admitted he was referring to kidnapping the Prime Minister but that it was a joke', according to the statement of facts. In a livestreamed call on the Discord platform Ballesty discussed a video which showed National Socialist Network leader Thomas Sewell (above with bald head) at a march Ballesty also stated that he believed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is a threat to him and his far-right ideology.  While on bail, Ballesty asked the Grok chat bot if he should publicly address his 'joke' about 'taking the PM into custody and forcing him to answer questions in relation to the Bondi terrorist attack but also more broadly about a range of issues pressing the Australian public.' On November 24, Ballesty commented on an X post by a user called @TruthFairy131 regarding Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke. 'Face the wall Tony,' Ballesty wrote. Four days earlier, he had drafted what appeared to be a response to a post on X by Burke about revoking the visa of National Socialist Network member Matthew Gruter, who had participated in a neo-Nazi protest outside NSW Parliament House. 'If you deport him I will kill you in parliament on live television,' Ballesty wrote. On November 26, Ballesty sent a Discord user an edited image of Pauline Hanson which showed the senator as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Four days later, he sent the same user this message: 'I don't believe in voting. I believe in catching parliament while they are in assembly, blocking the doors and burning the building to the ground.' Shortly after Daily Mail approached Ballesty in December his mother Angela (above) arrived home and said she did not wish to comment about her son's charges 'But send Pauline a letter. Don't come to parliament today.' Ballesty again wrote to the Discord user on December 14, the day 15 people - most of them Jewish - were shot dead during a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in an atrocity allegedly inspired by ISIS. In his note, Ballesty referred to the December 2005 mob violence involving thousands of mostly Anglo-Australians and a much smaller group of Australians with Middle Eastern backgrounds at Cronulla, in Sydney's south.  'We need Cronulla 2 the final solution,' Ballesty wrote. 'And we need it now. 'CRONULLA 2: THE FINAL SOLUTION. Cronulla riots 20 year anniversary was the other day.' Two days after the Bondi massacre, Ballesty took part in a call with other Server Down Under users on Discord, according to the tendered statement of facts. During the livestreamed call Ballesty and his associates discussed a video which showed the since-banned National Socialist Network's leader Thomas Sewell at a march. The video also featured far-right protests in other countries and Ku Klux Klan members armed with what appeared to be assault rifles. About an hour into the chat Ballesty gave a Nazi salute. Anthony Albanese is pictured next to his wife Jodie Haydon (left) and Governor-General Sam Mostyn (right) at a vigil honouring victims of the Bondi massacre  In another video recorded on November 30 and found on one of Ballesty's hard drives he appeared wearing his Nazi cap. 'During this video he discusses the ANZACs and how they fought for democracy and his view that Australia is no longer a democracy,' according to the statement of facts. 'He also goes on to state, "People like Anthony Albanese don't listen" and the only way you can change their mind is through a "5.56 round, there's no reasoning".' Later the same evening Ballesty recorded another video - again wearing his Nazi headgear - in which he described himself as a 'victim of society' and said 'the ANZACs are f***ing losers'. He further stated: 'Yeah I am a f***ing victim, I do deserve more. Give me freedom or give me death, give me freedom or give me death.' Later still, Ballesty advocated the killing of members of parliament and expressed a desire to 'kill people' and 'take the country back'. In a final video recorded on December 12, Ballesty spoke about the charges he faced. 'Hello Australia,' he said at the start.  'I am a fitter-machinist from Sydney's northern beaches and the Australian Federal Police are charging me with using a carriage service to threaten serious harm to the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.  'The charge is completely ridiculous. Anthony Albanese is the threat to this country, not me.  'If you support me, please consider contributing to my legal defence fund. Anything would help, my family is really struggling right now and we're not coping very well, and I would really appreciate any help, thank you very much.  Ballesty had his bail revoked on May 18 and is listed for sentence next month.