Takapuna man charged with threatening to kill National MP Dan Bidois

A 29-year-old Takapuna man appeared in court on Tuesday charged with threatening to kill National MP Dan Bidois.

According to RNZ, the accused is alleged to have sent Bidois — the MP for Northcote — a threatening message via social media. The threat is reported to have occurred in November 2025.

Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Williams said the police investigation began in December. The charge of threatening to kill carries a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment on conviction.

This is not the only recent case of its kind. Earlier this month, police arrested and charged a 19-year-old Gisborne man over a series of death threats against a Member of Parliament. That man faced charges of causing harm by posting a digital communication and threatening to kill, having been arrested on 8 October (New Zealand Police).

Threats against National MPs have led to criminal proceedings before. In May 2021, a man was arrested over threats directed at Simeon Brown, the MP for Pakuranga (New Zealand Police). A 36-year-old man later pleaded guilty to threatening to kill members of the public and police after a five-hour standoff connected to that case. None of those earlier cases are linked to the Bidois charge.

What stands out in the Bidois case is the gap between the alleged offending and the court appearance. The threat is said to have been made in November 2025, the investigation began the following month, and the accused appeared in court on 11 August 2026 — roughly nine months after the alleged offence. Police have not publicly explained the timeline. Whether that interval reflects the complexity of tracing a social media message, delays in the court system, or other investigative factors is not clear from the available reporting.

For MPs and their staff, the practical reality is that threat assessments, security reviews and sometimes temporary changes to electorate office arrangements follow whenever a credible threat is identified. Parliamentary Service provides security advice, and where charges are laid, so do police. MPs generally do not comment publicly on individual threat cases while they are before the court, and Bidois has not spoken about the matter publicly.

The broader context here is one the Press Gallery has been watching closely. Threats against MPs are not new in New Zealand politics, but the frequency of charges being laid — and the use of digital-communications offences alongside threatening-to-kill charges — suggests a shift in how offending against parliamentarians is both carried out and prosecuted. The 2025 Gisborne case involved the same combination of charges. Whether the Bidois matter will follow the same charging pattern beyond the single threatening-to-kill count is not yet clear from the court documents reported.

The maximum sentence of seven years for threatening to kill is the same regardless of who the target is. But sentencing outcomes in cases involving MPs have historically drawn public and media interest, and judges have in past cases weighed the fact that the victim holds public office. Whether that factor will be argued in this case depends on the Crown's approach at sentencing, if there is a conviction.

The accused's next court appearance has not been reported. The matter remains before the court and the accused is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.