A man has been arrested for allegedly making threats while armed with “nunchucks” at a state electorate office, just days after an alleged attack on federal MP Helen Haines put politicians’ security in the spotlight.

Western Australian police said they responded to reports of a man making a disturbance at the office of state MP Hannah Beazley in the inner-Perth suburb of Victoria Park on Wednesday afternoon.

“It was reported that the man was making verbal threats while in possession of what has been described as nunchucks,” police said.

Officers later found a 56-year-old man in the nearby suburb of Bentley. They said he was assisting them with their inquiries.

No one was injured in the incident, police said.

Beazley said she was aware of what had unfolded and her staff were understandably shaken.

“This afternoon, staff within my electorate office were faced with a confronting situation when a member of the public entered the office armed with a weapon,” she said.

“Fortunately, no one was injured during the incident.

Beazley said her focus right now was on her staff’s welfare.

“Everyone has the right to go about our lives free from the fear of violence, at work, at home and in the community,” she said.

Beazley is the Labor state minister for local government and the daughter of former federal Labor leader Kim Beazley.

Olivia Nelson witnessed the incident from a business across the road. She told the ABC she heard screaming, which was not uncommon in that area.

“But we heard it pretty prevalently, so we went out there,” she said.

“This guy was just screaming, cussing, going crazy.”

The incident comes days after Haines, the federal member for Indi, was struck by a four-wheel-drive vehicle outside her electorate office in northern Victoria on Monday.

Police allege Brendan Nugent, 43, deliberately drove the vehicle into Haines. She remained in a critical condition in hospital on Thursday after having both her legs amputated.

The incident has sparked a nationwide debate about whether public officials are sufficiently protected from threats against their safety.