Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has called for a full investigation into "intelligence failures" which she says placed First Nations people at the Boorloo Perth Invasion Day rally at risk.
At Monday's rally, a 31-year-old man allegedly tossed a improvised explosive device (IED) containing an unknown liquid and shrapnel into the crowd.
CCTV footage released by WA police shows a man throwing the glass object, which narrowly misses attendees, before running away.
He was identified and arrested by police shortly afterwards.
He appeared in Perth Magistrate's Court on Tuesday charged with making or possessing an explosive, and committing an act with intent to cause harm.
Specialist officers from the WA Police Bomb Response Unit and forensic teams have confirmed that the device was a “fragment bomb,” using volatile chemicals designed to explode on impact.
Senator Thorpe said the incident displayed differing approaches by the authorities to recent events.
"When violence is linked to Muslims, the word ‘terrorism’ appears in headlines almost immediately," the Djab Wurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman said in a statement.
"But when First Peoples are targeted by white supremacists, the response is silence, minimisation and delay.
"This was a serious act of violence that could very easily have become a mass-casualty event."
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, the state's minsiter for emergency services, Paul Papalia, said it was 'irrelevant' whether the event was a terrorist incident.
"There is no further threat from other individuals associated with this person," he said.
"Police are investigating. In the end if that investigation determines that it meets the criteria for a terrorist attack, then they'll probably state that.
"But it has no relevance to how that person is dealt with at the moment, or the safety of the community."
Reflecting on last year's attack on Camp Sovereignty by a neo-Nazi group, the independent senator said attacks on First Nations peoples were treated as "less serious".
"The ideologically driven neo-Nazi attack ... last year was also downplayed, with authorities refusing to recognise it as a hate crime or an act of terror.
"We need a comprehensive investigation – not only into the alleged perpetrator, but into the policing and intelligence failures that allowed First Peoples to be placed at risk of serious injury and death."
Mr Papalia said no intelligence had been missed by police.
"There was no intelligence relevant to this individual. He was not known to police," he said.
The state Greens also called for an investigation, saying the attack met the threshold of a hate crime.
"Monday’s attack was clearly designed to terrorise yet so far the alleged attacker has not been charged with such offences," said Greens MLC Sophie McNeill.
“We are deeply concerned by the rising threat posed by far-right extremists to the safety of First Nations people, religious communities, and Black and Brown people across Western Australia.
“We urge the WA police and the state government to prioritise the very real and violent threat posed by the far-right and white supremists here in Western Australia.”
Amnesty International Australia also called on the state government to investigate the incident as a gate crime.
“This rally was attended by thousands, including Elders, children, and babies. It is a miracle the device didn’t explode,” said Kacey Teerman, Indigenous Rights Campaigner at Amnesty International Australia.
"This was a deliberate attack on First Nations people, designed to cause maximum harm and fear, it comes amid rising racist and hate-fuelled attacks."
Rally attendees criticise police response to incident
Attendees at the Invasion Day rally have also made criticisms of WA police's response to Monday's events.
Nyungar woman Luisa Mitchell was at the centre of the incident, handing the IED to police after it had been thrown into the crowd.
"Though I'm sure they had to enact safety procedures, [police were] shutting down Elders in an intimidating manner by encircling them on stage ... causing more fear and confusion."
Ms Mitchell's comments were echoed by Tanesha Bennell, a Bibulmun Noongar woman also in attendance.
"Police [were] herd[ing] the Elders into the crowd with no concerns of mobility needs, disregarding and not allowing Elders to access their canes/wallkers," she told NITV.
Communication was lacking with rally marshalls, Ms Mitchell said, and police gave mixed messages while moving the crowd.
"They started saying bomb threat, before that it had simply been 'someone threw something into the crowd, there's a safety concern surrounding that' and then this escalated further as they began using force to shove and move people towards Murray Street mall," she said.
"Elderly people were shoved ... multiple Aboriginal community members were shoved and physically grabbed, and they were being told whilst this was happening 'that an explosion has gone off.'"
Ms Mitchell lamented that the Invasion Day rally's message had been obscured by the events.
"While this is a sign of the rising racism towards First Nations people, let's not be distracted ... Let's return to what Nyungar Elders were calling for," she said.
"A full implementation of the Bringing them Home report recommendations ... of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody recommendations, closing Unit 18 [Juvenile Security Facility] and raising the age of criminal repsonsibility, and housing for everyone.
"These are logical, fair just and achievable requests that will make our nation a better country for everyone."
Minister Papalia acknowledged the confusing state of affairs when officers began moving on the crowd, but said police had acted appropriately.
"The event organisers didn't know what was happening initially, no one did, with respect to the threat," he said.
"I can understand people responding negatively to being asked to move on ... but it was done professionally and respectfully by police."
