An Australian senator startled his colleagues during a committee hearing by pulling a fake pipe bomb out of shopping bag.

Senator Bill Heffernan, who represents the ruling Liberal Party, was trying to make a point about lax security at the Parliament building.

The 71-year-old wheat farmer produced what appeared to be a pipe bomb and several sticks of dynamite taped together while the Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee was questioning the Australian Federal Police Commissioner Tony Negus.

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