POLICE ROUNDS:

SYDNEY: NSW Police say they have located former prime minister John Howard safe and well at a Sydney house after he went missing for several hours yesterday.

Mr Howard was reported missing from the Chatswood Chase shopping centre in Sydney’s northern suburbs where he and his wife Jeanette had gone shopping.

A NSW Police spokesperson said the temporary disappearance of Mr Howard , pictured above with then Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton during the 2025 election campaign, appeared to have been the result of a misunderstanding and no charges were being considered against any individual.

“Like a lot of couples Mr and Mrs Howard at one point decided to head in different directions within the centre and to shop separately for a time,” a NSW Police spokesperson explained.

“They agreed to meet up again in 30 minutes at the front entrance to the Kmart store within Chatswood Chase.

“Mr Howard arrived back first and was standing at the Kmart entry when a family shopping for Halloween decorations mistook him for one of the store’s plastic lawn statues. (below)

“The family ‘bought’ Mr Howard and put him in their shopping trolley and took him home.

“It was only when they were placing him on their footpath and spraying fake cobwebs on him that their mistake was uncovered.

“It appears he began shaking their hands and trying to convince them to vote for their local Liberal candidate.

“The family, especially their little children, were quite shocked but immediately called the police and Mr Howard was reunited with his wife soon after,” the police spokesperson said.

Kmart has apologised to Mr Howard, with a spokesperson saying: “Once again we will be revising our Halloween merchandise display guidelines to prevent similar incidents because, unfortunately, this isn’t the first time this sort of mistake has occurred.

“It was only last year that a Perth family thought they had bought one of our animated screeching witch statues only to discover they were trying to insert three AA batteries into Senator Michaelia Cash.” (below)

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