Car bomb hits Australian Christian group

A two-storey building was badly damaged by the fire when a van reportedly carrying gas cylinders drove into it in Canberra.

Canberra, Dec 22: A van reportedly carrying gas cylinders drove into the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) headquarters in capital city of Canberra on Wednesday night, authorities said.

According to the police, there were no injuries suffered from people inside the building but the driver was being treated, The Canberra Times reported on Thursday.

The van was destroyed and the two-storey office building, named Eternity House, was badly damaged by the fire.

The police later said in a statement they had established the actions of the 35-year-old male driver "were not politically, religiously or ideologically motivated".

ACL Managing Director Lyle Shelton posted two images online on Thursday morning of the vehicle outside the office in the inner-southern Canberra suburb of Deakin.

He also connected the incident to the ACL's staunch opposition to same-sex marriage and the Safe Schools initiative, labelling the apparent attack "unsettling" in the context of death threats being made against members of the organisation.

"I think something of this nature, that appears to be so deliberate, is an attack against the sort of things that we've been saying in the public square," he told the ABC News.

"And obviously someone didn't like that which we stand for, which we've advocated publicly."

IANS