Helen Haines, member for Indi, as we have heard, is the best of us. Possessed of a sharp mind and a soft heart, Helen brings intelligence and compassion to all that she does. Helen is good. The attack on Helen has clearly left our nation reeling. This goes to the heart of our democracy and how we see ourselves as a country. I believe most Australians, like Helen, are also good. Even as we are in this moment, we see people who look out for their neighbours. We value our community.

On Friday last week, I hosted the Caroline Chisholm Volunteer Awards, which is an annual event in my electorate where we honour our exceptional volunteers. It was an affirming night, and we acknowledged Helen, and I want to let Helen know that the community in Chisholm applauded her and her service and send their love to her and her community in Indi.

In tough moments, I find comfort in music and literature and the wisdom of people through history, and I hope that the quote I'm going to offer—I could have picked many quotes—offers some comfort to those who feel the world looks a little bit dark at the moment. It is something people might remember from The Lord of the Rings. It's Tolkien:

The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.

I think we cling to that idea that, even though the world is dark, light still shines, and I think Helen always has shown us how bright that light can be both here and for her community.

We do need to confront, though, the ugliness of this moment and the work all of us need to do to be better. There is a sense of grievance in the community, and those of us who serve in this place must lift the standard, and those on social media and, frankly, mainstream media need to play their part to. We need to focus on good analysis of policy. We need to focus on making sure that we have genuine conversations about the direction this country heads in without resorting to personal attacks, without inflaming hate. It seems there is a never-ending carousel of fury and that some people, when they are engaging with that, make poor decisions that are violent decisions. The ripples of rage are right through our community. Yes, politicians are, at this moment, being discussed, but we also discuss the way people who are working on the front line as healthcare workers, as educators in schools and working in retail and service industries are confronting unacceptable anger and violence.

But where to next? I reflect on Phil Haines's very generous words that he shared this morning. It is clear we must all do better and do ourselves a service by being more like Helen, a woman of deep integrity. In my first speech here I quoted—I like quotes, to give me a sense of an anchor at times—a suffragist maxim which is 'Courage calls to courage everywhere'. I feel that Helen's courage, and her family's courage, should call on all of us to do better. Another suffragist quote is 'Deeds, not words'. We need to act. We need to acknowledge, too, that words can be deeds and can be connected to some of the revolting acts that we have seen in recent times. I don't pretend that I'm always perfect here, but I will always strive to do what I can. I send my love to Helen, her family, her staff and her community, who I know must be struggling right now. I hope we see Helen really soon.