As we look across the chamber, we see the empty seat of the member for Indi and how lonely it looks after the violence visited on her last Monday outside her office in Wangaratta. We were all stunned by the attack. We don't know why a local man turned his Toyota Land Cruiser into a two-tonne weapon and robbed Helen Haines of her legs and health. We don't know why, and that question gnaws at us because we know Helen Haines and we know that she is a kind and gentle lady. We've all seen Helen gracefully gliding through the corridors during the working day; we've all known Helen's smile, channelling that Wangaratta warmth; and we're all stunned because we don't know why someone would want to hurt her. Perhaps we'll never know why. But we're also stunned because the violence was an assault on our way of life. It was an assault on our culture of debate, negotiation and compromise and of resolving our differences peacefully. And that's the whole purpose of this chamber, that's the whole purpose of this parliament and that's the whole purpose of Australian democracy: to resolve our differences with civility and without violence.

The brutal attack on Helen Haines forces us to pause and reflect. It's a time for us to pause and ask, 'How can we do better?' For me, how can I do better? I'll be the first to admit that I've overreached in my language during my 11 years in this House, and we've all erred in this way at some time. Indeed, we account for it in our standing orders; that's why we ask members to withdraw unparliamentary remarks. It's a good and realistic convention, because people make mistakes. We are, after all, in a political contest, and we all want to win. And a good debate in this place sometimes leaves us feeling bruised, more often than not for reasons of ego than for reasons of substance. But our system is designed to be adversarial. Our job on the opposition benches is to hold the government to account, sometimes with a rhetorical hip and shoulder. We make no apologies for asking tough questions or for the discomfort those questions bring to ministers of the Crown. That's how we get good governance in the national interest. Our parliament requires tough and rigorous debate. But, in moments like this one, we can reflect on how we can do better.

We, the 150 members of this House, have a duty to model, steward and uphold our democratic traditions for the 27 million Australians we represent. That's why there can be no place for the targeted destruction of character or the relentless demonisation of personality. It only takes one person with a twisted mind or a perverted sense of reality to strike out—to weaponise a car, a kitchen knife or a firearm—and to feel justified in doing so because they judge that an online assassination must be followed up with a real-life assassination. So what we say here and online shapes the political culture. We can all do better and we should strive to do better. So let's play the ball, not the person, and leave the nasty personal politics of MAGA in the United States.

Beyond this House, we need more Australians like Ricky Jefferies, the local barber who acted like a good neighbour in a moment of crisis, who went towards danger for Helen Haines, who subdued her assailant and who recovered order out of the chaos. Many of us were touched by Ricky's humility when he stopped cutting hair the following morning and answered questions for reporters outside his shop in Wangaratta. He was cautious in his remarks. He downplayed his heroism and noted his obligations as a neighbour to Helen and his local community. We need more good neighbours like Ricky Jefferies, who are more bonded to their local community and less consumed by the fiery utterances of the false community online.

Ricky knew the first responders helping Helen because he cut their hair, not because of social media networks, and there's something in that. We thrive as a nation when we are in community with our neighbours, when we are known by them and they are known by us. That takes work, patience and time, face to face, in the flesh. That's how you build trust. It's not easy, but we've got to do it, because, if we want to keep Australian democracy, we need more Australians like Helen Haines and Ricky Jefferies, who show us what it is to be a good neighbour. In the meantime, we hope and pray for Helen Haines's speedy recovery; for her family, especially her husband, Phil; and for her team. We look forward to when she returns to her seat in this House.