In what is probably a remarkable alignment of the stars or probably more akin to a comet that streaks through the night sky once every couple of 100 years, everything in this chamber that has been said about this wonderful woman is true. That in and of itself is a minor miracle—that we can all agree on our thoughts and our experiences with Helen Haines.

It's all true. She is a wonderful person. She's kind, she's generous, she's compassionate. She's courteous. She's someone who's a pleasure to work with. She's a great local MP who cares and loves her community and works hard for them. She's effective here as a parliamentarian, and she's also a friend to many of us, as we've heard. Having someone like Helen in this place makes coming to work better.

I was there with her in Wangaratta just a couple of months ago, touring one of the defence bases up there and also doing a community town hall with her. Even when we disagreed on a few things, she was still courteous. That's the measure of the woman. I think that epitomises much of the insights and the themes that we've been discussing in this place about our democracy. We can disagree with each other, but we do it in a way which might not in the end change the other person's mind but which navigates our differences without resorting to name calling or attacking the other because of their background or their attributes. Helen epitomises that ability to navigate through difference respectfully and with tolerance and compassion. That's something we can all learn from. We've been discussing that at length today in discussing her contribution to this place and her contribution to us, to make us better people.

The lesson that we can draw from this, which I hope goes beyond just today, is that the very democracy that we are all part of and we are custodians of—this institution in many respects—in the time that we have here is predicated on this idea of being able to navigate difference and work through it without attacking someone or their person because of the colour of their skin, their postcode, their sexuality or their gender. As many have said, using footy parlance, it's being able to play the ball not the person. It's about not attacking the person and not having to resort to violence as a means of trying to settle an argument.

That's a sad thing that we're facing today—that there is unfortunately a minority of people in our community who consider that political violence is a legitimate form of expression. That's something we all have to push back on. This democracy, this diverse community that we're all part of and this society in Australia that we're so proud of and that we talk up all the time—and we should, because I love this country, as many of the people in this chamber do—is dependent upon a commitment to an idea that, no matter where we come from and no matter what our background is, we can live together in relative harmony. It doesn't mean we're never going to disagree. We're human beings. We're going to disagree on a lot. But the idea of democracy is that we can navigate through those differences, find a consensus and find a way forward without violence. That is the essence of why we're here, how we are obligated and the high responsibility we have to represent our communities and defend these democratic institutions.

Helen Haines epitomises that in her work that she has done every day. The sad tragedy of this—although it shouldn't happen to anyone, this type of violence—is that she's such a special and wonderful person. At least we can take her example and make ourselves better through her example. We met with her wonderful husband, Phil, this morning. We're all hoping and praying for Helen to pull through and to be back here representing her community of Indi. I want to reach out, as we all have, to Phil, her tremendous husband, and her family, who are going through such a difficult period. But they're doing it with grace and with such patience and good humour, almost. It's quite remarkable. We wish them all the best in her recovery. I can't wait to see Helen back in this chamber.