Australians are united in their horror at the attack on the member for Indi, Dr Helen Haines, and we're united in our love and support for her and the people who love her. All of us are thinking about the member for Indi; her husband, Phil; her children; her grandchildren; and her staff in Wangaratta as they confront the consequences of this terrible act and start out on the road to recovery. I think all members know that nurses make some of our best MPs. They're trained to speak truth to power to protect those in their care. They work like Trojans in a job that demands diligence and commitment, and they see the whole person in front of them, listening with empathy and compassion. The member for Indi embodies all of those characteristics, which has made the recent attack on her all the more shocking.

I last spoke with the member for Indi at the Sarah Carter lecture in Parliament House during the last sitting. The Sarah Carter lecture is an annual lecture that was established by Save the Children to honour the life of one of their long-term staff members, my dear friend Sarah Carter, who we lost in 2024. I was sitting with Sarah's mother, Gaynor, throughout this event. We miss Sarah so much. Helen gave a typically thoughtful and empathetic speech. She told a story about visiting a school in her electorate in northern Victoria, where a primary school child asked her: 'Why do we spend money on overseas aid? Doesn't charity begin at home?' Helen answered by drawing on what she had learnt travelling with Sarah to see Australian aid projects as part of the Australian Regional Leadership Initiative and spoke about how she believed that children all around the world deserve the same chance to learn and grow and contribute to their communities as all kids in Australia should. Helen told the room and Sarah's mum that Sarah's legacy lives on today, in that conversation with a child in a tiny 10-student classroom in northern Victoria. It's one of those grace notes that characterises the member for Indi, and it shows why Helen graciously asked Australians not to send flowers but instead to send donations to Save the Children, an appeal which has already resulted in more than $1.3 million in donations.

Our thoughts are focused on Helen today, but Helen and her husband, Phil, have asked us to reflect on the larger context in which this terrible incident has occurred. Australia has long been rightly proud of the egalitarian nature of our politics, and I was reminded of how precious this was a few years ago in Truganina, in my electorate in Melbourne's west. I was walking back to my car alone one evening after a typical school awards night, and from behind me someone came running up with a camera filming, with the man behind it asking me, 'Are you alone?' Confused, I told him that I was and asked him why he was filming and whether I could help him. Then, while he walked in a circle around me filming, he proudly declared: 'You see, I told you he is alone—no security, no staff at all. He's even driving himself home.' The man was facetiming with his family in his mother country, who could not believe that I, as a member of parliament, had spent a night at an event like any other member of the community. It made me so happy to be able to tell this man's family that he was right and that he and his children now lived in a country where our democracy is part of the community, not separated by security teams.

We do know that it's under threat, though, and the number of threats against MPs is up fourfold since 2020. We must refuse the idea that political violence is inevitable. It is not. We all have agency over the kind of society and country we live in and an obligation to cultivate a better politics for today and for future generations. That's why there's more that we can do to turn the temperature down. To this end, I commend the work of the UK charity More in Common, the NGO formed after the murder of UK parliamentarian Jo Cox. More in Common's report Dousing the flames draws on empirical research to offer practical insights to political leaders on how they can go about turning down the temperature. They include, one, assuming complexity and rejecting shorthand culture-war framings of issues. Humans are complex and don't just divide into two opposed camps. Two, make space to question. People who feel shamed for having honest questions can be pushed towards robust opposition. Respectful conversation persuades more people than confrontation. Three, don't amplify the extremes. Hold bigotry to account but avoid elevating small extreme groups. Showcase the tolerant majority. Four, use concrete language. Leaders should use plain, accessible terms rather than insider jargon to build big tents on the controversial issues. Five, prioritise action over symbolism. Match gestures with tangible change rather than fights over words. Six, use inclusive processes. Use lessons from conflict resolution methods to auspice controversial issues and platform accountability. Seven, force tech companies to do more than window dressing on how their platforms drive polarisation and elevate hate and abuse.

Taken together, these principles can help to foster a political debate in Australia that reminds all of us here that we are working on the same challenges and that we have more in common as Australians than the things that we differ on. I look forward to being able to work together on these common challenges with Helen and making this a reality when she returns to parliament.