I rise to make a contribution to share my community's care, concern and support for the member for Indi, Helen Haines. So many of my electorate reached out and were shocked, as we all were right across the nation, at the events that played out. If there is, however, one small mercy out of this, it's that Helen gets to hear people say some very nice and very true things about her and about her contribution. I think that's actually kind of nice because it's not what we usually do here in this place. It's very rare that we take the time to look across the aisle and say the things that we admire or are strengths of our opponents. In a little bit of a tribute to the member for Indi, it's important we do that and I'm going to start off by saying that the member for Gellibrand just gave a good speech. He was the first person to put a beer in my hand after my maiden speech; it was a nice show of support, and we've been able to have a good conversation ever since.

We've been talking a lot about standards and how we debate in this place. I was recently named in this place. The first person to come and check on me was the member for Hunter; he just popped in to say g'day, see how I was doing and make sure things were okay. These are the sorts of relationships that exist, and we don't take the time in this place to let the rest of Australia know that that's how we deal—that that's how we get on with things. Deputy Speaker Scrymgour, you and I were on opposite sides of the Voice debate that both of us felt very passionately about. We've since been able to come together on issues of domestic violence and ways that we can work together and make Australia a better place, because a disagreement wasn't the end; we continued to work together. That plays out right across the parliament, and I think that's something that, potentially, in the national conversation, we've lost; we've lost the ability to disagree, and to disagree in a way that allows us to continue to talk, to be friends and to see the positive side of each other's contribution.

I disagree frequently with the member for Indi on a number of issues—and it's a pleasure to do so, because she always has a smile, engages in the conversation and doesn't play the person. That is a good example of how to disagree with a level of grace. On what we do agree on, we both enjoy books—we're both reading Dusk by Robbie Arnott—and we both have strong views on relative funding for regional communities. These are things that we agree on. This is something that this moment in time should present to us as politicians—to think about how we talk to each other and the messages that we send in terms of our relationships across both sides of the aisle.

There is another debate that I think is very important; it's about the type of Australia we want to form. Right here, in this little space here, so much of Australia's future gets mapped out. That's something we all carry very heavily and we think of as very important; I know the member for Indi always does. I don't think we want to go down the pathway of Americanisation of our politics. I think we want to be a place where we pride ourselves on being able to have a strong, robust debate and to let that play out, to proudly fight for things that we believe in and that we think are the right answers, but, at the end, still be able to go and shake hands and be able to talk and to know that we're going to have to continue working together. In opposition, I see the value of the need to be able to reach out to government members at times when my community needs support, to reach out to the government and ask for their support. I am absolutely certain that the member for Indi, as an Independent on the crossbench, is very aware of the value of those relationships, being able to represent your community and getting the best possible solution from the government of the day.

These are the broad conversations that this tragic and terrible event has brought up. But, if we're talking about them, maybe this is a small silver lining on an otherwise very dark cloud. It's rare that you get the opportunity to speak well of people in this place who aren't on your side of politics. I'm glad we've all taken the opportunity to do it. In praising the member for Indi and the way that she conducts herself, I think we all see the higher angels in ourselves that we'd like to aspire to. If we focus on that, there can be some good that we bring out of this terrible situation.