We have heard today an outpouring of respect for Dr Helen Haines, the member for Indi, who in the course of serving her electorate has been severely injured. I add my thoughts and prayers and those of the entire Parkes electorate to those of those who have already spoken in this chamber today and have grieved for Helen and her family for the week that has passed. I sincerely wish her a speedy recovery and was heartened by her husband Phil's words that she is strong of heart and of mind. Staying strong in heart and mind is a condition we should all aspire to here in this place, where we represent nearly 28 million people who put their faith in us every single day.

Through our democratic system, we have the privilege of gathering here to debate legislation that will hopefully make our country an even better place to live and to address the challenges that come with changing times. One of those challenges is the feeding of the discontent and the festering of grievances that we see across social media. Never before has it been so easy to broadcast those moments of hurt and spite, to find others that make it stronger, to grow it into something unfounded and dangerous. Today, people face hatred from others that they have never met. People within these walls face threats from people who have never had a conversation with them, never shared a meal with them and will never know the personal hurdles they face each and every day. This incident has brought into the public eye the fear that a person going about their day and carrying out their work can be a target, not just the people in this building but the people everywhere walking in to do their jobs as a nurse or a builder or a teacher or one of the thousands of tasks carried out by each and every Australian every day.

Within this House of Representatives, there are 150 members of parliament. In the Senate, there are 76. That is a small number of people facing scrutiny from a very large number of people. That has always been the case, yet it has always been crucial for us to be part of our communities that have elected us. If we are to represent our communities, we need to know exactly what matters to them. We need to share their events, their difficulties and their successes. We need to be a strong part of our community at every available opportunity. I would hope we are still living in the kind of country where we can continue to do this.

What happened to Dr Helen Haines outside her own electorate office is absolutely horrific. It is not an everyday happening, and we must ensure it never becomes just another headline in the newspapers. Australians need to work together to remain a country where we are, as one, outraged by happenings such as this one. We need to measure our words and our actions and act in kindness so that we are not part of the problem and we're not feeding the beast that will one day bite us all. Words do hurt. Words on social media have shown us this, time and again—eating away at self-esteem, vilifying those who are different, building bonfires on which to burn good people. But the good part of this equation is that words can also heal. Words are part of what we can use to support each other, to show kindness. Words are what are used to show respect and care for Helen Haines right now. We are shown the way by none other than Helen Haines herself, who, after the horrific attack, did not utter words of anger or self-pity. She said to the helpers, 'Thank you, you lovely people.' We have a chance here to consider how we choose to continue. Let's continue with kindness.