Helen's husband, Phil, has spoken about her fighting spirit. Many of us have seen it in action in this place and in her community of Indi. It is a lifelong core value that makes Helen who she is. I was told by one of Helen's close friends, Anita, about a memorable moment when this fighting spirit was on display. In between nursing training, Helen and Anita were backpacking around the world. While in Rome, they walked an English woman that they had befriended to the railway station to ensure that she was safe. Then, they decided on a pit stop at a local gelato store. As they neared their accommodation, they became aware that they were being followed. As they feared, the two figures lunged at them, but they had certainly underestimated what two Australian nurses armed with gelato were capable of. Helen and Anita spun around, sinking the ice creams into the eyes of their attackers and kneeing them in their groins. As the figures reeled back, I'm told that Helen and Anita made a swift escape to their nearby accommodation. I understand that they have both since reflected that this move might not have been the safest approach.

Anita also shared with me these words:

Helen still has many friends from her nursing training days at St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne—affectionately known as the "Feb 80"—and from her midwifery training at the Mercy Hospital, Melbourne, known as the "May 85".

Anita goes on to say:

From the moment we met her, we knew she was clever, funny and above all a kind person.

Long before her parliamentary days we knew we had a special friend.

We send her and her dear family all of our love and strength for recovery.

I was lucky enough to join Helen on an overseas delegation, where her thirst for understanding how we can learn from others to make things better was clear for all to see. Having travelled widely and been witness to the many challenges and risks across the globe, it is so heartbreaking that the greatest threat Helen would face would be on the doorstep to her own workplace in Wangaratta. I still can't comprehend this act of violence. It has shaken all of us, leaving us and our staff feeling exposed.

But there are many others in our community who are feeling the effects of increasing hostility in our communities. Our retail, hospitality and customer service workers, police, paramedics, nurses, doctors and care workers, train drivers, truck drivers, teachers and more in public-facing roles are feeling the impact of increasingly disrespectful behaviour. Our multicultural community is also feeling scared and targeted. Last week, I spoke with Illawarra Indian and Muslim leaders, and they are also experiencing increasing hostility.

As the Prime Minister and our security agencies have said for some time, we must turn the temperature down. This is a moment for everyone to step back and have a really good look at the kind of Australia we want, take a breath and start to put kindness and empathy back into our public debates. People have legitimate concerns about the cost of living, housing and access to services, which we all know are driving some discontent not just here but across the world, but the fact is that online algorithms, the anonymity of social media and a media far too often driven by drama rather than facts are giving people a platform for toxic views to circulate. Mis- and disinformation are designed to trigger emotional reactions and, too often, backed by aggressive rhetoric by some political and community leaders. We all have a responsibility to return respect, kindness and facts to our political debates, and I encourage everyone across our community to reflect on this.

Finally, I want to thank the first responders and the bystanders who came so quickly to Helen's aid. They show the best of who we are as a nation, as do the many health workers supporting her recovery around the clock. On behalf of all the people of Cunningham, our thoughts are with Helen, her husband, Phil, and their entire family as well as Helen's staff and everyone across her community. We love you, Helen, and we can't wait to have you back here in this chamber.