I was at an awards ceremony last Monday when our chief whip Jo rang and said that something really terrible had happened to our colleague and friend Helen Haines, that she had been run down by a car in her electorate and it might have been deliberate. I thought 'Helen, Helen Haines'—Helen who I was in a lift with just a few weeks ago in Parliament House, where she asked, 'How are you going?' It's something I imagine she asks all of us, all the time, no matter our political persuasion. Always the nurse, always caring for all of us—that's Helen. I don't know Helen as well as most here, but we've chatted before about the challenges I've faced as a new MP and my surgery last year. She has listened and offered sound and thoughtful advice, as all those who love her in this place know. As her husband, Phil, said this morning, her superpowers are empathy, compassion and kindness, always. While I was outside the school hall, Jo asked me if I was okay and said if I needed anything to call her. I felt like I couldn't breathe. My chest hurt and, like the speed of light, my brain went straight to her fight for life, the flashes of fear that she may have had, the confusion of not knowing what was hurt or who was hurt and the urgency and the heroism of bystanders, her staff and first responders. I went there because I know it.

What I do not know is being deliberately attacked, targeted at work by a member of the community I serve and love. It has hit us all so hard, particularly the crossbench. We know your hearts are breaking for Helen. We too are upset and shocked. Some of us are frightened because almost all of us have faced abuse and threats of violence online and in our communities, frightened because we know that words said online, in the media, in cartoons and in parliament fuel real-life verbal abuse, real-life threats and real-life violence. As the Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek, said today, the explosion in social media tracks the explosion of sexual violence and strangulation. We're frightened because, as women, we know that threats and abuse have increased at an alarming rate over the past 12 months not just for MPs but for teachers, hospital workers, retail staff, transport workers and emergency service workers. In just three months, over 55,000 comments have been filtered out of my social media pages because they were abusive, ableist, sexist or threatened violence upon me or my family.

This morning Phil, Helen's husband, left her hospital bedside to speak to MPs and senators, her friends and colleagues. He left her for a couple of hours to speak to us. He said his family's wish was that their tragedy be the moment that breaks the fever, the moment Australia chooses to be gentler and that we as politicians lead the way. Phil asked us to think about the impact of words on people outside the parliament, on those who are reading social media feeds, on those who are vulnerable or mentally ill. He asked us to be better, and we must be better and we must demand better from big tech and the online environment. Words matter.

Helen's path over the next few months and years will be hard. But, as I said to Phil this morning after I gave him a big hug, Helen will create a new normal, a life that will be a bit different, but there will be happiness, joy, work, quality time with family and many good times with her beloved community. Our challenge in here is: can we create a new normal online, in our communities and in this place that is safe, kind and compassionate, a new normal in which we politely disagree, a new normal in which we ask, 'What would Helen do?' On behalf of my electorate of Dickson, our thoughts are with Helen, her family, her staff, her friends and her community of Indi. Thank you to the first responders, health workers, heroic bystanders and her staff. Helen, I hope that you know how much you are loved.