There are moments in your life when it seems like life stands still and you watch history unfold in slow motion. Last Monday was one of those moments. I was at a citizenship ceremony when I heard the unimaginable news about the member for Indi. It's interesting because citizenship ceremonies are one of my favourite parts of my job, and often at citizenship ceremonies I share the story of my parents' first days in Australia, with my mum and sister not having a place to stay and my dad's boss, Bob, saying, 'They can stay with us.' I share that because it's a story of kindness and also the way that lifelong friends can form, and I end that story by telling citizens to choose each other and to choose kindness. I think that the member for Indi lives that every single day.

People come to this place for many different reasons. For the majority of us, if not all of us, it's fundamentally about making our communities a better place, and Helen embodies that more than anyone. She's one of the kindest and calmest people in this building. Sometimes you meet people, and they are just so grounded. Helen is one of them. I have no doubt that she honed these skills as a midwife. If I think about birth, it's messy and it's beautiful. It's the fragile beginning of a new life, but it also can be life or death. I can only imagine the calm that Helen would bring to a birthing suite. It's the same calm that she brought into this chamber. I think that was what made it so shocking for me.

It's interesting because the member for Indi was elected in 2019. When I was elected in 2022, there was a huge new crossbench that was also elected. What was interesting was seeing the camaraderie form amongst the crossbench. I loved that the member for Kooyong had shirts made that said, 'What would Helen do?' I think that that's a good question for us alright now, and I think that Helen would want us to be kinder, to seek to understand before we seek to be understood and to stay curious about each other. When you strip it back, most of us all want the same thing—a roof over our heads, a decent income, access to education and, importantly, to go to work and come back home safe from work. We are indeed all humans.

Helen, the member for Fisher and I co-chair the Parliamentary Friends of Cycling, and I've loved working alongside her. I'm not the only one who feels the same way about this. Stephen Hodge and his team at We Ride shared these words with me today: 'Helen Haines has been convenor of the friendship group since 2020 and has been a warm, intelligent and highly engaged supporter since the very start of this journey together. Her advice and support have been invaluable throughout the time we've all worked together with the co-chairs of the group.' I couldn't have said it better myself.

I know that public life comes with sacrifices. For many of the people that work in this place it takes a toll on your relationship with your partner or with your kid. But the price of serving your community should never be your safety. That is far too high. To anyone that's thinking about running for office: I'm going to say that we actually still need you. We need the best and brightest minds to put their hands out. We as the parliament have a responsibility to make sure that we make all workplaces safer, whether that's someone working in an underground mine, someone working in a bar, someone working at a checkout at a supermarket or even a parliamentarian working in her community. To anyone that's faced violence or abuse at work: it is unacceptable. I also want people to recognise that the standards that they walk past are the standards that they accept. I think everyone has an important role in not being a bystander.

We also need to learn how to disagree agreeably. To all of us in this place: our words matter. They ricochet across the country like an echo. We need to be very intentional about what we want our community to hear and also say back. What I want to try and do is channel the kindness of people like Helen, because I want to grow up in a loving community where people love their community and love their country. To Helen: your recovery journey is going to be very long, and I wish you the best of luck. You've got the whole parliament behind you as well as the whole nation.