The universal truth here is that everyone in this building loves Helen. From parliamentarians across the parliament to staff and parliamentary attendants, everyone loves Helen. It really hurts me to be speaking here about someone who I consider a friend and who I deeply admire and who unfortunately is now in a terrible situation due to an act that none of us can explain. Helen is one of the finest people you could ever meet and one of the finest parliamentarians, driven by her deep commitment to her electorate, to public service, to health care and to working towards a better community for all of us. I'm shocked, I'm sad and I'm frustrated about what's happened to my friend. I know she's not out of the woods yet, but, if the force of will of the whole parliament could make it better, it would. We wish her a recovery in as short a time as possible.

I've had the privilege of working with Helen, alongside her, through our parliamentary friendship groups, including the parliamentary friendship group for public health, and I've admired her intellect and her ability to understand the deepest levels of public health policy. Helen believes in the power of this parliament to be a force for good and getting on with the job of advocating for and representing the Australian people. She is a longstanding healthcare worker, a nurse and a midwife, and we often discussed how wonderful it is to be involved with the care of newborn babies and watch them grow up and flourish in our communities. We even both used to joke that many of them are now coming back and voting for us at the polling booths, and that's a wonderful feeling.

Whenever I met Helen or whenever we were on committees together or whatever or we met in the morning coming into parliament, I'd always ask her how she was. She always used to say, 'I'm terrific, what a great day this is.' I would always reply, 'I'm not bad for an old bloke.' I want that to happen again soon. I want to be able to do that. There is a long road to recovery ahead of Helen. Whilst that road is long, after hearing from her very loving husband, Phil, this morning, who briefed us on Helen's condition, I know she will be back here with us as soon as she can, and she will benefit from the care of everyone around her and the love of her children and grandchildren and her husband, Phil. I'm thinking of them during this incredibly difficult time and also of Helen's staff, who showed their own bravery in getting back to work in spite of the terrible trauma that they've suffered. I really congratulate them.

The political temperature now is too high and has been too high for some time. All of us have suffered abuse, no question. Why female politicians are picked out to suffer that abuse, I'm deeply ashamed of. I've seen from some of my friends, like Linda Burney and others, the racist, misogynistic, disgraceful abuse that they've suffered. That has to be removed. I don't know why some men feel comfortable doing that, and we need to look at the reasons why and really get rid of them. They should not be behaving that way. Being an elected representative is a very public job, and everyone should be encouraged to stand if they want. I admire people who stand for election. But the election pulse, the election temperature, needs to come down.

I'd like to thank the first responders. I'd like to thank our state police and the Federal Police for the way they do protect us. I'd like to commend the first responders and the general public that came to Helen's aid. As a healthcare worker, Helen knows that there should be no discrimination in care and that everyone who needs help can get it. She would have been the first there, I'm sure, if it were someone else. I wish Helen and her family the very best. We all love her. We all are praying for her. I look forward to the day when I can greet her coming into parliament. I congratulate all those in parliament who have spoken about Helen's predicament, and I wish her and her family the very best.