Mr Speaker, through you, to Helen: the nation breathed the most enormous sigh of relief when we read reports that your condition had stabilised. As so many people across the country have said, violence is never the solution. Helen, you of all people did not deserve the violent attack—you of all people, who would come into this place at a time of heated debate and have a warm smile that would radiate. You of all people did not deserve to be attacked.

Helen, you have always conducted yourself not as a divider and never as a hater but as a unifier and, if anything, as a true humanitarian, not just holding yourself with enormous dignity but seeing the dignity in others, and, regardless of political stripe, you have heard that message from right across the parliament and, indeed, right across the country. I'm conscious that, while the nation focuses rightly on you, every single day for the rest of your life you will have a reminder of the attack that you have withstood—every single day. My prayer for you is not just for your survival and your recovery but also for your defiance. My prayer for you is that the words your husband, Phil, whose own bravery has proven to be quite extraordinary over recent days, instil in you that fighting spirit about which he has spoken so eloquently and the superpowers about which he speaks—that you believe in kindness, empathy, compassion and that you defy those who hate by continuing to espouse the goodness that underpins those values, values each of us in this parliament have benefited from.

To Phil and the family: I share my deepest sadness for what's happened to your loved one Helen. Thank you for providing the leadership of the local community in her absence, and you no doubt, like us, want to see her back at her very best self. To her staff in the electorate office: so often staff are not mentioned publicly, but you do such good, and the extent to which any parliamentarians have felt insecure over time so too have staff. I thank you, and I thank all electorate staff members right across the country for being on the front line every single day, dealing with Australians in need.

When something like this does happen to a parliamentarian, it makes sense that people focus on parliamentarians, but let's not forget that every single day there are young workers in supermarkets who cop the brunt of people's anger. There are people in hospitals—nurses, care staff—who cop the brunt of people's anger. There are ambos doing the same. There are people running schools and churches—teachers, priests and the like—who cop people's anger. Yes, the security agencies of this country have a job to do, but so too do we.

I genuinely believe Australia is more divided today than it has been in my lifetime. Social cohesion is fragmented. We have a job to do in this place to ensure that people don't fall through the cracks. We have a job to do to tackle the scourge of loneliness, to rebuild civil society, by rediscovering the values of democracy, understanding that absolutely we need robust debate, including in places like this, but that does not mean that is a licence for personal nastiness. We need to ensure we have civic education so our young people know that they can speak freely, that they live in a democracy and that they have the right to safety and protection. That is a responsibility that lies on all of our shoulders.