Dr Helen Haines, the independent federal member for Indi and my friend, was supposed to be here in this chamber delivering this speech, and I feel honoured that her team, specifically Chiara from her team, graciously trusted me to take Helen's place in this debate and speak for our friend while she is unable to do so. We're here to call out the urgent need to prevent political violence and to foster constructive and respectful public discourse. If now is not the time that we will heed expert advice and data, I ask when that time will be.

In his 2025 annual threat assessment, ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess warned the country that the risk of politically motivated violence was 'already flashing red'. He's told us repeatedly that the words that we use matter. The McKinnon Institute recently reported that nine per cent of Australians believe that political violence is sometimes justified. In the last financial year, there were over 1,000 reports of threats to high office holders, federal parliamentarians, dignitaries and electorate offices around the country. That number has almost doubled in four years. Almost 90 per cent of women in politics have experienced online abuse or intimidation. A recent study by the University of Melbourne found that hostile attitudes towards women and the belief that violence against women is acceptable predict support for extremist violence more strongly than political ideology, religion or time spent online. If we want to combat rising extremism and division in our society, if we want to protect both our democracy and those who seek to represent it, we must address political violence, abuse and harassment in this country.

Firstly, social media has become a hotbed for rhetoric and violent threats. Algorithms reward outrage. Outrage keeps us scrolling. We must legislate a strong and enforceable digital duty of care which gets rid of impulse farming and the protections of anonymity.

Secondly, we must secure a new national mental health and suicide prevention agreement. Vulnerable people are moving to the regions of Australia because housing in our cities is unaffordable. We spend five times more on mental health care for those who live in major cities than we do on those who live in very remote settings, although those people in the regions have more emergency department presentations, more self-harm and higher suicide rates. Services are scant and overwhelmed in the regions, and the cost of our inaction always falls hardest on those people who live in areas where services are scarce. Just this week, researchers reported that about one in three homicides in Victoria in 2024 and 2025 were committed by people with psychosis. That's up from one in 10 a decade ago. If we don't look after those people who are acutely unwell, our whole society suffers. Helen Haines has advocated for a new hospital for Albury-Wodonga, for more mental health beds, for more training positions for healthcare professionals in the regions. We're asking the government to act with urgency on the mental healthcare crisis in our rural and regional centres.

Finally, we do need to set the standard in this chamber, in this parliament, in our public life. Our security leaders have told us that there are direct correlations between inflamed language, inflamed tensions and acts of violence. If we seek to lead, we seek to influence other people with what we say, how we think and how we act. So I ask my colleagues: if you're seeking to lead, shouldn't you consider how your words will affect those people who follow you? In 2023, in this House, Helen commented:

What we say in this place matters. Words matter.

She was the first Australian politician to sign the Civility Pledge, which says:

In my political life, I pledge to act with honesty, respect, and compassion.

It doesn't seem that much to ask. I've signed the pledge, and so have many of my crossbench colleagues, and we invite every member of this House to do so.

Helen, we're thinking of you, Phil, your family, your wonderful team and the people of Indi. Yours is the most measured and generous of voices in the chamber. It's missing from the chamber today. Your absence is felt deeply by us all, but you continue to inspire us and we will continue your work until you return.