I move:

That this House declares:

(1) its support for the Member for Indi following the horrific incident in Wangaratta on Monday, 19 October 2026;

(2) its strongest well wishes for the Member for Indi's recovery ahead;

(3) its appreciation for the courage and swift action of bystanders, first responders and health professionals; and

(4) its support to the Member for Indi's family, friends, staff and community at this extremely difficult time.

As the House meets for the first time since the horrific events of last Monday, it is appropriate that our very first act is to speak about the member for Indi, Dr Helen Haines. Her husband, Phil Haines, was with us this morning. He has shown a level of grace that, for most of us, is simply beyond reckoning. This morning Phil spoke lovingly of Helen's superpowers as empathy, kindness and compassion. He spoke of hope and change and the need for a gentler, more cohesive path. I want Phil to know that we are with him and Helen and with their children and their grandchildren, and we will remain with them.

The shock from what happened last Monday is like a stone in our hearts. What brings it home today is being back in this chamber on what should have been an ordinary sitting day. I'm looking across at the member for Indi's seat over there, hoping and looking forward to the day she's back here representing the community that she loves, a community that right now is hurting badly, as are her wonderful, close-knit staff here, in Wangaratta and in Wodonga. Our hearts are with you.

We look across to the member for Indi's place and, despite ourselves, half expect to see her face—like a trick that the heart plays on the mind if only to grant us a moment's respite from the truth. Right now our friend and colleague is in hospital, grievously injured, the shape of her life and her family's lives changed forever. The day will come when we look across this chamber and see the member for Indi's face again. As the Victoria Police, AFP and ASIO continue their investigations, we give our thanks to them, just as we give our thanks to the health and emergency service workers and to all who have provided assistance to Helen.

We are also uplifted in the knowledge that, on that terrible afternoon, we saw examples of the best of the Australian character from Ricky Jefferies, the barber who rushed without concern for his own safety to ensure that the alleged perpetrator was secured until police arrived; from Xavier Norden, a director of the local technical school who was one of the first to Helen's aid; and from Jacob Evans and Jacklyn Black from Melbourne—they were there looking at a local store, on their way to a well-earned holiday in that beautiful part of Victoria, but they applied tourniquets, assisted paramedics and provided invaluable assistance. I have had the opportunity to speak directly to Ricky, Xavier, Jacklyn, Jacob and others in recent days and express the nation's gratitude for their brave and invaluable interventions.

The member for Indi—in all her decency, integrity, compassion, humour and empathy—has always embodied the truth that there is more that unites us than divides us and that there is no stronger foundation than common ground. Her capacity to do it all with such heart and such unrelenting advocacy is, in its own way, a reminder that she has served in far tougher places than this. As a former nurse and midwife, her rich personal background is something that she has brought to this chamber. It's hard to think of anyone in this place with a more irrepressible twinkle in the eye, a twinkle that more than hints at a real inner strength.

Last Monday, the member for Indi was just doing her job when she was attacked. While the investigations go on, we must not rush to conclusions, but nor can we shrug off the very real rise in anger that distorts and corrodes our public discourse, enabled by the anonymity and speed afforded by social media. We are seeing rage and aggression increasing not just in politics but towards workers in hospitality, in retail, in schools and in hospitals and towards police, paramedics and other officials. We are seeing a normalisation of the language of grievance and violence. We must not conflate the robustness of Australian democracy with this rising tide of rage. We've always had disagreement in Australia; it's part of our story. Ours is an unbroken democracy, and our continuous system of government shines as a beacon to the world, but we cannot allow disagreement to become a full stop. We keep talking; we keep working towards something better. And that is why the member for Indi has always been such a natural in this place, working with conviction, working with an unrelenting advocacy for her regional community and moving through this building with a sense of purpose and momentum that says she is absolutely here to get things done for others.

Like many of my ministers, I've had the regular pleasure of sitting across the table from the member for Indi, including during the last sitting week, when Helen took up the issue of rural and regional health, which she is so passionate about. She always engages, always looks you in the eye and never lets up. And she always works on the principle that disagreement only truly functions when it doesn't depart from respect and humanity.

Right now, the member for Indi is on the hardest road of all. As we pray for her, we console ourselves with this one solid truth, as Phil, who I've spoken to daily, keeps reminding me every day: Helen Haines is a fighter. As Phil returns to Helen and their family, may he take with him our love and the love of the nation.

Can I associate myself with the fine words of the Prime Minister. Helen, we're thinking of you. We're praying for your swift recovery. My hope, our hope and the nation's hope is that you will be back here soon. And, when you resume your seat in this parliament, that will be a resounding moment for our democracy—a moment when our nation says with one voice to those who seek to undermine our way of life through intimidation and violence: 'You will not break us. You will not silence us. You will not change us.'

While last Monday's horrendous attack was a national tragedy, it is first and foremost a family's tragedy. We're thinking, of course, of Helen's beloved husband Phil and their three cherished kids, Will, Nick and Georgia. In the past week, so many have spoken and written about Helen's qualities—her intelligence, compassion and commitment; her poise, gentleness and courtesy. Dr Helen Haines epitomises civility. That's why the violent attack on her seems so unfathomable. In those horrific moments last Monday and in the critical hours and days afterwards, one man's cruelty stood in stark contrast to the courage and decency of so many Australians—Ricky Jefferies, the barber we just heard about who disarmed the assailant and wrestled him from the vehicle to the ground; young Cody Lepoidevin, the outdoor gear store worker who helped restrain the attacker; Jacklyn Black and Jacob Evans, Melburnians who tended to Helen's injuries. There were others too. There were many bystanders who assisted—the paramedics and police officers first on the scene and the nurses, doctors and surgeons who kept Helen alive and whose care has been absolutely outstanding. In the most horrible moments, we always see heroic Australians. It reminds us of who we are, and we should be very proud of who we are.

The attack on Helen Haines was an attack on a member of parliament, and an attack on a member of our parliament is an attack on our democracy. Of all days, today is a day to reflect on our democracy. In the past week, it's been suggested by some that there is a causal connection between robust parliamentary debate and political violence. I disagree with this view. Our democratic system has served us well, from our colonies through to federation through to the present day. The Westminster system is about settling differences through robust and rigorous debate, not violence. With symbolic significance, the distance between the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader is said to be the length of two swords. Importantly, we debate with adversarial vigour, but we never allow that vigorous parliamentary debate to spill over into violence.

People who resort to intimidation and violence cross a line that must never be crossed. The choice to use violence is a rejection of robust debate, a refusal to accommodate difference and disagreement. The antidote to violence isn't to compromise our system of robust debate but to cherish, champion and strengthen that system. What we must do is call out and confront the actual sources of intolerance, of intimidation, of political violence in our country. The government has been absolutely right to call out far-right extremism, but all extremism must be called out. Every source must be named, must be targeted and must be fought, especially through our additional funding for intelligence and law enforcement. We need judges to come down harder on people found guilty of acts of intimidation or violence.

Another thing we must do is celebrate Australia more readily. Too many Australians have been taught to feel guilt and shame about our country and about our history. Is it any wonder that some feel deep animosity towards our democracy, our institutions and our nation? Is it any wonder that we see war memorials graffitied and statues defaced? Yes, we've had our historical dark chapters, but our nation's successes far outweigh our failures. On the historical scales, Australia is an incredible achievement, and, if we nurture greater love for Australia, that will go a long way to stopping hate for Australia. I look forward to Helen returning to the chamber as soon as possible.

Before we move to further statements, I will give a short statement to the House. Like so many Australians, I've struggled to comprehend what happened a week ago to our beloved colleague Helen. We all know Helen as a respected parliamentarian, a dedicated local member and, above all, a decent person. But in this place, where we often disagree, Helen has always shown that respect and courtesy go hand in hand. The Helen Haines I know is someone who always asks, 'How are you going?' and someone who treats everyone, regardless of their title or position, with genuine warmth and respect. Helen embodies these values every day.

There is much discussion on how we as a parliament can work on showing respect to one another. Today I again say that this is a moment for all of us to rise to the challenge. I want this. Many of you have told me this. Most importantly, Australians want this. We must be able to disagree with respect, as the Leader of the Opposition has said. That's the heart of democracy. A number of suggestions have already been made by members about how to respond, including those advocating for a civility pledge. This is a personal decision, and I encourage all members to continue these discussions, to decide the best way for themselves.

Like many members, I valued Helen's friendship, her counsel and her commitment to making our parliament better. I could always count on Helen when I'd had a particularly difficult day or if I needed a bit of extra encouragement. That's just Helen. Today my thoughts are with Helen and her husband, Phil, along with her family, her staff and the people of Indi, who love and admire her so deeply. On behalf of the House: Helen, we are thinking of you, we are praying for your quick recovery and we look forward to the day you return to this place and I get to say the following nine words: 'I give the call to the member for Indi.'

The question is that the motion moved by the Prime Minister be agreed to. I give the call to the honourable member for Warringah.

Thank you to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition for their kind words. Mr Speaker, through you, I would like to address both Helen and Phil. Dear Helen and Phil: I've been going around in circles in my head trying to express everything I want to say. We are all struggling to process the shock and grief at what has happened. Our hearts go out to you both and to your children and grandchildren. Helen, we first met in person in 2019 at MP school, freshly elected and motivated to serve. In your first speech you spoke of the responsibility bestowed upon MPs and your commitment to represent your community and be a real voice for Indi. You have been true to that commitment every step of the way. You introduced the Beechwood principles, seeking to ensure integrity, accountability, fairness and equal treatment of all. You pressed for the National Anti-Corruption Commission, community batteries, mobile services in regional Australia, and access to equitable health and housing for the regions. You've been a voice for reason and fairness, committed to tackling problems head on and faithfully representing the people of Indi. Most recently, you have set up the parliamentary friends of alpine communities to be a voice for the pristine mountain communities in Australia.

There have been plenty of tough times in the last seven years, from the Black Summer bushfires to COVID, but through it all you've been there to support and guide the community of Indi, myself and many others in this parliament. Helen and Phil, to all of us you are the perfect team here in parliament—strong and committed. Phil is always here by your side, managing the incredible volunteer intern program, giving many in Indi the chance to experience democracy firsthand. You both have also become good friends of mine. I've been the third wheel at dinner here in Canberra a few times. And some say there are no friends in politics, but they are wrong. Phil: you introduced my husband, Tim, to the partners group; shared a laugh at midwinter balls; joined Helen at our son's 18th; and spent a weekend at the snow with us. And you're always welcome in Sydney and here. You've both made this somewhat exhausting and full-on work environment fun and friendly. And Phil, your calm resolve and love for Helen is a balm for everyone who is shocked at this senseless attack.

At a time when our society feels like it's fraying at the edges, it's important to hold on to what really matters. It's so telling that in this dark hour you've chosen to give to others by asking for donations to Save the Children in lieu of flowers and have now raised over $1 million. Helen, I've had so many chats with you sitting in this chamber. You're the matriarch of the crossbench, always a voice for respectful political debate. You've advised me to amend a few questions over the years! You've always invited a constructive and collaborative approach to policy. And as Deputy Speaker you have striven to improve the standards of debate. To the Indi team, to the electorate staff, to the volunteers and to the Indi community: Warringah stands with you. We deeply admire your courage and resilience.

There will be much discussion ahead about the need for better health and mental health services in the regions, our increasingly polarised political environment, harmful online debate and the need for greater civility in disagreement in parliament, in our media, online and in our communities, but, right now, I want to focus on you and Phil and what you mean to us all. We have heard your words loud and clear: kindness over hate.

It's time to defuse the tension and consider how our words are being received by others in the community beyond this place. Helen and Phil, we have an opportunity before us to move forward with hope and kindness. We have a responsibility to bring Australia together. So, Helen, I look forward to seeing you back here and getting on with the job. Let light win over darkness. Get well soon.

The member for Indi has been a beacon of decency from the moment that she arrived in this place seven years ago—passionate about her community for sure, but thoughtful, curious and respectful of the opinions of others. Helen Haines is completely incapable of being nasty to anyone. Stuck in Canberra, watching the 2020 pandemic grand final together, between my beloved Cats and her beloved Tigers, even then, as Richmond started to dominate in the second half and I began to wallow in my own misery, Helen quietly slipped away, telling me afterwards that she didn't want to rub my nose in it. I mean, who does that? For most of us, football culture is about rubbing people's noses in. But, for Helen Haines, her humanity is defined by seeking to uplift those around her and not bring them down, and I suspect that, for almost everyone in this chamber at one point or another in our interaction with Helen, we've experienced that, which makes Monday's attack on Helen all the more shocking.

Over the last week, we've tried to make some sense of this—maybe it was an isolated, random, terrible event—and yet, somehow, that explanation feels inadequate. It was an extreme action, definitely, but maybe the public discourse of which we are all a part has a temperature which is too high, and maybe that elevates actions across the board, and just maybe, on the extremes, those actions can become dangerous. It's not just us. It's police. It's emergency service workers. It's frontline public servants. But, if all of that is true, then we all have a collective responsibility and a responsibility for our behaviour going forward.

Here is where Helen's example is so important for me, because, as we engage in the public debate and as those in the media give their opinions about the public debate, sometimes there is a reflex from many of us, me included, when our arguments are not so strong, to play the person—'the Prime Minister is this', 'the Leader of the Opposition is that', 'so-and-so is arrogant, weak, venal, a coward'. If analysis and reason don't quite get us there, then, if we deny the humanity of our opponent, we can still win. I've done it. We see it happen all the time, and we see it from the media in the way they describe us.

But I have never seen it from Helen Haines. It's as if she understands that to deny the humanity of an opponent is to cede the humanity of oneself, and I truly believe that, from Helen's perspective, she acknowledges the sincerity with which we all engage in our work, because, after all, we all want to improve the lives of our constituents. We all want to make Australia better, but we have different views about how to do that, which is healthy. It's appropriate that we prosecute those views robustly and that, at times, we do not give an inch, but it must be possible for us to do all of that whilst maintaining a fundamental respect for each other.

In the wake of the terrible event last Monday, it feels as though the whole country has come out and expressed how much they value what Helen Haines does. Yet the very idea of this parliament is that government is a collective act by all of us—that in acknowledging the value of what Helen does and, perhaps more importantly, in acknowledging the value of what our opponent does, therein lies the key to valuing what we do ourselves.

My thoughts are very much with Phil and Helen's family and, of course, Helen, our thoughts are very much with you. We wish you the speediest of recoveries, because our greatest wish is to see Helen Haines once again take her place on that bench.

I associate myself with the kind comments already spoken in relation to the member for Indi. Speaker, as you are aware, just over 1,200 people have served in this chamber since Federation, and the 18th member for Indi could hold her own with them all. If their contributions to this place were measured on decency, on respect, on empathy and on a capacity for kindness, as you've already heard, she would be at the very top of the list. When she made her inaugural speech after the 2019 election, Helen Haines spoke of her aim to serve the people of Indi with integrity, with kindness and with diligence. She has done that, and she will do it again. It is my hope—and I'm sure it's the shared hope of this House—that Helen will recover sufficiently in the weeks and the months ahead to continue to serve her community in whatever capacity she chooses in the future.

In that first speech, the member for Indi said, 'Life is short, family is everything and there is honour in the service of others.' But these weren't just empty words. They were the wisdom of lived experience from a lady who had already served her community with great distinction. Helen was made a matron at Chiltern Bush Nursing Hospital at just 26 years of age, and has provided a lifetime of service to health in regional Victoria. Alongside her husband, Phil, and their family, she has been a champion for regional Australia on an incredible range of issues. Because of our shared electoral boundaries, we often found ourselves talking on quite similar topics or exchanging notes, particularly in the aftermath of the Black Summer bushfires. Helen, I give you this undertaking today: although I have had my eyes on Mount Hotham and Dinner Plain for quite some time, I will not be approaching the Australian Electoral Commission for a boundary restructure or a land grab in your absence. On behalf of the Nationals, I do extend my thoughts and prayers to Helen's family, her friends, her staff and her volunteers.

Quite rightly, the events of the past week have shocked and appalled everyone in this place. I can see it on the faces of my colleagues, I can see it in my own community when I talk to people about the terrible attack. But we can't let this define Helen or her community. In that moment of crisis, Helen was assisted by bystanders and emergency services personnel who came to her rescue and protected her from any further harm. Wangaratta is a magnificent town, and it should be remembered for the long list of positive reasons which I am very confident Helen will remind us of when she returns. Our democracy is precious, and it is strengthened by the access we have to communities like Wangaratta, and the feedback we can receive from the people who are interested in the future of Australia.

Naturally, speaker, there has been increased media focus on security and poor behaviour towards elected officials, but I remain optimistic, as I'm sure Helen does, that we are talking about a minority of people. In my time as a member for Gippsland, my face-to-face dealings with thousands of locals and people throughout Australia have been overwhelmingly positive and constructive. I do accept the world has changed, and the online environment can be a cesspit of hatred, of sexism and bigotry. But we mustn't allow assaults on democracy by a minority of people to stop us from doing our job properly

There is a simple lesson from this tragedy: violence is never the answer. I'm not just talking about elected officials like us. Every day we hear about assaults on paramedics, nurses and doctors in emergency departments, shop assistants and schoolteachers. Whether they are a member of parliament or a police officer, Australians should be able to go to work and return home safely without the fear of violent attacks. Violence is never the answer, and we must choose our words carefully to ensure we don't incite violence in the future.

Finally, I want to give my last words today to the former member for Indi, Cathy McGowan, who I spoke to yesterday. Cathy is struggling with the severity of Helen's injuries and conscious of the impact it's had on her family and the community that she loves. Cathy told a vigil this week:

My ask, in closing, is that we don't let violence win, that we ensure the legacy of this attack on Helen will be a stronger, more vibrant and effective democracy and … all candidates and especially women know they can run for office and be safe.

I commend the motion by the Prime Minister.

Helen Mary Haines is the very best of us—a woman of luminous generosity and kindness, the most intelligent and measured of voices, someone who stands firmly for a more accountable and more civil parliament. I'm hugely grateful to know my warm, funny friend. She can put anyone at ease. She makes an excellent sponge and grows a beautiful garden. She tells great stories about being a small Colac schoolgirl unafraid to take on the nuns and about riding her bike through the snow of Uppsala in black tie during her PhD studies. She adores her husband, and this week the whole country has seen why. She is a very proud mother of three, excited by two grandchildren, one born just in time to be squeezed into a Lions onesie for this year's grand final.

When I was first elected, Helen and her team showed me, my team and our crossbench colleagues incredible kindness and generosity. It's small wonder that we ask ourselves what Helen would do when times get tough. She acts with utter integrity and respect for her colleagues. By all accounts she was a wonderful nurse and midwife, and she's an extraordinary parliamentarian.

Global instability and economic insecurity are challenging our social fabric. In an age of shouting but not listening, people are increasingly angry and aggressive. Last Monday's attack brought into focus the increasingly hostile environment in Australian politics. But it's the same in our hospitals, our schools, our shopping centres and our offices. It's not all men, but most aggression is committed by men. One man drove at Helen, but others ran to her instinctively and courageously, and they saved her life. People say they don't recognise our country. I've been told that many times in the last week, but our basic decency and our selflessness are there still. We have to use those muscles, not the others.

It's my belief that all of us in this place bear some responsibility for the corrosion in public discourse. How we speak to each other is modelled by our communities. But the media also bears responsibility for turning anxiety into outrage, for amplifying grievance for more clicks and for fostering misogyny and disrespect of female leaders. Our democracy depends on people being willing to serve their communities. As Helen has said herself, a woman's place is in every room where decisions are made. We have to protect all women, not just those in public life.

The attack on Helen united the country in shock and grief, but within days politicians reverted to partisan brawling. That's a poor example to our communities if we can't come together to act after the gentlest of us has been subjected to unthinkable violence. We can pledge to debate robustly with honesty, respect and compassion. We can work together against rising inequality. We can support digital protections against impulse farming and anonymous abuse. We can legislate truth in political advertising. If we achieve greater integrity in government, we will restore trust in it. The media has to rethink how it weaponises anger and amplifies the most divisive voices. But the public is responsible too. We all share the public square.

Helen has advocated for better infrastructure for Indi. Her work on the National Anti-Corruption Commission and other transparency measures defines her as a great champion of integrity. Since she first stood for parliament, she has spoken often and urgently of the need to improve rural health care, especially mental health care. She's advocated for a new hospital for Albury-Wodonga, for more mental health beds, for more support for health professionals who want to train in centres like hers. She always uses her magnificent heart and mind for the greater good. God gives his hardest battles to the strongest soldiers. While we await her return, we can improve mental health services in the regions. We can put government funding where the need is highest and services are scarcest, as Helen has always advocated. In the meanwhile, we give gratitude and support to those who are caring for our friend and our love always to her family, but we love her too and we look forward to her return.

I join with all the comments that have been made and, in particular, what we just heard there. This room does not lend itself towards anyone receiving universal respect, but it did not take the horrors of last Monday for there to be universal respect for Helen Haines. The thoughts of the entire parliament and the nation are with her. The extraordinary strength and dignity of Phil, I think, have affected each and every one of us.

I have a role in terms of people's safety, and I go through different risk factors for the people who work here on a very regular basis. As I go through the different levels of risk—Helen was so far down the list. I don't think there's anyone who doesn't defend us having robust debate. Helen would always defend there being robust debate. I'm mindful of a comment that I heard Phil make this morning, which I think poses a question for all of us to simply consider. It goes not simply to, 'Would I be capable of doing something horrific?' but to, 'Would my words, if heard by someone on the edge, potentially have an impact that I wouldn't want them to have?'

This is not something simply for people in our line of work. It is something, as was just said, applying universally as the world becomes angrier. Talk to people who work for the police force, who work in hospitals, who work in hospitality. I spent a whole lot, six years, of my life before I came here working with retail workers. It never occurred to me that the biggest issue for the union would end up being the levels of abuse that people were receiving simply for working in retail. The place is getting angrier, and not all of that comes to us or the media, but some of it has to come to each and every one of us, and we need to be curious about the question, 'Is there a different way of making the same point?' Every different issue people would want to raise, we need to be able to raise. But, when language becomes dehumanising or violent or when language uses terms that would actually place someone outside of society, then we need to be curious of the question of that. Whether or not that ends up being relevant as the legal process for the attacker on Helen makes its way isn't the point. It's simply the question of whether there are things we can do to make people safer. If there are, we should be curious about how we do them.

While a lot has been said about Helen's impact on de-escalation, I do need to concede the most terrifying moment of my time in politics came from Helen Haines. During COVID, there was this thing that Insiders did where people would wash their hands while singing, and then, at the end of it, they would nominate who would go next. I cannot sing a note. I love music; I cannot sing a note. Helen had written her own song and filmed it onsite at the property and was loving it, and then she nominated me. The fact that there is video out there somewhere of me putting on my guitar the AC/DC riff to 'TNT' while chanting 'oi'—it is the only bit of melody I can handle—is a debt I owe entirely to Helen Haines.

But I simply say that this is a moment for all of us and everyone who has a voice louder than the average person—but it is also a question for all Australians—to be curious about whether there is a gentler way of making the same point. None of that gets in the way of robust debate. If we can find that way, it doesn't just make the people in this workplace safer and make their staff safer; it's something that hits workers across the nation and across the world. We can do better, and we can use this moment for that.

As we look across the chamber, we see the empty seat of the member for Indi and how lonely it looks after the violence visited on her last Monday outside her office in Wangaratta. We were all stunned by the attack. We don't know why a local man turned his Toyota Land Cruiser into a two-tonne weapon and robbed Helen Haines of her legs and health. We don't know why, and that question gnaws at us because we know Helen Haines and we know that she is a kind and gentle lady. We've all seen Helen gracefully gliding through the corridors during the working day; we've all known Helen's smile, channelling that Wangaratta warmth; and we're all stunned because we don't know why someone would want to hurt her. Perhaps we'll never know why. But we're also stunned because the violence was an assault on our way of life. It was an assault on our culture of debate, negotiation and compromise and of resolving our differences peacefully. And that's the whole purpose of this chamber, that's the whole purpose of this parliament and that's the whole purpose of Australian democracy: to resolve our differences with civility and without violence.

The brutal attack on Helen Haines forces us to pause and reflect. It's a time for us to pause and ask, 'How can we do better?' For me, how can I do better? I'll be the first to admit that I've overreached in my language during my 11 years in this House, and we've all erred in this way at some time. Indeed, we account for it in our standing orders; that's why we ask members to withdraw unparliamentary remarks. It's a good and realistic convention, because people make mistakes. We are, after all, in a political contest, and we all want to win. And a good debate in this place sometimes leaves us feeling bruised, more often than not for reasons of ego than for reasons of substance. But our system is designed to be adversarial. Our job on the opposition benches is to hold the government to account, sometimes with a rhetorical hip and shoulder. We make no apologies for asking tough questions or for the discomfort those questions bring to ministers of the Crown. That's how we get good governance in the national interest. Our parliament requires tough and rigorous debate. But, in moments like this one, we can reflect on how we can do better.

We, the 150 members of this House, have a duty to model, steward and uphold our democratic traditions for the 27 million Australians we represent. That's why there can be no place for the targeted destruction of character or the relentless demonisation of personality. It only takes one person with a twisted mind or a perverted sense of reality to strike out—to weaponise a car, a kitchen knife or a firearm—and to feel justified in doing so because they judge that an online assassination must be followed up with a real-life assassination. So what we say here and online shapes the political culture. We can all do better and we should strive to do better. So let's play the ball, not the person, and leave the nasty personal politics of MAGA in the United States.

Beyond this House, we need more Australians like Ricky Jefferies, the local barber who acted like a good neighbour in a moment of crisis, who went towards danger for Helen Haines, who subdued her assailant and who recovered order out of the chaos. Many of us were touched by Ricky's humility when he stopped cutting hair the following morning and answered questions for reporters outside his shop in Wangaratta. He was cautious in his remarks. He downplayed his heroism and noted his obligations as a neighbour to Helen and his local community. We need more good neighbours like Ricky Jefferies, who are more bonded to their local community and less consumed by the fiery utterances of the false community online.

Ricky knew the first responders helping Helen because he cut their hair, not because of social media networks, and there's something in that. We thrive as a nation when we are in community with our neighbours, when we are known by them and they are known by us. That takes work, patience and time, face to face, in the flesh. That's how you build trust. It's not easy, but we've got to do it, because, if we want to keep Australian democracy, we need more Australians like Helen Haines and Ricky Jefferies, who show us what it is to be a good neighbour. In the meantime, we hope and pray for Helen Haines's speedy recovery; for her family, especially her husband, Phil; and for her team. We look forward to when she returns to her seat in this House.

'A defiant optimist'—that's how Helen Haines introduced herself to Australia in her maiden speech. She spoke at length about her love of Indi, describing it as 'an electorate as diverse and beautiful as the 142,000 people that live there'. She stated her values plainly. Life is short. Family is everything. There is honour in the service of others, as the Deputy Leader of The Nationals said.

Helen is a mother to Will, Nick and Georgia, a grandmother of two, and a former nurse and midwife. She's the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission. She's one of the most respected and loved leaders in this parliament. Next month she will celebrate her 40th wedding anniversary with her beloved husband, Phil, who bravely addressed the nation last week as we waited for news of Helen's health. At that time, he spoke of words of gratitude and thanks and said 'at this stage both her heart and mind are in good shape'. Phil told that to a sea of reporters before confirming that Helen had lost both of her legs. Today Phil spoke to us about compassion and kindness and Helen's superpowers. Our thoughts are with Phil; with Helen's family; with her many, many friends; with her staff; with her supporters; and, of course, with those who rushed to her aid.

Helen's entire life has been a life of service to others. She's been a selfless public servant who embodies the values she champions: integrity, kindness and honesty. When Helen speaks, people listen, because she has earned the respect of politicians from right across the political spectrum. While we've always found alignment on many issues, when we do disagree it's done with humour, with grace, with good nature and with a genuine effort to find a way forward.

It is unfathomable that anyone would want to hurt Helen, and it does keep me up at night thinking that we might be entering a political era in which representatives feel afraid to be fully and properly available to the communities that they serve. Violence is the antithesis of democracy. It's an ugly, dangerous dead end. I know that many people across Australia are asking what they can do to help. The first thing they can do, of course, is donate to Save the Children, as Helen has asked—but they can also be good to each other. Be patient. Be kinder. Smile at a stranger. Let someone go ahead of you in a queue. Listen carefully. Try and see something from someone else's point of view.

I remember being really little, and one of my earliest memories is walking through Jannali shops with my mum. I said to mum, 'Why is everybody smiling at us, Mum?' She said, 'Because I'm smiling at them, and what you put out into the world you get back.' As a parliament, I think we have to ask ourselves what we're putting out into the world. All of us as politicians have an opportunity to do better. But of course it's not just each other that we have to be worried about in terms of how people are being treated—teachers, principals, nurses, paramedics, shop assistants, flight attendants, bus drivers and even the young referee at your kids' sport on the weekend; if you can't contain yourself on the sidelines of your kids' sport on the weekend, ask yourself, 'How can I do better?'

Lastly, of course all of us could be more sceptical and more careful users of social media. We know that big tech derives its profit from driving rage and division in our community. There'll always be people who seek to spread fear and hate, and we as a country are one of enormous heart and good conscience. We have to resist that rage and division. I'm very pleased to join Helen in saying that in my political life I pledged to act with honesty, respect and compassion. I will endeavour to do better to live up to that, because what happened to Helen deserves to have all of us thinking about what we can do to protect our democracy, to look after each other, to be kinder and more compassionate.

On behalf of my constituents in Wannon, I offer my love, my thoughts and my prayers to Helen, to her family and to all her friends at this time. I've got three bonds with Helen, which remain incredibly strong, even though at times we've had political differences. The first is that my electorate of Wannon is where Helen grew up. She grew up near Colac, where she had a lovely, supportive country upbringing. And I've got to say, because I very fortunately had to same, I think in many ways that upbringing really makes Helen who she is today, because she had love, support, community and family thriving all around her. And the fact that she moved from there and made another lovely community her home, in and around Wangaratta, is I think absolutely befitting.

I've also got family members whom Helen represents, and I've got family members who have supported Helen in her campaigns. I know they will be hurting very much today, and I say to them, I can understand why you will be. They were attracted to Helen because of everything she had to offer. And I know that throughout her electorate, the electorate of Indi, there will be people who will be hurting, who will be suffering and who'll be asking the question, why? I say to them: this parliament will also be seeking those answers and will be doing everything it can to try and answer them as best we can.

The second thing I have in common with Helen is an area where I have seen the human side of Helen. And it is wonderful, because all of us, when we are in here, can be serious, and when we're on the media, and people don't really understand that beneath the surface there is a level of humanity. And that area we have in common is, as the Deputy Prime Minister mentioned, that Helen is a passionate Richmond supporter. I'll never forget bumping into Helen after the 2017 election. For those of you who don't understand AFL football, Richmond hadn't won anything for 37 years. They've been the butt of the joke for literally every AFL supporter for 37 years. Yet almost a miracle occurred and we won the 2017 grand final, and I remember bumping into Helen and her family not long after it. To see the pure happiness and joy, the love in her eyes, her celebratory nature was incredible. It is something we both often refer to—bumping into each other and being absolutely on cloud nine. There is something in the Richmond theme song that says, 'We're strong and we're bold.' When I heard the news about what happened to Helen, I just couldn't help thinking, 'Helen, make sure you keep strong and make sure you keep bold,' and I've got to say to hear the news that Helen's condition has gone from critical to stable, I think, is just wonderful for all of us, because we know now that there is serious, serious hope that she'll be able to return to that seat in this parliament, and I know all of us want that to happen. We will it to happen.

Now's not the time for wise, but I will say—and I'm sure Helen will want me to say this—one of the things that we do have to look at, which follows a royal commission which occurred in Victoria, is mental health services in and around regional and rural Victoria and across this nation. We have to see whether we can do better in that regard, but now is the time for us to just express our love, our support and our prayers with Helen and her family. Helen, please get better.

Dear Helen, I can't imagine how you're feeling right now, but please know that every person in this place is sending their very best for your recovery. We are thinking of you and we are missing you. Your wonderful husband, Phil, has bravely kept us abreast of your condition, and we thank him sincerely for that.

His words show such love and admiration for you, and it's not lost on us that he has also tried to make us all, the whole nation, feel hopeful and calmer in the face of such horror, because he spoke of your heart and your mind, how they are what make you you and that your heart and your mind are still all that they were: full of kindness and intelligence. We all thank Phil for finding it in his heart to speak with love and concern for you and, it seems also, for those of us trying to make sense of all this. He showed no anger, no hate and no resentment but only calm, consideration and care. He gives us hope. Seems you are a pair, you two. We can see that.

Helen, we see you and your impact as a politician, a person and an advocate in the courage of your staff and the outpouring of emotions from your community. Their responses reflect the person that you are: decent, caring and effective. My heart goes out to your staff, some of whom were first responders and all of whom have chosen to keep going with the work your electorate needs, and to your community, the people of Indi, coming together to show the world that they do not condone what has happened, with people from across the political divide joining in that message.

I know you are being well cared for by fellow nurses and other health professionals. It makes me think of the plotting that we have done to enhance the careers of nurses and midwives and how you and I share hope for making the system better. I hope your family and friends and colleagues and your community can tell how much we care about you here in this place. The Prime Minister has felt it deeply, and it shows as we thank him for helping us steer through the unfathomable, because, you see, many of us here are still in shock and disbelief. I keep expecting to see you humming around the corner with a piece of cake or looking for a quick word or enjoying a joke in the lift or hearing you ask a very pertinent question in question time. It's hard to be in the chamber seeing your seat without you in it, but it's there. It's waiting for you.

What's happened should not happen to anyone, but, Helen, we are all grappling with the fact that it happened to you. So much has been said about the respectful way you go about this business. It's hard to believe anyone would wish you harm, let alone actually inflict it. We can't help but wonder where the world is turning, and the discussion and debate will continue about the 'why's and the 'how's and the 'where to's. But just this weekend, Helen, I want you to know that I went out into my electorate. I walked the streets amongst kids in Halloween costumes. I went to listen to music. I attended a fete. I had lunch in a cafe. I visited a Scouts party. I made myself as visible as possible because we cannot let this stop us being part of our communities. So many people came up to me. They hugged me. They cried. They asked me how I was, but they wanted to know how you were. They wanted me to know they know that things have changed but not them. It made me think. We all have fears and we do things differently now to assess risks. We all have contingency plans. But, at the end of the day, if I can't walk down High Street, Edward Street or Station Street and be with the people I represent, what is this for? What would that mean? As I discovered this weekend, through the care and love shown to me by the good folk of Cooper, the vast majority of people want us out and about. They welcome us being part of their communities. So, Helen, when I think, 'What would Helen do?' I know you'd be saying: 'Keep going. Stay as safe as you can. It's important.' Get well, Helen, from nurse No. 8 in parliament to nurse No. 9 in parliament. See you soon. Love, Ged.

As we all know, Helen Haines is a work colleague and a friend of us in this chamber. Speaker, I can say quite honestly—and I'm sure you feel the same way—I have never heard one colleague in this chamber say a negative word about Helen Haines. With all due respect to all of us, that doesn't go for a lot of people in this chamber because there are many negative words that have been said about me and many others in this chamber—but never about Helen Haines. Many of the reasons have been said, but I like one of the lines the Prime Minister said about Helen—that she had a twinkle in her eye. She always did have this thing about her face and her eyes that was a twinkle, that was optimism and that was about a lot of courtesy and her energy and how she communicated with all of us. So, as with everyone, my prayers and thoughts are very much with her and her family. She has a huge journey. As we all know, she has now literally lost two legs. Her physical journey and her emotional journey in recovery is going to be long and it's going to be arduous. I know all of our thoughts and our prayers are with her and her family.

We're doing this today because obviously this was quite unique. There are, unfortunately, lots of acts of violence and other things that happen in our country, but obviously Helen was targeted. There are allegations about why this happened, but Helen was mowed down by a car and this physical damage was done to her because she sits in this chamber, and that's what we're acknowledging today. It's important that we do that today.

It was great to see her husband, Philip, and to meet him today. He spoke with great grace about her and that her initial responses when she came out of her anaesthetic on Friday night was to talk about other people but also great optimism. All of our thoughts are with her three children, Will, Nick and Georgia, and their extended families because they are all going to be on this journey together, and this will be a long, long journey for all of them.

I also want to touch on how we've seen, in the last few years, some horrific things happen in our country. But in all those instances there have been great acts of heroism and great acts of the Australian spirit around that. We've heard that about Ricky, the barber who ran out and literally disarmed the assailant, and about Cody, Jacklyn and Jacob, who came to her aid and showed great heroism. You don't know what's going on in a moment like that. You don't know if there are other people involved or what the motivation is. But their instinctive response to that was everything that we like about our country. In times of great darkness, we do see great heroism and inspiration.

It was mentioned as well earlier by others that we've seen acts of violence in street protests and in Bondi. But it's been mentioned that around the world there's this great despondency and dialogue that is not good. It was mentioned, I think, by the manager of the House that even retail workers have seen increasing acts of violence towards them in their workplaces from the anger of people and the language of people. I know we can dwell on this and we need to dwell on this and we need to call some of it out and we need to be conscious about what is going on in our communities and around the world. But I have great optimism when I hear about the people who went and helped Helen and the danger they put themselves in, the risk they took and the bravery that they showed.

I have great optimism in our country. I have great optimism about the Australian people. I want to finish by quoting you, Mr Speaker; I think there will be a moment of great joy and inspiration in this chamber for all of us—and I look forward to the day it happens—when you call the member for Indi. There'll probably be the loudest 'hear, hear' when you call the member for Indi to speak.

It is really difficult to know what to say after the events of last week. I know that many of us here are still in shock about what happened but, more importantly, about who it happened to. Helen's a thoroughly decent person. She's a much-loved member of this parliament and she's a much-loved member of her community in Indi.

We both came into parliament around the same time. She got elected in 2019; I was elected in a by-election in 2020. Until recently, we shared an electorate boundary, even though she's in Victoria and I'm in New South Wales. When I first got elected, Helen rang me and congratulated me and then she invited me to her office for morning tea. She put on a cake and tea and pulled out the good teacups. She's just a warm individual.

We've got regional electorates with very similar demographics and similar industries, and we've often worked together to support our local communities. We had similar Black Summer experiences and have had a shared desire to see temporary disaster roaming in place; this summer, for the first time, it will be in place. I spent a lot of time with Helen in Indi, more recently in the aftermath of last summer's Victorian bushfires. In every community we went to, Helen was warmly embraced—in Euroa, in Yarck, in Ruffy, in Alexandra—and people had a sense of comfort and safety when they were around her. Those fires impacted her deeply, but she continued to wrap her arms around her community. In true Helen fashion, she welcomed joint meetings with me and the member for Nicholls, and we worked together to solve some problems for communities who were doing it tough, including making sure we could deliver beer to an isolated community who had really gone through a pretty terrible experience.

We've worked together to get housing for healthcare workers up in the Albury-Wodonga region. She was a big advocate for expanding paid prac to allied health students, and that will be in place from next year. She brought her experiences into this parliament with a view to making things better for the next generation. She was passionate about better infrastructure, and we had many conversations about road upgrades and making sure infrastructure was more resilient if we had another natural disaster.

In the last sitting week, I had the honour of working with Helen as co-chairs to establish a new parliamentary friendship group. The Parliamentary Friends of Snow Sports and Alpine Economy group held its first event, and Helen spoke passionately about the importance of Australia's ski fields to regional economies, our local communities and our nation. It brought ski resort general managers, local councils, chambers of commerce and sports stars together, and Helen spoke to all of them with the same level of admiration for the work that they do.

I want to convey my love and support to Helen; her husband, Phil, and their family and friends; Helen's wonderful team; and her community. I've learnt a lot about Helen over the last six years. I know deeply that Helen is a fighter and she'll get through this with all the love and support that she's been shown from around our country. I also know that, despite her serene and warm exterior, she still has a fire in her belly to continue to advocate for change.

This senseless attack on Helen has been confronting for our nation. It's not an easy thing to reconcile with what we know about our country and how we see ourselves. We often say you need a thick skin to get into politics, but that doesn't mean violence and abuse should be okay. We've also seen that abuse and violence bleed into other parts of our Australian life—the retail sector, our hospitals, our first responders, council workers. Inciting violence because you don't agree with a policy position, because service is slower than you'd like or because someone looks different to you is not who we are. Making fun of someone's health condition to get clicks on a cartoon is not okay.

The level and nature of abuse have increased over the last six years that I've been in federal politics, and we've all got a job to do to tone down the debate we have here, but we know social media is not helping. We experience death threats and threats of sexual violence as well, and I know this happens to women from outside politics. In the last 90 days, there have been a number of abusive comments on my own social media, including a comment left on a media personality's page offering to give out my address if someone wanted to take vengeance on the government. Right now is the time to turn the volume down. We can disagree respectfully in this place, and we must do so for the benefit of the Australian community. We all look forward to Helen coming back to this place, to seeing her stand over there again and ask the pertinent questions and ask us all how we can do better. We can do that by following Helen's lead.

Like so many of the other members here, I want to pay respects and tribute to the incredible work of Helen Haines, the member for Indi. We're all currently trying to make sense of what is no doubt a senseless attack. Most of us have watched the video footage and are struggling with seeing the vicious act of violence that has been perpetrated. In her first speech, she said:

… life is short, family is everything and there is honour in … service …

Every day Helen came into this chamber—and she will no doubt do so soon again, and we look forward to that day—she has consistently demonstrated that through her act of service. In these moments, we all say nice things, but the test of somebody's character is not what we say in these moments. It's what we said before this moment. We can all say with honest reflection that no-one I have ever heard in this parliament has ever said anything negative about the member for Indi. In fact, in my engagement with her, they've always been warm, they've been generous, and they've been focused on how she gets the best outcome for her community, but I would argue often it is about how she gets the best out of all of us.

So we are all trying to make sense of this situation and this moment, and we're all trying to make sense of the broader context of violence—that one woman can die at the hands of a violent partner every 11 days in Australia, or, of course, the violent home entries that many Australians experience. It takes us to a reflection of who we are as a people and, of course, the state of our society. But it does also offer glimmers of hope. We saw that after the tragedy of Bondi. We saw it with the action of Ricky Jefferies, the salon owner just near her electorate office, who ran to her aid. We all go through the healing and difficult times of these moments and look for hope, but it's also a time that we need moral leadership. It also highlights the challenge of what happens when moral leadership is sometimes absent.

All Australians have looked for moral leadership at different times in our nation's history. Indigenous Australians looked at it the time after their social solidarity was put on the ballot. All Australians looked for moral leadership, particularly Jewish Australians, after 7 October and the Bondi terrorist attacks. All Australians have looked to moral leadership at this critical time, particularly the people of Indi, because what they saw in their local member was moral leadership in her own respective way, not just in this parliament but within her community. But it does highlight what happens when that moral leadership is absent, because it eats into the equity of our nation. That's why we look forward to her returning to this parliament and that seat over there not being vacant as it currently is. We look forward to her returning and bringing her vivacious energy to this parliament to inform and to guide us.

I particularly want to thank her husband, Phil, who has been a rock-solid bed of support, no doubt, to Helen but also to the whole of the community at this critical time, particularly the Indi community. I also want to pay tribute to his incredible remarks to the nation to give us a reflection on her current health status and to Her Excellency the Governor-General, who I think has done an exceptional job in this very difficult time, where people have questioned the very foundations of our democracy and the safety of our liberal democracy. I want to congratulate both of them.

Particularly to Phil and to Helen's family: this has been no doubt one of the most challenging times in your lives, and you've steered it with dignity and with grace. For that, we of course honour and acknowledge you. Of course, to Helen: we cannot wait for the day that the Speaker calls you up to be able to contribute back in this place. To the community of Indi as well—federal members of parliament often reflect on the trauma that communities endure when there are horrific events that sometimes occur. Federal members of parliament often look at the people they represent and have to channel their concern, their issue, their anger and of course their command for justice. It's very rare that it's reciprocated in kind. I know that many people in the community of Indi right now will be feeling mixed emotions between anger and the need for a sense of justice but also, of course, hope and love for their local representative. For that, I want to honour the people of Indi too—for their incredible endurance through this difficult time in support of their much-beloved local federal MP.

Today is about the member for Indi, it is about Helen, and it is about Helen's family. It is also about Helen's team, who stand beside her and serve the community she represents, and it is about standing with Helen's family, friends and community in solidarity and in support. The attack on Helen Haines has rightly shocked Australians. Helen has spent a lifetime caring for people in their most vulnerable moments. She is a person of genuine decency and compassion. She has brought those same qualities to this House and carries the respect of colleagues across this parliament. It is shocking that this was a deliberate act of violence. Whatever the motivation, it demands that we confront some uncomfortable realities about the environment in which we conduct our politics.

I've seen overseas what happens when politicians travel with guards and are physically separated from the communities they represent. That separation changes the nature of public service. It fundamentally changes the relationship between representatives and the people they serve. Security takes the place of accessibility, caution replaces conversation, and the distance between representatives and the people they represent grows. This cannot become a new norm. In Australia, people should be able to approach their local MP at a community event, raise difficult issues, express their views and expect a direct conversation. They should be able to disagree with their representatives and hold them accountable. That access is not a privilege granted by politicians; it is fundamental to representative democracy. A strong democracy can withstand fierce disagreement. It should welcome challenge and make room for passionate debate, strong criticism and competing views. But there must be an unequivocal line. Threats and violence are never acceptable as a means of influencing public life, nor should they ever prevent representatives from doing the work in the communities we represent, including when it is communities where we may have grown up and still live.

The consequences are not confined to those of us who are elected. Our officers receive threatening calls, letters and approaches. My time in public office and the period leading up to it have been marked by divisive attacks directed at me, my staff and volunteers by those seeking to exploit division for political gain. They should have no place in our democracy. That is not political debate, it is not legitimate scrutiny, and it is not something we should shrug off as an inevitable consequence of public life.

There are realities of public life that cannot be separated from family. Our families understand these sacrifices. They make them alongside us. But, when threats enter the picture, that worry follows families into the moments that should otherwise be ordinary. They did not choose to be part of public life in this way. The same is true of the people who work in our offices. Our staff should be able to serve our communities without being subjected to threats and intimidation. Scrutiny, responsibility and accountability are one thing, but threats and intimidation must never be the price of doing any job or carrying any responsibility in our society, whether it is directed at our nurses and doctors in emergency departments, our first responders, retail staff in supermarkets, hospitality workers, teachers or our gig and public transport workers. As the Prime Minister has said, we need to turn the temperature down.

Our security agencies have an important role to play in assessing threats and protecting people at risk. They cannot on their own protect the standards of behaviour on which a healthy democracy depends. That responsibility belongs to all of us. It belongs to political leaders, in the language we use and the standards we set, and it belongs to every member of society and the behaviour we are prepared to accept. I am optimistic for Australia.

To Helen: I am sorry that you and your family are having to endure this terrible act of violence. You should have been able to do your work, serve your community and return home safely to those you love. You are in our thoughts and prayers. We wish you strength in your recovery, and we look forward to seeing you back with your family and your community and amongst us in this House.

Back in 2018 or early 2019, Cathy McGowan, the former member for Indi, confided in me that she wasn't going to run again. I said: 'Cathy, don't leave me. You're the only other regional woman who's on the crossbench.' She said: 'Don't you worry, Bek. You'll love Helen.' And we all love Helen. She said, 'Helen's going to be just as good as me'—and then she winked and said, 'Maybe even better.'

Helen is such a wonderful woman and desperately needed in this place. Here's just a little example of Helen's kindness and love. In our last sitting week, the member for Ryan—I'm sure she won't mind me saying—was having a special birthday. Helen organised a little surprise dinner for the member for Ryan with us ladies. The member for Ryan thought it would just be her, and she was so delighted to see all us ladies of the crossbench there to celebrate her birthday with her. That's the level of kindness that Helen exudes. When this tragedy happened, the member for Curtin wrote in our WhatsApp group, 'Helen is the best of us.' Indeed, she is the very best of us not just on this side of the chamber but the whole chamber. I acknowledge her integrity, her tenacity and her fierce advocacy, with respect for all in this place.

There's been a lot of conversation about turning the temperature down. I don't disagree with that in this chamber at all. I do think we need to have fierce and robust debate, but it needs to be respectful in here—and, often, question time is not respectful. But that respect for each other needs to happen outside of this place, towards each other, as well. I just say to every person who's maybe preparing a dirt file or something on another person: how about you don't press 'send'? How about you let the journalists do their own work, and you hold your head up high with integrity?

Inside and out, Helen is a beautiful person. I feel that this chamber is a little bit diminished without her, and I hope that she returns here as quickly as possible. I acknowledge her wonderful team. I acknowledge all those bystanders who helped keep Helen alive, and her husband, Phil, who has a strength that only comes from having the angels lifting him and her children, Will, Nick and Georgia, and her grandchildren. One thing Helen and I share is that, pretty much every time we come into the chamber, we're always showing each other new pictures of our grandchildren; Helen has two and I have one. That's something we share as well as a love of the regions. We also talk about my girl, who's doing nursing. I think Helen's nursing is the real compass of her work in here; she's always caring for everyone in this place and everyone in her community. I would say she has that care that nurses have for Australia.

I end with saying: what would Helen want us to do? I borrowed this from the member for Ryan: she would want us to keep finding the hope for a better parliament and the hope for a better Australia. I would urge all of us: let us have that hope in our heart and let us be our best selves.

Last week was a really difficult and dark one for our country. I finished that week with the member for Holt. She invited me to her community to celebrate the first of what will be many Diwali events. It was a beautiful night with music and dancing and laughing and togetherness. For Hindu families, Diwali celebrates Lord Rama's return home, and, for Sikh families, it marks Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji's release from captivity and the freedom that he secured for others. They're different stories and different cultures, but they share the same message: lightness over dark and the triumph of kindness over hate and understanding over ignorance.

We saw this unspeakable act of violence and aggression occur on Monday, and, on Friday, I stood on that beautiful, warm Melbourne night on the growing outskirts of Melbourne, and we lit sparklers and we ate homemade sweet treats, and that community sent me back to Canberra full of their thoughts and their well wishes for Helen Haines. That's Australia, and that's the energy and the vigour and the beauty of south-east Melbourne that I get to bring into this chamber week after week.

I feel very lucky, as I think almost all of us do in this chamber, to say that the member for Indi wasn't just a colleague; she was a friend. Helen has an amazing passion for housing in the regions, and I was lucky to work with her on this topic over a number of years. She would come into my office, always bringing volunteers from her community to come and observe the meeting and understand how they could advocate for the things their community needed. She treated me like a person. Helen would always come through first asking about my husband, about my children, about my family before we got down to business, and then we would get down to business. Helen was warm.

Someone talked a little bit earlier about how she's a nurse. She wasn't just a nurse; she was a midwife. If you've ever been through a difficult labour—perhaps not you, Speaker, but I've been through a couple—Helen Haines is the person you would want next to you, holding your hand, not just warmly, empathically sharing the experience with you but making you believe that you could do a big and hard thing. That's how she made me feel too as a government minister about a topic that she cared about very passionately.

I feel strongly that the discussion we're having right now shouldn't be just centred on politics and politicians. What is going on in our country right now is not about the people who sit in this chamber or even just the institution of our democracy. We're living in a time where our social fabric is being stretched. It's being pushed and pulled in every direction. I think about our teachers and the interactions that they're increasingly having, about our nurses, our medical staff around the country, about our retail workers—anyone who has a job that puts them at a direct interface with the public is experiencing some version of this. We've got an opportunity here to take stock of the way we are treating each other in Australia at the moment and chart a pathway back to the egalitarian civility that makes our country so unique and special. The MPs who've spoken today have shared a strong view that that's what we need to do together.

I want to say something to Helen's staff. We heard the read a statement from Kaz on behalf of Helen's team during the week. I just want to thank you and just say I cannot imagine what you've gone through over this last week. I've never really understood this, but there's a bit of a sense of malign sometimes about being a political staffer. The truth is that these staffers are the best and most loyal servants of our democracy. I say, to every staffer—if you're a ministerial staffer, a shadow ministerial staffer—working on the front line of an electorate office, we thank you and we acknowledge the deep difficulty of the work that you are having to do. Speaker, I'm sure your staff are in the same position. I mean, the things that my staff have to do to protect me from some of the things that are out there and the abusive phone calls they need to deal with. They are the people who trawl through my social media trying to find the difference between a vitriolic message and something that's got a death threat or a rape threat that needs to be reported. You're doing amazing work for us, and I just want you to know how much we appreciate that.

To the people of Wangaratta: what's happened to Helen is not what defines you. It is the acts of incredible community, neighbourliness and heroism. The people of Wangaratta saved Helen Haines's life, and we will be forever grateful to them for that. Like others who've spoken today, I can't wait to see Helen. I can't wait to see her back in this chamber where she belongs, bringing that fierce, warm advocacy into the chamber for the subjects that she was most passionate about. Get well, Helen. The people of Hotham are pulling for you 100 per cent.

To the member for Indi, Helen, my friend: I'm so sorry that this has happened to you, and I'm thinking of you every day. As many people have said, I am looking forward to when you come back into this chamber and the Speaker calls on you. And thank you, Phil, who I spoke to this morning at a morning tea for your words today and also last week when updating us on Helen's condition.

Nicholls and Indi share a very long border and the communities of Euroa, Violet Town and Longwood. These communities are partly in Nicholls and partly in Indi, and therefore I have the great pleasure of being able to spend a lot of time with the member for Indi, with Helen, at events. I also work with her when those communities are threatened. When I first came to this place—and the Minister for Regional Development pointed this out—I don't know if I was ordered or invited, but I was told to come up and have a cup of tea with the member for Indi, and there was that commitment to saying, 'We are neighbours, and we've got a lot of joint things we need to work on.' I also sat next to Helen when I first came into this place, and that was a great way to understand the way this place worked, sitting next to someone who was showing the decency and compassion that I think that we need to show towards each other.

Earlier this year, our communities were affected very badly by the Longwood bushfires. I think the community wanted to see their political representatives not in terms of parties or where they happen to sit in the chamber but in terms of their care for their communities. I saw that with Helen. It was actually great that the community saw me, a National Party person; Helen, an independent; and the Minister for Regional Development, a Labor minister, all trying to come together and make sure that the No. 1 focus is them. I think that that's what communities want from this parliament, and Helen certainly led that. Just recently, the Governor-General came to visit the electorates of Indi and Nicholls, and so we were at a reception with the Governor-General together. It was very painful that the next time I saw the Governor-General was after what was such a horrific attack on Helen.

There's been some talk about political violence and what's causing that—social media, mental illness. Some people talk about the conduct in this place. I've found this place to be somewhere where there's a really robust debate, and I like the fact that it's robust. I was asked by the ABC as someone from the neighbouring electorate to speak the night after this horrible thing had happened, and I said something that has resonated with people. People have reached out. I said, 'I just wish people could see how good friends we are in the chamber.' I can see many people who I regard as really good friends and people I respect. I don't want to stop debating with you, because we have a different view, but I want to always make sure that we continue that friendship and that the community at large sees that friendship in the way that they saw with Helen, the minister and me in Longwood. That's what gives people heart. They want us to argue, because different people think that the way we go about things should be different—that's the way politics has got to work—but they want to see us get out of this place and say, 'Member for Macnamara, you're a very good friend.' That's an example; you all are. I think, if we can show that to people, that will diffuse some of the agitation that's going on out there. So I'm going to recommit myself to that.

The member for Indi, Helen, gives us that example. Helen, I've reached out to your staff, and I hope that we are able to help, because our electorate offices are so close. To you, I echo what the Speaker said. One of the greatest times in this parliament, in this chamber, will be when the Speaker can say, 'I give the call to the member for Indi.'

Helen, you're so important to us, you are so admired by us and you are so loved. I want to say to you, Mr Speaker, to the Prime Minister and to all of the speakers so far and for the rest of the day that we're very grateful for this opportunity to say a few words in support of Helen as she recovers from her injuries. This is an opportunity as well to convey to Phil, who we spoke to this morning, to their family and friends, to the staff doing a wonderful job and to that beautiful country community the immense grief that we all share and to wrap our arms around each other in a spirit of solidarity today. I also want to say thank you to the first responders, the community members and everyone who stepped up and stepped in on that devastating Monday on the main drag of Wangaratta.

This parliament's a rugged place to work. Ours can be a brutal profession, and sometimes it takes a lot for us to agree, but today shows that we are capable of that. It's rarer now that we come together like this, and that makes it more significant. In my time here, there's never been more unanimity in this place than in this moment in support of Helen Haines, and that's because Helen is more than one of us. She is more than a colleague. She's more than an acquaintance. She's not just making up the numbers. She's not some kind of numerical afterthought. She is, as her colleagues on the crossbench have described her, the best of us.

It's not lost on any of us that arguably the most rational member of this place has become a victim of the most irrational violence. Helen's is closest to a perfect temperament in a very imperfect place. A couple of hundred years ago, Wordsworth wrote a poem called 'Resolution and independence'. In it, he wrote of something called a 'peculiar grace' in the face of despondency. Helen has, I think, a 'peculiar grace'. She's got the best voice in politics. It's not just the sound of it but the weight of it—the weight that it carries not just in its tone and its tenor but in its authenticity and its authority as well. Those of us with nurses or midwives in our family recognise it well and recognise it immediately—that bearing which is warm, practical, pragmatic, compassionate and very positive, even in the face of great difficulty. On those days when Helen would come round for a cup of tea or I'd run into her on the way into work, the positivity and optimism from that time that we would spend together would sustain me for the rest of the day—such was her impact on all of us.

There's an investigation underway, of course. We'll get to the bottom of what happened here. It's never about one thing on its own, but a pattern had formed even before the madness of last week. There was an inevitability of this tragedy that makes it shocking but not surprising. It is not free of a threatening context. Politics has taken a perilous turn. Public life is more dangerous now. Rhetoric is more violent. Threats are more frequent. There's more than one cause of this, but monetised violence online is not helping—that algorithmic rage bait that's all about preying on the nation's challenges and not solving them.

There is so much of this that is cruel, but one part of that is that the more available you are to your constituents, the more vulnerable you are. There is a lot about our democracy which is better than elsewhere, but we can't import the divisive politics of other countries without importing the violent consequences as well. That violence that we see from time to time on the streets of France or the United States is not as far away from the main drag of Wangaratta as we may have assumed or may have wanted. It's closer than we would like.

Speaker, as you said in your beautiful contribution, we look forward to the day we see and hear Helen again here in the people's house. But, in the meantime—and after that—it is up to all of us and it is up to every single Australian to decide whether this dangerous fraying becomes an unravelling or an awakening and whether this moment makes Helen's grace more or less peculiar.

Firstly, I want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with Dr Helen Haines and her family and husband, Phil, who we had the great privilege of hearing directly from this morning. I am certainly praying for her full recovery.

What allegedly happened in Wangaratta last week is appalling. While police must complete their investigation, reports have shocked us all. No-one should fear for their safety simply for doing their job. This is not who we as Australians are. We believe in freedom of speech, robust debate and the right to disagree. Disagreement is democracy; violence is not. My staff, my family and I have been deeply shaken. I cannot pretend otherwise. But, if we allow fear to silence us, if we retreat from the communities we were elected to serve, then something precious about our democracy will be lost. If fear is allowed to silence me, I may as well resign today. But I will not. Neither will my staff. We will continue fighting for the people of Mallee because that is the responsibility and privilege of public service.

Helen and I were elected to parliament in the same year. We represent different communities but share a passion for regional Australia, particularly regional health. Only last week we both spoke at the launch of the National Rural Health Alliance report exposing the staggering $9.3 billion underspend in regional health. Afterwards, Helen came up to me and told me how angry she was about this injustice, and I told her I felt exactly the same. Behind that figure are real people, and Helen knows that. They're regional Australians waiting too long for surgery, travelling hundreds of kilometres for specialist appointments or simply going without the health care they need. Where you live should never determine the quality of your health. Helen, while you recover, I will keep fighting for the regional health care we both know Australians deserve and I will keep fighting beyond your return with you.

The Prime Minister has called for the temperature of political debate to be lowered. I agree that threats and intimidation have no place in our democracy, but I don't agree with the Prime Minister in this instance. Robust political debate is not the problem. It is the lifeblood of our democracy. We should never confuse passionate disagreement with dangerous behaviour, nor should calls for civility become an excuse to silence criticism or avoid uncomfortable truths.

What is fuelling frustration across Australia is something far deeper. Australians are struggling. They are working harder, paying more and falling farther behind. Families are struggling with mortgages, rents, groceries and electricity bills. Many feel their hard work is getting them nowhere. They feel powerless and, worse, they feel betrayed by promises made and broken. Australians are not angry because politicians disagree. They are angry because they feel they are not being told the truth. That frustration can never justify what allegedly occurred to Helen last week. There is no excuse for such behaviour. But neither should the genuine frustration of Australians be dismissed or ignored. The answer is not less political debate; it is more honesty, transparency and accountability from, frankly, everyone on both sides of the House. Leadership means telling Australians the truth even when it is uncomfortable. It means admitting mistakes, accepting responsibility and respecting the people who put their trust in us.

Helen and I came to this parliament to serve our communities. I know she would want us to continue doing exactly that without fear or favour. Helen, your voice matters, your work matters, and, while you recover, we will keep fighting for regional Australians we both care so deeply about. We must never allow fear to silence us nor political convenience to silence the truth.

The member for Indi, Dr Helen Haines, embodies all that is good about Australian politics. Since coming to this place in 2019, Helen has proven herself a strong advocate for the people of Indi. She is a person of genuine integrity with a strong commitment to public service. She's a fighter who stands up for what she believes in. Her contributions to this place have rightly earned her the respect of colleagues across the parliament. What occurred last Monday was a senseless act of violence that has no place in Australia. My prayers are with Helen; her husband, Phil; and her family at this deeply difficult time, and I extend my support to her electorate office staff and to the entire Indi community.

This moment reminds us of our shared responsibilities, including to reject violence against women and to ensure that every woman can live and work safely. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that nearly one in three Australian women has experienced physical violence since the age of 15. This is an unacceptable reality. We must continue working across the parliament, together, to prevent violence and ensure every woman can live and work without fearing for their safety.

Helen's work in this place has delivered meaningful outcomes for regional Australians. She continues to be a strong advocate for regional connectivity and resilience for communities like hers that face natural disasters. Helen was one of the first people I called as Minister for Communications in the last parliament when the government announced that we would introduce a universal outdoor mobile obligation. Through her advocacy and support, Australians will be better connected when it matters most.

Her commitment to public service extends well beyond her work representing the people of Indi. She is also widely known for her significant contribution to strengthening integrity in Australian politics. Helen has long argued that public trust in our institutions must be earned. In 2020, Helen introduced legislation to establish an Australian federal integrity commission. She understood the importance of an independent national body to investigate corruption and strengthen accountability. When this government introduced legislation to establish the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Helen drew on her longstanding advocacy for a federal integrity body to help shape the framework for the new commission. Right from its establishment, Helen has continued this work as the Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Her contribution reflects a clear understanding that integrity matters and that public trust can never be taken for granted.

It has been my great personal pleasure to work closely with Helen since coming to this role in May 2025. Her work on the NACC demonstrates her commitment to working constructively across the parliament and to strengthening the institutions on which our democracy depends. Helen has made a significant contribution to this parliament and to the Australian community, and I have no doubt she will continue to do so in future. We are all better for her service and for the determination she brings to making a difference. Today, we send Helen and her family our deepest support and our very best wishes. We stand with her at this difficult time, but most of all we look forward to welcoming her back to this place, so she can continue the vitally important work she does on behalf of our community and on behalf of the entire nation.

This is a gathering and reflection that none of us wishes we had to make. As we do so, may I start by sending my love and prayers to my friend and electorate neighbour Dr Helen Haines; her husband, Phil; their children and family; her staff; and the people of the electorate of Indi. I also send my thanks, however inadequate they are, to the people who came to Helen's aid—the bystanders, her staff, paramedics, police and the medical teams. For all of the despair created by what happened last week, the good people who acted as they did their job, as well as Helen's and Phil's innate decency and generosity, are an antidote to that despair. So too were the Governor-General's fine remarks in Melbourne last week.

The attack on Helen was also an assault on the democratic will of the people of Indi, who chose to send Helen to Canberra on their behalf. Our job, our profession and, yes, our vocation is to be in the community. It is to see, listen, engage and represent the people of our electorates. It is also to navigate, explain and debate the choices and challenges before our nation. Disagreement is foundational to democracy. Our work is to debate and deliver. We can't step back from our responsibilities, but we have to reflect on what is happening around us. The fragmentation of beliefs, the escalation of frustration, the shattering of norms and the inability to see the humanity of people we disagree with are changing the environment that we work in. Every member and senator in this place has experienced it. The AFP received more than 1,000 reports of threats and harassment against parliamentarians and officeholders last financial year, and it is struggling to meet those demands from its existing budget. I believe we need a new approach. Security now warrants a better integrated approach, where services are consolidated into a parliamentary security office, resourced as the Parliamentary Budget Office is. I also want to acknowledge people such as the members for Canning, Berowra and Macnamara and the Minister for Small Business, who face particular threats and intimidation at different times.

We also have to engage with another issue too. Rural Australia is in the grip of a mental health crisis. Rural Australians aren't more likely to have a mental illness. They're more likely to die from one, though. I can't say that the AFP could have prevented the shocking incident last week, but addressing the mental health crisis in regional Australia may well prevent another. We must meet this moment, or it will pass until the next time. There have been calls to moderate debate. My concern is what that really means for some of the people making those calls is that we all must agree or that we are simply calling on those not on our own side to tone it down. We must not lose the contestability of policy and ideas, nor can we lose the heart and soul in debate. Parliamentary democracy means holding government to account, and robust debate enables that. We cannot simply all agree with one another. The behaviour, tone and nuance with which we argue matters, though.

I believe something deeper has been eroding. Trust in our institutions has been worn down, and in some quarters it has been weaponised. For years now we have heard from voices at each end of the spectrum that the system is broken and that politicians are only in it for themselves. The French writer Alphonse Karr once said that some people grumble that roses have thorns, while he was grateful that thorns have roses. If we only ever look for the bad, the bad is all we will find. We have seen the dehumanising of people in public life spill well beyond politics. Retail staff, nurses, council workers and paramedics have all experienced this pandemic of abuse. We are living through an era of entitlement to incivility. Finally, the threats against women in this place must be named. Men face them too, but women are overrepresented in a particular type of abuse. Like all female parliamentarians, I face an inbox and a social media feed with continual gendered and sexualised comments. There is much that must change, and this debate is a good place to start. We owe it to Helen, we owe it to each other, and we owe it to the country to continue it.

I conclude with a few words for Helen. Helen, the people of Indi want you home, and we want you home in your place here too, my friend.

On behalf of the constituents of Brand, I rise to join colleagues across the parliament in supporting the Prime Minister's motion in support of the member for Indi and condemning the attack upon her not even a week ago. I offer my support and solidarity, and that of my team, to all of those who work for Dr Haines in her electorate office. All of us know, and many in our communities know, that the people who work with MPs in our electorate offices are committed to those communities and serve them just as hard as the elected representatives do. The staff in the Indi electorate office have seen something that no-one should, and my heart goes out to them.

My heart also goes out to Phil Haines and all of Dr Haines's family. I simply cannot imagine what you are going through. I would also like to pass on the thoughts and love of my husband, Jamie King. Jamie and Phil know one another through the parliamentary partners and families group, a group that is of great importance to many partners of those elected to this parliament. It's a support group that can share in the frustrations of being attached to the elected and the sometimes frankly ridiculous lives we lead and that we burden all of our families with.

The Parliament of Australia exists as a place to help resolve our differences peacefully and with respect. We may disagree strongly. We may vigorously contest ideas. But, today, the entire parliament is united in expressing our distress and disgust at this senseless and grievous attack on the member for Indi. Her advocacy has always been, and will remain, grounded in a genuine commitment to her community and a determination to ensure that regional Australians have a strong voice in our national conversation. I wish Helen well in what will be a very challenging road to recovery, but I am confident that her enduring optimism and strength will carry the member for Indi back to this chamber.

At this moment, I think it is beholden on all of us, Australians of pure intent and defenders of our great democracy, to shift the tone of the debate. We must think carefully about our modern discourse and the incentives that drive the algorithms of the social media feeds and ask ourselves: to what end? We must never lose sight of the fact that behind every political disagreement is another human being—a fellow Australian, a person with family, hopes, fears and convictions of their own. This responsibility belongs to everyone who shapes our public discourse and debate, whether from a newsroom, a parliamentary chamber, a television studio or behind a screen. This is especially the case for those who help set the agenda for the rest of us. Politicians can, should, will and do show leadership. But leadership cannot rest with elected representatives alone.

At this time, I am reminded of incendiary commentary we've seen in the past. It has often seeped into our public debate with few consequences for those responsible. There have been remarks suggesting shoving a sock down the throat of a former New Zealand prime minister and suggestions that the father of one of our own prime ministers died of shame. Words matter, but images matter as well. A mere three days ago, after the attack on the member for Indi, a cartoon appeared prominently in one of the very few newspapers in Western Australia. It depicted several of my friends—colleagues, elected members who are also ministers, elected by the people of Australia—as dead animals lined up on a beach, ready to be dragged out into the Indian Ocean to be fed to the sharks. This was shocking and depressing imagery, but it was absolutely no surprise. It's like so many of the media tabloid front pages that are designed to be shared quite purposefully to feed the shares, likes and rage baiting. It's this social media that can become that anonymous swell of anger and hate.

But our national conversation is still shaped by journalists, editors and media owners. With their influence comes the responsibility that they must take on, and I hope that they resist the race to the bottom and resist chasing the outrage, division and hostility that the social media platforms have so successfully weaponised and monetised. The role of the media is not to amplify our worst instincts but to inform, challenge and elevate the national conversation.

All of us should be asking whether our contributions to the debate create more light than heat. Our democracy is strongest when we disagree with decency, argue with respect and remember the humanity in one another. The attack on the member for Indi is not who we are as a nation. We reject violence of any kind, and we condemn it unequivocally. As Dr Haines, the member for Indi, begins the long road to recovery, she will carry with her the thoughts and best wishes of all of us in this parliament and of the entire Australian community. I wish you well, Helen.

I stand here today with incredible sadness for Helen, for Phil, for Helen's children and grandchildren, for her team and volunteers, for the people of Indi and for Australia—and so many people share this sadness. In my community, people have been stopping me in the street to tell me how this has affected them. I've received hundreds of messages of support to pass on to Helen, and there have been millions across the country. This senseless attack has triggered this outpouring of grief and love.

This tragic incident has affected so many Australians because of what Helen stands for—kindness and wisdom; respect and disagreeing civilly; ethics and wisdom; and community connection. All these are the type of politics we wish we had more of. It feels like such a blow not only to a woman and her family but to the nation that we imagine we are—where our leaders can move freely in our communities, safe in the knowledge that we Australians can disagree without violence.

Helen has had a big impact on me personally. When I was first elected and didn't really know how to do this job, Helen was very generous and invited Monique Ryan and I to go and spend the day in her office in Wangaratta, where she taught me everything I needed to know about how to do the job. That set the tone for me. I could see that it could be done. You could have civility and strength. You could hold government to account and make your point without being disrespectful. Helen does not need to belittle anyone and always argues the issue rather than attacking the person. My greatest wish is that I can be Helen when I grow up! She's set the tone for me.

Since I've arrived in this place, I've always taken my dilemmas to Helen. She always has time and she has wisdom. She can clearly see the right thing to do, and when she gently lays it out for you it seems so obvious. There are plenty of hard decisions to be made in this place—the perfect versus the good, politics versus policy, and complex issues to be navigated. Helen can always find the best way forward. Her clear, unassuming, ethical leadership led my colleague here, the member for Ryan, to give the other newbies a T-shirt for Christmas in that first year that said, 'What would Helen do?' It's a question I ask myself frequently.

Helen is such an important source of hope at a time when we desperately need more hope. Today my sadness is accompanied by the hope that Phil Haines expressed this morning—that this incident can be the thing that breaks the fever of anger in the parliament and across Australia. In this place we all want to find solutions when something terrible happens. We ask, 'How could this have happened and how could it have been prevented?' We don't know. It could be more mental health services. It could be dealing with the amplification of anger and negativity on social media. It could be better warning systems for law enforcement, more civility in parliament, better security for MPs or none of the above. The facts will unfold, and, in the meantime, everyone will take their own lessons from this. For me, the way I plan to honour Helen during her recovery is to continue her work making our democracy better on the integrity issues that are synonymous with her name and the fairness that underpins her view of the world, and, just as importantly, to honour and replicate how she does the work—with respect, civility, strength and kindness.

Before this week, Helen Haines was the only member of the Australian federal parliament who had committed to the civility pledge. I think that says it all. Right now, I'd like to follow Helen's example—so I say that, in my political life, I pledge to act with honesty, respect and compassion. These simple words embody what Helen means to me and to our political system.

Like so many across the country, I send Helen all my love to fortify her for the hard road ahead to the best possible new normal that she can have. I truly hope that she will be sitting here on the crossbench with us again before too long, and that, as her lovely husband, Phil, says, the parts of her that make her Helen—her heart and her mind—are not changed. Helen, please come back to us. We need you here more than ever.

Today my thoughts and the thoughts of the Jagajaga community are with Helen. Helen, since I met you, when we were first elected in 2019, I have valued your kindness and your compassion. I have immense respect for the way you conduct yourself in this place and in your community. On a personal level, you welcomed me warmly into your home, together with the member for Macnamara, when we were driving through your beautiful electorate to get to Canberra. There was no prior arrangement, demonstrating your true hospitality and warmth, allowing us to drop in.

Recently we've had conversations about how you've been upgrading the garden there with more vegetable and flower beds and how much satisfaction that has brought you. I've commented many times on how I felt reassured when I was pregnant in this place because you were on hand with your professional skill and compassion. We've been working closely together in recent months on one of your other passions—the National Anti-Corruption Commission. As chair of the parliamentary committee overseeing the NACC, I have greatly appreciated your commitment, as deputy chair, to making sure that that institution is strong and robust and that it plays the part it should in our democracy.

What happened to Helen should not happen to anyone. As I've reflected on it over the last few days, I've found myself thinking about how much the environment for elected representatives has changed since Helen and I were first elected seven years ago. Politics has never been a profession that's short on strong views, nor should it be. People care passionately about the issues that affect their lives, and they should be able to disagree with us. They should be able to challenge us. That is part of democracy. But something feels different now. The temperature is higher. Increasingly, people approach political issues and they approach MPs in a heightened way. Anger sits much closer to the surface. Interactions that once might have involved disagreement can now feel more confrontational.

I'd be lying if I said it doesn't affect me. I worry about my staff. I worry about all of our staff. The people who work in our offices are smart and committed. They're caring people. They spend their days helping people navigate government systems. They did not sign up to be abused or threatened. As a parent, I found myself having conversations with my children that I never expected to have—conversations about safety, conversations about why people can sometimes be angry at politicians. These are not easy conversations to have with your kids. But, despite all of that, the thing I value most about this job remains exactly the same as it was when I started.

Like Helen, I value being out in our community. I value being able to attend community events, sporting clubs and local festivals. This last weekend it was the Diwali festival in Eltham. I value having conversations with people in supermarkets, cafes and shopping strips. I value hearing people's stories, hearing their frustrations, hearing their hopes and learning from them. These moments of connection are not just a nice part of the job; they are the job. Representative democracy only works when we can remain connected to the people we represent, and that is why what happened to Helen is so troubling. The risk is not only that people feel unsafe. The risk is that these types of things slowly erode the connections that are at the heart of our democracy.

I know this is not something that only affects politicians. When I talk to teachers, health workers, retail workers, emergency service workers and people on the front line of public services, many tell similar stories. They too are experiencing more aggression, more abuse and more anger than they did a decade ago. It's making many jobs harder, and I think it points to a broader challenge for all of us. At a time when there are so many forces pulling people apart, we need to work harder to bring people together. We need more opportunities for genuine conversation, more opportunities to listen, more opportunities to disagree respectfully and more opportunities to see the humanity in people who may hold different views from our own. When people know one another, when they sit down together, when they share their experiences, it becomes much harder to treat one another with contempt, and Helen demonstrates this every day. The people in Helen's community demonstrated this when they came to her aid.

The answer to what happened to Helen is not to retreat from our communities. The answer is to strengthen the connections that hold our communities together. So today, together with so many, I place on the record my support for Helen and the support of my community for Helen, for her husband, Phil, for her family and for her staff. I know the road ahead will not be easy, but we will welcome you back here, and I hope it's soon. I want to say that, despite the challenges, despite the heightened environment we are all navigating, I still believe deeply in the value of community, in the value of conversation and in the value of human connection. These things are not a soft alternative to democracy; they are democracy. If there is one lesson we should take from you, Helen, and your example, it is that we need more connection and kindness.

Las week has rocked us all to the core and rocked this country, we prided ourselves on how like things like that don't happen here, and now they have. We won't be the same, and I'll talk about how I believe we need to start to change, but, firstly, I would like to speak about beautiful Helen, her family, her team and her community. To Phil, to her children, Will, Nick and Georgia, and to her grandchildren: my heart goes out to you. She adores you and constantly shows us photos and things like that of you in parliament. Phil, the grace and bravery you've displayed today has been an inspiration. To her team, past and present, who cared deeply for Helen: many of you were there witnessing the attack, coming to her aid and must be deeply traumatised. Now, you're doing exactly what Helen would do: showing up and continuing to serve your community. To Indi: Helen speaks about Indi with so much pride and affection. The people of Wangaratta, the courage and care that you showed each other on that day and that you showed Helen shows exactly why. Finally, to Helen: Helen, I really miss you today. Over the last few weeks and here today, many have spoken about your kindness and generosity and praised your decency and respect that you bring to this place. You are all these things. You are someone I go to when I don't know what to do. When I've got an ethical dilemma, I go to you, Helen. Phil told us about your first words after you woke up after the attack and said that your first concerns when you awoke were for your staff and gratitude to the first responders, nurses and bystanders. That exactly speaks to the character of who you are.

People have spoken about your empathy and grace, and they deserve recognition, but I think it paints a picture of you as a sort of benign force wandering through the parliament. What I will say is that you are also a force for change, and I think this is genuinely the lesson in your life, because you were a force for change. Your list of achievements in parliament is considerable, not least the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which you championed fearlessly for years, but also paid prac placements, home batteries, ensuring the needs of the regions were front and foremost. You championed this, and the way you did it really matters, because you showed that you can have dignity and compassion and respect but also strength. The combination of restraint and force that you showed is a lesson for how to achieve things in public life and do that with the dignity that this parliament deserves.

This attack on you, Helen, should not just shock us; it should change us. There is no meaning in senseless violence, but we need to create meaning from it in the actions that we take. Phil challenged us this morning to do that—for this place to change before Helen returns. I think we owe you that, and I think we owe the country that. We do not know the causes exactly of the violence that you faced last week. We cannot generalise from the specifics, but we can see the rising tide of threats not just against parliamentarians but against everyday Australians who are serving each other, and that is a problem for the whole country. We can deal with security measures, policing, online hate, mental health services—these are all questions of economic prosperity. These are all relevant to how we do take the temperature down, but we also need to look in the mirror, because this country does not believe that parliament is the best of us.

How can we be surprised, when people come to watch our democracy in action and grown adults call out 'rip him another one' and 'rip her apart'? That is not robust debate in an adversarial system. That is violent abuse. We cannot stop violence by our words, but we cannot pretend that our words don't carry weight and that some people won't hear them in moments of distress and despair. We can work for restraint and force the way that Helen has and shown us, and so, like others ahead of me, I am also going to take the civility pledge, because I think it is a place to start, so I will say, in my political life, I pledge to act with honesty, respect and compassion.

I want to speak specifically about honesty because I think that is actually something we don't talk enough about—having an honest debate about what government can and cannot do, being realistic about the promises that we make, being fairer to the strengths of an opponent's argument, even when we disagree with them and continue to disagree. It is less newsworthy, but it is less likely to disappoint people, to weary them with false hope and to make them distrust us.

I don't have all the answers—or any—coming out of what has happened here. But, in listening to the debate that we have had to date, I do think there's an opportunity for the common ground to be found; for us to do things better, collectively; for recognising, again, in Phil's words, that we are both the participants and victims of the coarsening of public debate; that we can do better; that we must do better; and that Helen would expect it of us.

I'm sure every single honourable member, and most Australians, will always remember exactly where we were when we heard the news about Helen Haines, as will I. I'm sure we will remember where we were when we heard the details that made it clear that this was not a terrible accident but a horrific incident. I'm sure, like all honourable members, my thoughts went immediately to: 'How could this happen, and why would it happen to Helen? Why would it happen to an MP who has the respect of all sides of the chamber and who is an absolute delight to talk to and work with in every single instance?' Of course, there is much more investigation and legal action to occur, but what today is about is our thoughts and prayers for Helen, her community and her family.

Much has been said about Helen's role in this House, and I can attest to that. Helen is a fierce advocate for her community. Having visited her community with her twice—Wangaratta and Yackandandah—having been through those communities, I have seen her love for the people of Indi and the love of the people of Indi for her. We all know why. It should be said that Helen Haines is the first individual in Australian political history as an Independent to replace another Independent. There have been times when Independents have won seats but, after their retirement, the seat has returned to the natural party that held that seat. It's a tribute to Cathy McGowan and Helen Haines that they bucked that historical fact, and it's a tribute to their combined representation of that beautiful part of the world.

Helen has been a fierce advocate for her community, talking to me about the need for renewable energy, which she strongly supports, and the need to bring communities with us on that journey. She has been a strong advocate for including home batteries in the small-scale renewable energy scheme. I well remember the call I made to Helen to let her know that we were about to do that—we were going to announce it the next day—and her joy on the end of the line. She had been advocating it for some time, a fact I've always freely acknowledged because she had been advocating it as we were considering it as a government. She's very proud of the success of that program. Indi has been in the top three electorates in Victoria for take-up of home batteries, which is something I know she's very proud of. I would regularly text her the figures. One sadder text was to let her know she'd been knocked off from No. 1, which she was not happy about at that point, but she's very happy that Indi remains in the top three.

For Helen and I, there's another element. Like most of us, I don't get much time to watch much television, but, somehow or other—I can't quite remember how or when—Helen and I worked out that we have very similar tastes in television. We would swap television recommendations via text and whenever we saw each other, and we'd compare notes. I very much look forward to Helen's return to advocacy in this House, but I also look forward to being able to talk to her about the latest episodes of MobLand, Fauda, Tehran, Slow Horses and the other shows we enjoy and have been able to recommend to each other over the years. I very much look forward to her ongoing return to the House for many years to come, and her representation of her community, which we value so much.

I do want to make one note about the tone of the debate. Other members have commented on it. Absolutely, there must be robust debate in this chamber. As the chamber knows, I can participate in that as willingly as the next person. I can give it out and I can take it. But this is not about robust debate. There is no place in this House, or anywhere in the media, for jokes, violent language or representations of violence, to make a political point. I understand that, in the heat of the moment, members and senators can say things which later, on cold reflection, they regret. It happens. They can be withdrawn. I understand that. But there is no place for it, and there is no place for premeditated comments about violence, whether it be joking about physical violence, whether it be using violent analogies or whether it be using emotive language like 'traitors' and 'treason'.

This is language which has no place in a robust modern debate. When people who may be undergoing mental health issues hear that sort of language, at the same time they hear a message that somehow gives them permission to think this sort of language is okay. So the Prime Minister is right to say we do need to take the temperature down. That is not a less robust debate. It is a fully robust debate on facts, views and substance, not personal abuse and not with violent imagery. There is no place for it, and I hope there is less and less of it in the Australian political debate.

I look forward to the day—hopefully in the not-too-distant future—when we rise as one as a parliament to welcome the return to the House of the great Helen Haines.

Words can only go so far to express how special Helen Haines is and how horrid the attack on her was. More telling is the emotional distress we're all feeling—indeed, it's how a great many Australians felt last Monday afternoon and continue to feel. We're distressed because, while violence against anyone is completely and utterly unacceptable, the savagery of this attack and that it was against Helen Haines of all people is just so utterly incomprehensible.

But in needing to find a word to focus on today, I go to the word 'integrity' because Helen has it in spades. I go to 'integrity' because that's what Helen pursued in this place more than anyone else. That is why I'll now read into the parliamentary record some excerpts from the media release published yesterday by the Centre for Public Integrity. It said:

Together with millions of Australians, we have been grief-stricken this week by the horrific attack on a woman we are privileged to call our collaborator and friend, Dr Helen Haines MP.

Helen is an extraordinary parliamentarian and an extraordinary person. Passionate, principled, intelligent, warm and down to earth, she has dedicated herself to making government work better, not only for the people of her beloved electorate of Indi, but for all Australians. The outpouring of love and support from her community and across the nation, and the tributes paid from across the political spectrum, speak to the remarkable person she is.

Helen's husband, Phil captured her magnificent spirit perfectly when he reassured Australians that, despite losing two limbs, her mind and heart remain strong. It is this indomitable strength, which has defined her time in public life, that now gives us hope.

Helen is one of Australia's most effective champions of integrity in public life. We have been privileged to work alongside her on some of the most important integrity reforms of recent years.

Helen was pivotal in the campaign to establish a national anti-corruption commission. Long before the Albanese Government introduced its legislation, she introduced her own Australian Federal Integrity Commission Bill in 2020, helping build critical political momentum for a national integrity body.

Helen has also been a tireless advocate for ending pork barrelling. She believes deeply that public money should flow to the people and communities who need it most, not the most politically expedient to fund. We worked closely with her to draft her End Pork Barrelling Bill, strengthening the proposed rules governing the allocation of public resources.

More recently, following Helen's parliamentary questions on the Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program, our report, Public money, political advantage?, revealed that almost three-quarters of funding under the $559 million program had been allocated to Labor-held electorates through an invitation-only, non-competitive process. Just weeks ago, Helen joined our webinar discussing the findings and the urgent need for stronger standards to ensure public money is allocated fairly and transparently.

Helen's commitment has extended beyond creating integrity institutions to doing the hard work of ensuring they can operate as intended. She helped launch our Beyond Labels report, and we worked closely together in calling for a transparent, merit based appointment process for the next National Anti-Corruption Commissioner. This week, she welcomed the appointment of former Attorney-General and judge Robert McClelland following such a process. Indeed, she was preparing for a media interview about the appointment shortly before the attack.

We remember these collaborations with deep feeling. Helen is committed, smart, strategic and extraordinarily effective. She understands politics and how to make change happen. But through it all, she is deeply human, bringing warmth, generosity, compassion and profound respect for people to everything she does.

In other words, Helen, you're really special and we all desperately want you to mend as quickly and as well as humanly possible. We want you back, but, regardless of whether or not you return to this place, you've already changed it for the better more than anyone else ever has.

I rise to talk about a colleague, a friend and a woman who's given her working life to caring for other people. As we all know, last week Helen Haines, the member for Indi, was the victim of a terrible attack just outside her electorate office in Wangaratta. This is the place where she sat across from her constituents for years, listening to them. I want to begin with those who love her. To Phil, her husband, to her children, Georgia and Nick and Will, and to Helen's wider family, our thoughts have been with you every hour of this past week. You've been at her bedside through the hardest days of your lives, and yet you still found the strength to speak to us with grace. To Helen's staff, who've lost the sense of safety in their own workplace and have still shown up for their community, we say thank you. And, to the people of Indi, who have gathered in vigils, who've held each other and who love their local member, we are also with you. I want to thank the bystanders who ran towards Helen when others might have run away. They did not stop to ask who she was or what was going on. They just saw a person in terrible trouble and they helped. Their courage and their decency show us the very best of Australia.

This morning many of us met with Phil. I want to repeat some of what he told us because it says everything about Helen. He told us that, when Helen was woken by the doctors, amongst her first thoughts were thoughts for her staff, for her community and for the people who are caring for her. After everything that she has been through, she was thinking of others. This is not a surprise to any of us who know her. It's who she's always been. Helen came to this place as a nurse and a midwife, having been with people on the best and the worst days of their lives. When she first spoke in this chamber, she spoke about the place she calls home, about rural and regional communities and the people who live there, about listening and about public service as something that you do with others, not to them. She spoke about democracy as something that belongs to all of us and that we all have a responsibility for, built patiently, one conversation at a time, around kitchen tables. Helen has carried that spirit into this parliament every day since. She has never believed that disagreement was the same as disrespect. She has argued hard and has always argued with decency.

We all know that Helen faces a long road to recovery. It will be a long and a demanding one, and it will ask a great deal of her, of Phil and of their children. There will be very hard days, but those of us who know Helen know that she's a fighter. She will not walk that road alone. In her first speech she mentioned how lucky her life was due to her large and loving family. She has a family who adore her and will support her to heal. She has a community that is holding her up and colleagues from every part of this parliament who are willing her to heal.

Phil, her husband, also told us this morning that he hopes something comes from this. He wants this moment and the terrible things that happened to Helen, her family and her community to be the start of something—a turning down of the temperature and a better way of people speaking to each other, not just in public life but more broadly in the community. Whether you're a healthcare worker, whether you're a worker in a supermarket or whether you sit in this chamber, there's no doubt that so many people are aggrieved and angry right now, but all of us have a responsibility to turn the tone down. People in this place, people in the media more broadly, the social media platforms—everybody in the community—we all need to be kinder to each other.

I can think of no more fitting way to honour Helen than to take those words to heart. She would not ask for a speech for herself. She would be asking us to look out for each other. So my final words here today are for Helen. If ever you're listening to this, know that we are thinking of you. We are grateful for everything that you have given to the people of Indi and to this country. Your seat is waiting and so is the whole of this parliament, and we'll be here when you are ready.

We're speaking today about a colleague who should be here in this chamber doing her job. Instead, Dr Helen Haines is in hospital with injuries that have changed her life forever. Like so many Australians, I am deeply shocked by what happened to Helen. On behalf of the people of Lyne, I say that my heart aches for her, for Phil, for her loved ones and for her dedicated staff. While the road ahead is unimaginable in its challenges, I'm certain of her remarkable determination. I send Helen every bit of strength for the journey that lies before her.

It's deeply saddening that it's only through such a terrible act that we're here talking today about her compassion, her empathy and her unwavering kindness. I've been around this parliament since the mid-1990s, and I've seen the very best and the very worst of parliamentary behaviour. When it comes to Helen, I can absolutely say that she has been a shining example of the behaviour that we should all aspire to. I believe the greatest tribute we can pay Helen now is for this parliament to walk in her footsteps, to listen to one another and to offer each other our time, understanding and respect.

That brings me to something I've been thinking deeply about since this terrible event. Understandably, there's been considerable discussion about the safety of politicians and the risks of public life, but I want to be careful here. We politicians are not a special class of victims. Every day, police officers confront dangerous situations, paramedics attend unpredictable and sometimes violent scenes, and nurses and teachers face aggression and abuse while they're simply trying to care for people. There are many Australians who face risks far more routinely in their working lives than we do. That does not diminish the horror of what happened to Helen nor the need for sensible precautions, but we should keep some perspective. We cannot eliminate every risk from public life, and I would hate to see our response to this terrible crime fundamentally change the relationship between elected representatives and the people we serve.

In Lyne I spend a great deal of time out in towns and villages, talking with people at markets, community events, businesses and mobile offices. I put myself out there, mostly alone, where I am personally vulnerable. I would not have it any other way, and I want to thank the people of Lyne for the kindness, friendship and respect they've shown me. Even those who disagree with me vehemently have been civil and willing to talk. I treasure that enormously.

I understand why Australians are angry and frustrated. So many are working harder but feeling like they have less to show for it. They don't believe the political class has been listening to or caring about them, so they're shouting louder to be heard. Our response cannot be to tell Australians to stop being angry. Our responsibility is to listen, to take their concerns seriously and to make policy that rewards them for their effort and patriotism. In return, what should we ask of them? Not silence or concession—only that disagreement never becomes intimidation or violence. There is also something we politicians can do. We can take responsibility for how we argue our case, how we highlight our differences and how we engage with those who disagree with us. Politics is a contest of ideas, and it should be a vigorous one.

We do not yet know what motivated this appalling attack. That is for the police to determine. But it has caused many of us to reflect on the kind of political culture we want in Australia. For my part, I don't want a politics without passion. I don't want politicians frightened to speak their minds or reluctant to challenge poor decisions. I certainly don't want fear to drive elected representatives away from the communities they serve. I want a politics where we can disagree fiercely, treat each other decently and go about our work without fear. That is the standard I will strive for.

Coming back to Helen, you have endured something no person should ever have to endure. You have a long and difficult journey ahead, but you have the respect, affection and support of colleagues from right across parliament. I wish you strength for that journey and hope you and your family find comfort in knowing just how many Australians are thinking of you. Let us honour Helen not by retreating from the democratic contest but by remembering that the strength of our democracy lies not in how well we agree but in how we conduct ourselves when we disagree. I look forward to Helen returning soon.

I understand that the member for Pearce would like to present a copy of their speech for incorporation into Hansard in accordance with the resolution agreed to on 6 November 2025. We're very pleased to receive that.

() (): The incorporated speech read as follows—

I would like to pay tribute to my colleague and friend, Dr Helen Haines, the Independent member for lndi. Like so many people across this parliament, across Indi and right around Australia, I have been deeply shocked and saddened by the terrible attack on Helen outside her electorate office in Wangaratta. My thoughts—and I know the thoughts of everyone in this place—are with Helen; her husband, Phil; her children; grandchildren; family; staff; and the entire lndi community. Helen is a woman of extraordinary courage, compassion and conviction. She is a former nurse and midwife, a farmer, a researcher, a grandmother, a wife, a mother and a devoted community representative, but, above all, Helen is someone who has spent her life caring for other people. That instinct to care has shaped everything she has done, in her professional life, in her community and in this parliament.

In an era when public debate can so often become loud, hostile and divisive, Helen has been a steady voice for decency. She has shown that it is possible to hold strong views without treating others with antipathy. She has shown that disagreement does not have to mean disrespect, and she has shown that the best politics begin with genuine listening. Helen has been a tireless advocate for her community in north-east Victoria. She has been a powerful advocate for integrity in public life and for stronger institutions that hold power to account. Her work on a federal anti-corruption commission reflected her deep belief that public office is a trust and that Australians deserve a political system they can have confidence in. Helen's contribution cannot be measured only in legislation, committees or campaigns. It is measured in the way she makes people feel. Colleagues from every side of this chamber speak of her kindness, her warmth, her good humour and her willingness to make time for others. She treats staff, constituents, visitors and opponents with the same respect. She asks how you are, and she genuinely waits for the answer.

I have seen that warmth myself. Helen has a rare ability to bring people together. She does not seek the spotlight for its own sake; she uses it to lift others up. She is generous with her time, generous with her encouragement and generous with her belief that politics can be better than it often appears. Helen's strength has never been loudness. Her strength has been persistence. She has faced difficult debates, tough campaigns and enormous pressure, yet she has remained grounded in her values and accountable to her community. She has always been prepared to do the patient, unglamorous work that good representation requires—listening to locals, understanding the detail, building coalitions, and finding practical solutions.

The response to this shocking attack has shown just how deeply Helen is loved and respected. Flowers, cards and messages have been placed outside her office in Wangaratta. People from Indi and beyond have gathered to pray, to reflect and to offer their support. Her family has asked that, in place of flowers, people consider donating to Save the Children Australia, a request that says so much about Helen and the values she lives by. Helen's husband, Phil, has described her as a fighter. We know that to be true. We know that her heart and her mind remain strong, and we hold onto hope for the long road of recovery ahead. Helen has spent her life standing beside people in their hardest moments. Now, it is our turn to stand beside her, her family and her community.

To Helen: please know that you are in our hearts. Your courage, compassion and integrity have made this parliament better. They have made our democracy stronger, and they have reminded all of us why we came here in the first place—to serve. We will continue to honour Helen not only with words but through our actions. We must treat one another with respect, reject violence and hatred, and recommit ourselves to the kind of politics she has practised every day. Helen, you are loved, you are respected, and you are not alone. Our thoughts and prayers remain with you and your family. Thank you.

The member for Indi is by any measure a gentle and kind person. She's a person of decency, warmth and integrity, and she's approachable, thoughtful and deeply committed to the people she represents. Helen and I may disagree on some matters of policy, and that's the nature of our work, but politics should never diminish our capacity to recognise the humanity in one another. Before we're members of parliament, we're people. We have families who worry about us when we leave home to do this job and who expect that we will return home safely at the end of the day. Helen's family should never have to contemplate the possibility that her commitment to public service might expose her to violence. I can only imagine the distress that this incident has caused Helen and those closest to her. I want Helen to know that my thoughts and those of the people of McPherson are with her and her family and that the concern and goodwill of colleagues across this parliament are with her.

This incident is about more than one parliamentarian. It's about the kind of democracy we want to preserve. One of the great strengths of Australian democracy is its accessibility. Our democracy is not meant to be conducted from behind locked doors, at a distance from the people that we represent. Its strength lies in the ability of Australians to approach their elected representatives, raise their concerns, challenge our decisions and hold us to account. That accessibility is not a weakness. It's one of our greatest strengths. An attack on a parliamentarian is therefore not simply an attack on an individual. It strikes at the democratic principle that public service should be accessible.

What happened to Helen was unacceptable. It was un-Australian, and we must ensure that incidents such as this do not become an accepted cost of public life. Robust debate is not only healthy for a democracy; it's essential to one. Elected representatives must be able to challenge one another, question decisions and argue passionately for their beliefs. We must never allow the fear of controversy to become a reason to silence legitimate political disagreement. But, while robust debate must be protected, we must also recognise that words matter. In particular, what we're increasingly seeing on social media is deeply concerning—gutless individuals hiding behind keyboards and fake profiles, feeling emboldened to personally attack, threaten and intimidate others in ways they would rarely have the courage to do face to face. When personal abuse becomes normalised, when threats are dismissed as simply part of the job and when people are rewarded with attention for the most extreme and inflammatory rhetoric, it changes the tone of our public debate.

The relevant decision-makers should also use this as an opportunity to reconsider our security arrangements. I acknowledge and respect the important work of the AFP and our intelligence agencies. Their responsibilities are considerable, but acknowledging that work does not mean we should shy away from asking whether the arrangements we have in place are adequate to the circumstances we now face and—let's be honest—have faced for some time. We must ensure that security advice reflects the realities of our roles. The work of an electorate MP is fundamentally different from that of a senior minister or other highly protected parliamentarians. We spend much of our time in public and mobile offices meeting people, visiting workplaces and attending community events. Accessibility is central to our responsibilities, and security arrangements must account for that reality. There's also a significant gap between the security afforded to senior parliamentarians and that available to more junior members. We should carefully consider whether that gap is appropriate, particularly when the risks faced by members are not always determined by their seniority, as was the case in Helen's situation. We should review arrangements for prepoll voting and consider the security measures needed in the lead-up to an election, when parliamentarians and candidates are particularly visible and accessible and when tensions are highest. It should not have to take an incident like this for us to act.

The principle is straightforward. No elected representative, regardless of gender, party or seniority, should be subjected to violence, intimidation or harassment while serving their community. We owe that protection to our colleagues, we owe it to their families, and we owe it to the Australians who entrust us with their democratic representation.

Helen, you have given your time and your energy to serving your community. You deserve to be able to continue that work safely and with the same warmth, openness and commitment that you've always brought to it. My thoughts are with you; your husband, Phil; your children and family; your staff; and the broader Indi community. Helen, from McPherson to Indi, I wish you strength and reassurance in the days ahead. I hope you know that, across this parliament, your colleagues stand with you.

Helen is one of the very best people I've had the privilege of meeting in this place. She is someone who treats everyone with kindness, dignity and respect. It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from or whether you agree with her; Helen always leads with humanity. She is someone who has spent her life caring for others, serving her community and making our country better. That she has been subjected to violence and cruelty has shaken us all.

Anyone who knows Helen knows what an extraordinary person she is. For her, politics has never been about herself. It has always been about the people she represents and how she can make a difference to their lives. Regardless of whether you agree with her or not, Helen reminds us that disagreement does not have to mean disrespect. We should debate ideas and policies robustly. This place must be a contest of ideas. We owe it to the Australian people. But Helen reminds us that politics can still be conducted with decency, generosity and goodwill. At a time when public debate can feel increasingly angry and divided, Helen has always been a steadfast example of grace and civility. These are dark days, but moments like this remind us of the values that Helen embodies: kindness over cruelty, respect over anger and compassion over division. This morning, Helen's husband, Phil, issued us a clarion call to change our country for the better. It is a call to all of us in this place to conduct ourselves with civility and respect.

A few months ago, while I was out doorknocking in my electorate, I met someone who had recently migrated to Australia. They were surprised to see me walking through the neighbourhood on my own. They told me that, in the country that they had come from, politicians travelled with armed guards and were separated from the communities that they served. That conversation has stayed with me ever since. I don't want that in this country. One of the greatest strengths of Australia's democracy is that our elected representatives remain accessible. We meet people in shopping centres, at train stations and at their front doors. We listen to them, learn from them and serve them. That openness is something precious. We cannot allow fear to erode the fundamental relationship between elected representatives and the communities we represent. At the same time, this attack is a sobering reminder that we must never take the safety of our colleagues, our staff or our communities for granted. I want to acknowledge Helen's staff, particularly those who were there on that terrible day. Electorate staff are often the unseen heroes of our democracy. They work tirelessly for their communities and stand beside their members through the best and worst of times. What they experienced was deeply traumatic, and I want them to know that all of us in this parliament are thinking of them and supporting them.

In the days since this attack, Australians from every corner of the country have come together to send Helen their love and support. That outpouring of kindness says so much about who Helen is. She has spent a lifetime caring for others, and now it is our turn to care for her. Helen, we are thinking of you. We are standing with you. We are wishing you strength, healing and a full recovery. Most of all, we thank you for the example you have set for all of us—an example of service, an example of decency and an example of the very best of Australia.

I'd just like to commend the member for Reid, Sally Sitou, on her lovely words, and I agree with Sally wholeheartedly. Helen, our thoughts are with you, Phil and your family at this incredibly difficult time. We have you in our thoughts and prayers, and so does much of the electorate of Cook. The House feels quieter today, much more solemn. As we reflect on this tragic situation, we're left with the deafening absence of a lively voice of reason. Helen represents the very best of this parliament. Helen brings to this parliament the character of someone who has spent a lifetime in service to others. Decades of caring for others as a nurse, a midwife and a rural health researcher shaped Helen, who then became a politician who continued to care for her community and who continued to listen and try and understand those she represents. Helen has been a fierce, independent voice for Indi, fighting for better regional health care, a fair share for country communities and greater integrity and accountability in politics. Helen has always shown that conviction and compassion can go hand in hand and you can hold someone or a government to account fiercely yet compassionately and fairly.

The tragic events of last week have been a sobering reminder of what we're all here to do. Though it shouldn't surprise us as elected representatives, the message is loud and clear. What we say in here and how we say it matters. As leaders, we shape how we want the country to feel, interact and behave. At times, I know I've fallen short of these standards and I could do better myself, but I think all Australians at this time should ask how they can do better as well. This does not mean stifling political debate. This does not mean holding each other to account. This does not mean fiercely challenging ideas, policy and reason. But what it does mean is not allowing the politics of hatred to infect this country like it has many countries around the world. We can have fierce political debate. Actually, fierce political debate is what keeps this country safe. We must never descend that debate into hatred or have it encourage violence. That is completely unacceptable in this country. Political violence and violence have no part in this country and are un-Australian. But political debate is what this country is about, and we need to find how to do that.

I think one of the things I've reflected on in this parliament is that politicians have very little, if any, professional development. I think one of the things we could look at in light of Helen Haines's tragedy is investing more in our politicians into their professional development as a profession. One of the things the member for Reid and I did was a course last year where we bipartisanly worked together on policy issues and what we wanted to do as politicians, and I think some of that reaching out across the aisle is what would strengthen this parliament and strengthen the political discourse in this country, and I think it's about time we looked at institutionalising that as a parliament.

Helen has steadfastly protected and advocated for her beliefs. I've seen her genuinely challenge in this chamber but never be dogmatic. I've seen her be a fierce advocate for her constituents but also set an example for them too. I think it's in light of Helen's dedication and service that we need to continue to challenge each other—challenge each other on our ideas but also challenge each other on our decorum, to be better, not worse. In a world where hate is often louder than harmony and protest is more convenient than peace and ignorance is more prevalent than imagination, we must be optimistic. Every day, we must toil to bring the forces of exceptionalism to bear and build a country befitting of fortune and aspiration. This is what much of Australia has been built on. For the people of Indi, you are not forgotten. You have not lost your voice. From Wodonga to Wangaratta and everywhere in between, we hear you, we see you, and we see Helen and her legacy as well. She's done you all proud.

I want to address the member for Indi, Phil, her family, her staff and her constituents from here as an honorary member of the crossbench. It wasn't here that I became friends with the member for Indi. It was in a place just up on level 2 in what I would call the 'naughty corner', which was where our offices were in her first term. There in that little corner she had created a small piece of Indi in the nation's capital, an office full of volunteers, flowers, cake and determination and occasionally hosting morning teas for new members of the naughty corner when the coalition gave us newly demoted neighbours. It's that kindness that I saw every single day, which is why I can't comprehend what's happened to our friend. I've always admired the member for Indi, even when she convinced the Prime Minister to amend one of my finely crafted bills. Despite the tragedy that we discuss today, I feel that her greatest contribution to this parliament is yet to come.

She never wasted a day here. Just last sitting week she said this:

It started with harsh, public mockery of quirky online posts.

It is a shocking backward step in the quest for equality for adolescents.

I'm talking about the "Bring Back Bullying" trend that is becoming popular on social media.

She was reading the words of 13-year-old Davey from the Indi electorate. I share that because it reminds us of two truths: first, the challenge of this moment is not new; and, second, it is not just politicians who endure hate, bullying and violence. It's that violence that I want to address. There is too much violent language and too much violence in our communities and Australian homes, and, as our parliament reflects our society, there is too much violence in our politics.

The member for Indi has been one of the strongest voices for nonviolence. Her words in this place just last month speak as clearly today:

Domestic, family and sexual violence remains one of the most serious issues facing Australia. In 2024-25 on average, one woman was killed every 11 days and one man every 26 days by an intimate partner. This violence occurs right across Australia …

I want for everyone here to have safety in their communities not safety from their communities, and, put simply, I think we are all here, whatever our different beliefs, to fight for the Australian people not to fight with them, and, like every workplace in Australia, everyone should go home safe every single day—paramedics, shop assistants, nurses, teachers, truck drivers and, indeed, members of parliament and their staff—because we want a society where people are safe at work, safe in their homes, safe in Northbridge, safe at places of worship and safe doing politics; otherwise, we see this attack on our democracy as an attack on our society as a whole. I refuse to accept that we let violent people coerce any of us in how we do our democratic work. That coercion can make people fearful to volunteer. It can scare people from putting their hand up to run for parliament, and that can't be the way that we run this nation we call Australia, and we can't allow it to define us.

We also can't ignore the fact that the vast, overwhelming majority of Australians are kind, compassionate, caring people, and, as we reflect on something very dark, we can also see the light and encourage others to shine that light, celebrate the good in our democracy, including the ability to disagree well. Of course, tell your local member of parliament when they get it wrong, but tell them when they get it right as well.

I will end with the words of Helen reading the words of Davey:

It is better if we are all feeling safe, than afraid.

That's the world that this parliament must continue to build not just for the member for Indi but for all Australians. I commend the motion.

The member for Indi, Helen Haines, and I entered this parliament together in 2019. I remember sitting opposite Helen and her husband, Phil, in those early days, struck by the strength of their partnership. They were a team. The love and respect between them and the confidence they gave one another was unmistakeable. Not long ago, Helen and I were chatting about the Midwinter Ball. She told me she could only get one ticket this year, which meant Phil couldn't come and she wasn't going without him. It was a small conversation, but it said so much about their marriage. Watching Phil speak publicly this past week, I thought about that conversation. He was a husband facing something unimaginable speaking with such love and courage about his wife. He told us Helen was a fighter determined to do her best and, with her family's and his love and support, she was going to recover. I hope Phil knows that the love he spoke of extends far beyond their family. He has the affection and support of this entire parliament, as does Helen.

Helen truly graces the corridors of parliament. Over seven years, we've stopped for many chats about politics, our families, our communities and life. She has a rare generosity of spirit. She listens, she cares and she sees the person beyond the politics. I've always believed in the strength of compassion. It isn't weakness. It's an attribute that can't be taught. Helen has it in abundance. That's why what happened to her seems so difficult to comprehend—Helen, of all people.

In the days since the attack, I've thought about those who came to Helen's aid. When she needed help, her people ran towards her. They could have turned away, but they didn't. They responded to terrible violence with extraordinary courage and compassion. We spend a great deal of time in this parliament defending our democratic institutions, our freedoms and our right to disagree, and rightly so. But there is something else we have a responsibility to preserve—the humanity in our democracy, the decency to recognise another person's suffering regardless of who they are or what they believe, the trust that allows us to walk amongst the people that we represent and the compassion that brings neighbours and strangers to another person's aid. Strong communities are the foundation of a strong democracy, and Helen understands that. She has never treated public life as a performance. She has treated it as service, being present, listening and earning the trust of her community and, when she needed help, her community was there for her.

Inspired by Helen, on the day after I walked down the main street of my electorate. I know others did too. I felt like I was being defiant. People stopped me. I even got hugs. People asked after Helen. They didn't know her. My people from Penrith had never met the member for Indi, yet they cared. There was no politics in those conversations, just everyday Australians showing concern for another human being. It reminded me of the Australia that we must never lose and why we cannot allow fear to put distance between us and the people we serve.

There is something different about being a woman in politics. We face particular scrutiny, hostility and personal attacks and, increasingly, those pressures reach into our communities and our private lives. We should never accept intimidation as simply part of the job. That makes it all the more important that we have opportunities to connect, to share our experiences, to support one another and to show compassion, even when our politics are different. Helen does that naturally. She understands that strong convictions and genuine friendships can exist together. She reaches across the aisle with warmth and respect, without compromising what she believes.

Relationships in here do matter. They extend beyond this parliament. They extend beyond this place. They extend into the way that we treat each other and how we treat our communities. Considering a tragedy has made us all a bit kinder to each other this week, I hope the solidarity we feel for Helen becomes something a bit more lasting than speeches, a parliament where we can disagree fiercely without losing respect, where friendships survive political differences and where compassion is recognised as a strength. Today, an orange cockatoo sits in Helen's spot, and I very much look forward to the day when that cockatoo flies away so Helen can take her seat again.

What happened to the member for Indi, Dr Helen Haines, has profoundly shaken this parliament and the nation. One of our colleagues was horrifically attacked and injured outside her electorate office. There's something terribly inadequate about the language available to us at moments such as this. We speak of solidarity, of hope and of recovery, and those words can seem insufficient beside the enormity of what has happened to Helen. Inadequate as they might feel, she deserves to hear them, and I want her to know that they are offered with the same care she has always shown to me, her community and so many others.

Perhaps the clearest thing I can say is that I am heartbroken. We do not know what motivated the alleged attack on Helen. However, much has been said about the wider unprecedented climate of hostility—one we all know is real. Some weeks back I delivered a speech in this place about the debilitating consequences of hate that plagues Australia and those who encourage it. It is that point I want to briefly revisit. Online platforms dominate public debate and dangerously reward the prolific distribution and amplification of hate, division and hostility. That is not a contested idea. Platforms record this activity as engagement and reward it with further circulation, with little to no accountability. We've been willing to treat these platforms as neutral and accept that it is just the technology at work. However, the systems that determine what we read, see and hear, and what is promoted and repeated, are based on deliberate commercial decisions. When the widespread circulation of hostility becomes commercially rewarding, we face a troubling imbalance: the financial benefits and rewards accrue to those who distribute it, while the consequences are borne by the communities who must live with it.

The other point to make is that hatred expressed online does not necessarily stay there. Platforms that circulate hatred can join up people who hate, and can influence and deepen their grievances. In some circumstances, the hatred which is spread spills into the community with acts of violence. Many members of parliament have spoken publicly about the volume of online threats they receive, including threats of sexual violence, violence and death. Many of my female colleagues have had to endure extraordinary levels of abhorrent abuse, much of it directed at them because they are women. These are not simply insults to be endured as the price of public life; they change the way elected representatives do their work—where they go, who they meet with and, for some, whether to uproot their families because of safety concerns.

In Australia, our representatives live among the people they serve. They shop in the same places and send their children to the same schools. People can walk up to their elected representatives, when they meet on the street, and talk with them. It is vital that this continues. That closeness is part of what makes Australian democracy work. We are not like other countries. Violence against people in public life is not something this nation has ever accepted. It has no place in this country.

I want Helen, Phil and their family to know that they have the affection and support of people right across the nation. I also want Helen's electorate office team to know that they have the care and support of people across the nation, and that my team and I offer unconditional help, if needed. I wish Helen a speedy recovery and I look forward to seeing her sitting in this chamber with us again.

It is hard to imagine that, only one week ago today, the member for Indi, Dr Helen Haines, was attacked. This was no ordinary act of violence; this was a reprehensible act of violence that struck at the very heart of Wangaratta, sent shockwaves across our nation and shattered something precious—the belief that Australians can go about their daily lives without fear for their safety. It goes without saying our thoughts are with Helen, her husband, family, friends and staff as they face its consequences. Amid the horror of the attack, we witnessed the very best of Australia. I acknowledge the extraordinary courage of local barber Ricky Jeffries, Jacob Evans, Jacklyn Black and the other bystanders and emergency responders who rushed towards danger to help Helen. In a moment of unimaginable horror, their instinct was not to turn away but to help. Their courage, compassion and selflessness remind us of the very best of the Australian spirit.

Whatever our political differences in this place, every member of this parliament should condemn this attack. No grievance, political belief or personal resentment can justify such violence. For members across this chamber the implications are deeply personal. We are thinking not only about our own safety but also about the safety of our partners, children, families, friends and staff. No-one should be placed at risk simply because they work with, support or seek assistance from an elected representative. Our staff assist Australians through some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable. They should be able to come to work confident that they will return home safely.

This incident also sends a troubling message to anyone considering a future in public life, particularly women. People entering public service should be able to focus on what they can contribute to their communities, not on the possibility of violence directed at them or those they love. We must not allow intimidation to deter capable people from public life or undermine the community engagement on which representative democracy depends. Attending a community fete, holding a pop-up office, speaking at a school, supporting a charity fundraiser and meeting constituents are all important parts of representing an electorate. Listening to people and understanding their needs is what drives me as a representative, and I know the member for Indi shares that same commitment. It is through these connections that deeply connect strong members of parliament to their communities. It would be a profound loss if politicians could no longer engage with their communities directly and meaningfully.

That is why Helen's contribution should be remembered for what it was: years of service to Indi and to Australia. Helen has earned the trust of her community by being accessible, practical and willing to work across political lines when that is what her constituents require. Her advocacy for stronger rural and regional health services, better support for local hospitals and improved access to medical care reflects the qualities Australians expect from their representatives—persistence, compassion, independence and a focus on practical outcomes. Helen's contribution must not be defined by this terrible incident. It should be defined by her service, her advocacy for regional Australians and her commitment to bringing their concerns to this parliament. Helen Haines and her loved ones deserve our compassion, support and recognition of her public service. Australians deserve a democracy in which they can speak freely, participate openly and serve their communities without fear. My staff and I and the people of Capricornia are thinking of you and your family. You have given so much to the people of Indi and to public life in Australia. We hope you recover from this and return to the work you care so deeply about, and we look forward to seeing you back in the chamber.

Australia is strongest when our people stand together. Our love of country gives us common ground, respect gives us understanding and unity gives us strength. Australians may come from different backgrounds and hold different beliefs, but we share a common home, a common future and a collective responsibility to leave Australia stronger, more prosperous and safer for future generations.

Over the past few days, I've heard one particular phrase repeated countless times across the nation: Helen is the best of us. I think those words are entirely accurate, because anyone who has the privilege of knowing Helen knows just how much the truth is in that statement. Dr Helen Haines, the member for Indi, represents everything we should aspire to be in public life. She is hardworking, compassionate, principled and, above all else, genuinely committed to making a positive difference in the lives of others.

But what makes Helen so special is not simply the work she does in this chamber. It is the person she is outside of it. Anyone who has spent time walking the corridors of Parliament House will know Helen's friendly nature. She is always smiling, with time for a kind word or a quick chat no matter how busy the sitting week might be. I have the particular honour of being Helen's neighbour here at Parliament House in the naughty corner on level 2, as the member for Perth stated not too long ago. I can say from personal experience that she's always been incredibly welcoming to both me and my staff. Helen has always made the time for everyone here. She never just says hello and keeps walking; she always stops, checks in and asks how your day is going. Those small interactions don't normally make the headlines or appear in Hansard, but they speak volumes about someone's character. They remind us that, behind the political differences, we are all human beings.

That is why the events of recent days have been so deeply troubling. Senseless acts of violence should never be considered acceptable in Australia—not in our communities or workplaces and certainly not as a response to political opinions. Our democracy is built upon the principle that people can hold different opinions, debate passionately and disagree respectfully. Violence has absolutely no place in that process. It undermines the respect, compassion and understanding that should underpin our society, and it threatens the very principle that makes our democracy strong. No Australian should ever feel unsafe simply because they have chosen to serve their community, because at the heart of public service is a commitment to making life better for others.

Few have demonstrated that commitment more consistently than Helen. Long before entering this parliament, she had already built an esteemed career in health care, working as a nurse, midwife and rural health researcher. Her work was grounded in caring for people, understanding their needs and advocating for better outcomes, particularly for those living in regional and rural Australia. That commitment to service continued when Helen was elected as the independent member for Indi in 2019. Since arriving in Canberra, she has established herself as a thoughtful, determined and deeply respected parliamentarian. One of her most significant contributions has been her tireless advocacy for greater integrity and transparency in federal politics. Helen played an important role in the push to establish the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Her work helped build momentum for a stronger national integrity framework and demonstrated what determined, principled advocacy can achieve. It is a contribution that will have a lasting impact on this parliament and on the trust Australians place in their democratic institutions.

But, for all her achievements and for all the recognition she has rightly earned, one thing has remained constant. Helen has always served, first and foremost, her community. The people of Indi have always been at the centre of her work. Their concerns, their aspirations, their families and their futures have been the driving force behind her time in public life. And I believe that is what makes Helen such an outstanding representative. She understands that being a parliamentarian is not about the title we hold, the office we occupy or the recognition we receive. It is about the people who place their trust in us and the responsibility that we carry to represent them with dignity and integrity. Helen has demonstrated that responsibility every single day. So today I thank Helen for her friendship, her kindness, her service and the example she continues to set for all of us. I extend my very best wishes to Helen for her recovery, her husband, Phil, and her family, her friends and her dedicated staff. Lastly, please take all the time you need to recover. I look forward to welcoming you back and finally cooking you that dinner I still owe you and Phil in my office.

There is something special about representing a regional electorate, whether it's Indi or Dawson. People don't just want to know who their local member is; they want to know them personally. They expect to see us at the markets, at the community events, at the local footy and down the main street. When something goes wrong, they expect our door to be open. That is why what has happened to our friend and colleague the member for Indi, Dr Helen Haines, has shaken us all so deeply. It is heartbreaking, it is unthinkable and it has touched every corner of this parliament.

Helen and I come from different political spectrums and we haven't always agreed on everything. That's perfectly alright because parliament isn't supposed to be a place where everyone agrees all of the time. It's supposed to be a place with different ideas. Parliamentarians all come together, argue their case and fight for the communities who put trust in them. Helen and I share something that goes well beyond politics. We both represent regional Australia and we both understand that the people who sent us here deserve someone who will stand up for them. Helen has been a determined advocate for regional health care, helping lead the Parliamentary Friends of Rural and Regional Health. It's a cause that affects everyone in Dawson, where accessing medical treatment can mean hours on the road, time away from work and families travelling enormous distances. We come from different electorates, with different politics, but have the same determination to make life better for the communities we love.

There is another side to public service that people don't always see—the phone calls after hours, the weeks spent away, the family occasions missed because someone in your electorate needs help. The truth is that the people who make those sacrifices aren't just the members sitting in this chamber. Our families serve too. When I watched Helen's husband, Phil, speak publicly about her condition, I was struck by his courage and composure. He was a husband facing something no family should ever have to endure yet speaking with such dignity and such obvious love for his wife. It reminded me just how much we ask of the people closest to us. Our families don't stand for election, they don't deliver speeches, and they rarely receive recognition. But they carry the long absences, the missed birthdays, the interrupted dinners and the countless times when the needs of our community must come before their own. I've served in local and federal government, and I know how much my own family has sacrificed. Most of all, they have sacrificed time—time together that we will never get back. To Phil, Helen's family and everyone who loves her: please know that you are not alone.

There's something else I hope we remember from this tragedy: an electorate office isn't simply a place where people lodge forms or make appointments; sometimes it's where someone walks in because they've run out of all other options. They're frightened about losing their home, struggling to access health care or desperate to find someone who will simply listen. They don't care which party we belong to. They only care about whether we care. That responsibility, that connection between a member and their community, is something that we must never lose. Of course, we must take the safety of parliamentarians and staff very seriously, but we cannot allow fear to build walls between representatives and the people we are elected to serve, because our democracy depends on more than what happens inside this chamber. It depends on trust, accessibility and the courage to keep showing up.

To Helen: I know the road ahead will be long and difficult, but the strength you have shown and your family has shown and the extraordinary support flowing from Australians everywhere reflect the very best of the Australian spirit. From one regional representative to another: we are thinking of you, we are backing you, and we are wishing you every strength in your recovery. To your family: our hearts are with you.

I rise to express my solidarity with the member for Indi and wish her strength and a good recovery. Like for everyone here, over the past several days, Helen hasn't been far from my mind. My thoughts are also with her family, friends, team and community. We are all desperately looking forward to her recovery. The outpouring of love and care from every segment of the community has been overwhelming, for good reason. Helen represents the best in us—a hard-working, intelligent and decent person defined by her kindness, empathy and compassion. She is well loved by her constituents and respected across the parliament. Over the weekend, I had a series of community events, including a barbecue at Catherine Hill Bay, where many average Australians expressed horror at the event and sympathy for Helen and her family. I had a meeting at my Shortland federal electorate council yesterday where a motion was passed by the branch members wishing her a speedy recovery.

As everyone knows, before politics, she served her community in health care as a nurse and a midwife and was an incredible advocate, and still is an incredible advocate, for rural and regional communities. One thing we've heard many times over the past several days is that Helen is a fighter. She's been presented with a mighty challenge, one which I have no doubt she'll overcome. Like everyone here, I'm looking forward to seeing her out and about again in her electorate, with her community and in this building.

The thing about politics is that everything that happens is in the public domain—our wins, our losses and our struggles. We feel the public mood—their passion and hopes as well as their anger and despair. We're often on the front line of the battles people care most about. In this work, I've noticed a significant rise in violence and abuse—the culture of aggression. Our government has talked for years about the importance of lowering the temperature and the direct link between language used in public debate and violence in the community. Unfortunately, we've seen a significant rise in the number of threats to high office holders in recent years. In 2024-25, the Federal Police recorded 951 incidents of harassing or threatening behaviour. In 2025-26, this rose to 1,067. There is definitely a broader mood at play. But it's not just politicians who feel it. Anyone in a public-facing role—first responders and people who work in retail and hospitality as well—are feeling this rise in anger and violence.

We must never tolerate abuse or harassment, not in the workplace and not anywhere. Copping abuse is never part of anyone's job. We should never let disagreement be a carriage for violence. When we allow aggression to grow in any form, we embolden those who seek to perpetrate harm. Violence and intimidation have no place in our democracy. That applies across party lines and across ideological divisions. Words have power. As leaders in our communities, we have a responsibility to promote discourse that is constructive and respectful. It's important to recognise that this aggression doesn't fall on everyone equally. Vulnerable communities, people who are new to this country, Indigenous Australians and women cop it more, and this is something we must not ignore. We need to foster a culture where disagreement does not divide us, where we can have different opinions and still be friends, where we respect difference and where we appreciate it. As a nation, we are diverse and we are free. That's one of our greatest strengths, and we must protect it.

The safety of our communities depends on the safety of those who serve them. This is a really tough time for many in this building, especially Helen's staff, some of whom were witnesses to the horrific incident. That is a terrible trauma to carry. My heart goes out to them, and I hope they're okay. While the motivation for the attack is not yet known, it's a shocking reminder that we need to turn the temperature down on political debate. As Phil Haines himself has said, Australian political leaders have a choice. They can tame or inflame the great fear that is out there. They can use this opportunity, this event, to spike the national fever and choose a better path. I certainly agree with his sentiments. Moving in the other direction to inflame this great fear would be unthinkably destructive to our democracy and our way of life. We owe it to the member for Indi and to our democracy to do the opposite, to choose a better path. Helen, your colleagues and friends across this chamber are all thinking of you, and we wish you the very best for your recovery.

'Morning, folks. Thanks so much for being here.' That's how Helen so often opened her meetings and press conferences—a greeting that reflected who she is: warm, friendly and welcoming. The attack on our beautiful Helen was unfathomable in its violence, and it has stunned and horrified our nation. The ongoing impact on Helen and her family will be immense. But, if there's one thing I know, it's that Helen is incredibly strong and she's surrounded by a loving family and a vast community of people ready to help.

Over the past week, the phrase that has been repeated again and again is that Helen is the best of us. When we say that, we mean the best of Australians. In a world that can often feel cynical, Helen reminds us that there are people who do step forward to serve their communities for all the right reasons. As Helen acknowledged in her own first speech, there is honour in service. As a former midwife and nurse, she understands the true meaning of care and service. Just last sitting week, she pushed for action on the stark disparities in health outcomes faced by people living in regional communities. I think her steely gaze is something to behold.

Helen has also dedicated herself to strengthening our democracy through greater transparency and accountability. Many people know of her work establishing and strengthening the National Anti-Corruption Commission. More recently, she was fighting against pork barrelling and the unfair grants process, which was invitation only, because fairness matters deeply to Helen.

Just as importantly, Helen has always shown that lasting change doesn't come from shouting the loudest. It comes from bringing people together, listening and treating people with respect. At a time when division and anger are, too often, amplified online, Helen has consistently shown that the antidote to division is real conversations between real people. Indi was the birthplace of the kitchen table conversation, a typically rural way to bring people together to listen to one another, to understand different perspectives and to find common ground.

Family is also at the centre of everything that Helen does. Anyone who knows her knows how her face lights up when she talks about her family or asks you about yours. To Phil, her dear husband: at a time when growing misogyny tells young men that women's success somehow comes at their expense, you've shown what real strength, honour and courage look like. You've always stood beside Helen as a true partner, supporting her to reach her full potential—not only sharing in her success but actively helping to create it. Your confidence and self-worth are strengthened, not diminished, by Helen's achievements, and you have been quietly and steadfastly by her side, encouraging her every step of the way and ensuring her success. I absolutely love that you have your own makeshift office by Helen's where you guide the Indi volunteers through their parliamentary experiences. We see you.

One of the most incredible aspects of this whole incident is that juxtaposed to the extreme violence was an act of extraordinary kindness shown in the moments straight after the attack. At a moment when anger would have been completely understandable, Ricky Jefferies, the barber, chose kindness to calm and subdue the perpetrator. He recognised another human in immense distress, and I think that is incredible. To the bystanders, staff members and first responders who rushed to Helen's aid, to the incredible person who sat in front of the vehicle to prevent Helen from being hurt again and to Ricky Jefferies: the nation thanks you for your kind and courageous hearts, for your decency and for your deeds.

There has been much discussion this week about the threats faced by politicians. Those threats are real, but, for every one person who would do harm, there are thousands of thoroughly decent Australians who would put themselves in harm's way to help a stranger. That is who we are. I thank the health professionals, the doctors, the nurses and the hospital staff who are caring for Helen. I say thank you to Helen's incredible team for continuing her work while she is recovering, for supporting one another and also for supporting so many of us through these unimaginably difficult times.

To Phil and Helen's family: our thoughts and our love are with you. There is an empty seat in front of me today, and the woman who usually occupies it is in the fight of her life, but we know her strength, and it comes from within. To Helen: Please know that there are rivers of love flowing towards you from all around our nation. We love you with all our hearts, and we are sending you every best wish for your recovery. While the relief is immense that your heart and mind are intact—the most beautiful parts of you—please also know that we do mourn the loss of your legs. We mourn with you.

Phil has asked that what has happened to Helen mean something. Business as usual is not an option, because the current febrile environment is dividing our communities and our country. We as national leaders have a choice, as Phil said, to tame it or inflame it. It is up to us to hold this nation of ours—this beautiful nation—together. So, as many of us already do, let's ask ourselves: what would Helen do in this situation? We know what she would do. She would do everything to help bring people together with kindness rather than driving them further apart. With her very much in my thoughts, I too make the same pledge that she has always lived by: 'In my political life, I pledge to act with honesty, respect and compassion.'

Thank you, Speaker, for your leadership over the last seven days and particularly today. We know the awesome responsibility you bear given what has happened to one of our colleagues. To the member for Mackellar: it is a great honour to follow you. We all have such a high regard for Helen, but I think we all are deeply conscious of the particular bond that you on the crossbench have formed with each other, and we know you're hurting. You're really hurting.

These are tough times to live in, and this is a solemn day. There have been seven solemn days, but there's something particular about coming to this chamber, looking over there, seeing Helen's seat empty and knowing the pain and the struggle that she is experiencing and her family by extension are experiencing as well. Sometimes it is too easy to succumb to despair about the nature of not just our community but communities around the world that seem more filled with rage and more willing to jump to threats of violence and death. But a number of us heard from her beautiful husband, Phil, this morning and took inspiration from that—to put aside despair, to take some leadership from this utterly horrific event and to make our community a little bit better. That is exactly, I'm sure, what Helen would be hoping for. It's what Phil conveyed to us this morning.

We all want you back as soon as possible, Helen. We all wish you the very best during your rehabilitation. We know it is going to be incredibly tough. The member for Mackellar, given her background, would know that better than most. Helen brings leadership in integrity and civility in public discourse. She brings leadership in regional services. As a member for a city electorate, it's not something I understand in the way that Helen does. But she also brings leadership in health. Along with the member for Mackellar, she's part of a growing group of health professionals who are part of this chamber and who make my job a little bit more difficult as health minister but add enormous value to the discussion that we have in this building about one of the most important things for the Australian community. As a nurse, as a midwife, and as a person with a doctorate in public health and with regional experience, Helen brings a particular perspective that I want to see back in this chamber as soon as possible.

As members have said—as the member for Mackellar just said—this horrific event has raised questions about the nature of our public discourse here in Australia. That's the right thing to do. It doesn't mean we're shying away from robust debate, disagreement and sometimes angry disagreement at a time when households are under pressure. But there is a line. There is a line around intimidation and threats of violence against MPs, their families and their staff and against frontline health workers and retail workers, as we've heard about so often today. That debate should play out. I think it's an important one.

But in the very short time I have, I want to address some questions that are also being raised about mental health services. Obviously, we're not going to comment on the particular circumstances of the man who has been charged with this horrific attack. But there is a genuine debate, a legitimate debate, about the adequacy of mental health services in the country broadly and in regional communities in particular, and Helen has been a leader in that debate. There is no question that there are hundreds of thousands of Australians with severe and chronic mental illness who are not getting the support that they need and, in some cases, not getting really any support at all, and we're seeing far too many instances where those people, left to their own devices without support, do awful things in our community.

By coincidence, I met with mental health ministers on Friday, our third meeting for this year. We'll have another in December. We are seized of these issues, and I want Helen back in this chamber to be a part of that debate. We're also really conscious of the mental health needs of the community of Wangaratta and Wodonga in the north-east of Victoria. We've got too much experience of the mental health impacts of these horrific events, whether it's the attack at Bondi, the attack at Bondi Junction a little earlier or the various natural disasters that Australian communities have had to endure. We have some experience about that. We're talking to the Victorian government to make sure that the right supports are in place for that community that must be feeling an enormous amount of shock at what has happened in their beautiful town of Wangaratta. But, to Helen, we send you love. We want to see you back here as soon as possible after the tough rehabilitation journey we know you're going to face.

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.

First, I do want to send my love and support to Helen; her husband, Phil; her family; her staff; and the Indi community. We are thinking of you, Helen, and we really do look forward to seeing you back here when you're able. I also want to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of the first responders, including members of Helen's community, who rushed to her aid, putting themselves in danger at the same time.

Regardless of the motive, what happened to Helen was a senseless act of violence that will change her life forever. In the days since the tragedy, we've witnessed an extraordinary outpouring of compassion, care and solidarity. As the Prime Minister said, that's the Australian spirit. In our darkest moments, we reach for each other. We rally around those who are hurting. We give each other a hug. Anyone who knows Helen knows she's thoughtful, she's respectful and she's deeply considerate. She's not inflammatory. She's not divisive. She's calm, compassionate and committed to serving her community. Yet, this happened here in Australia, not somewhere overseas.

As parliamentarians, we know public service comes with risks. What I did not expect when I became an MP was the scale of abuse directed at elected representatives online. On the street, in face-to-face discussions, most people engage respectfully even when they disagree—why?—because most people are decent people. But there are also some social guardrails that pull us all up when we start straying. Online, those guardrails disappear.

The threats, misogyny and intimidation are relentless as an MP. In the last month alone, approximately 10,000 such comments were filtered from my account. Others get a lot more than that. While some caution against framing this as a women's issue, we cannot ignore the reality that women in public life experience abuse differently and disproportionately. We must be honest and we must call it what it is. We must also recognise that abuse is not just directed at those in this place. Police, paramedics, teachers, shop workers—they're seeing increasing levels of violence.

As many have done over the last few days, I've reflected further on where we are as a society. First, I worry about our growing desensitisation to empathy. We consume an endless stream of content where conflict and hostility are normalised. Behind a screen it's easy to forget there might be a real person on the other side. Do people think about, and do they truly understand, the impact of their words, the cumulative harm caused by thousands of messages that are designed to intimidate, humiliate and dehumanise? It's hard to even fathom some of the comments that have flooded our accounts since last week, and I certainly won't repeat them.

Then there's the rabbit hole effect. Tech companies and their algorithms are increasingly feeding people more of what provokes anger, resentment, fear and division. They reinforce insecurities, they amplify grievances and they reward outrage. They trap vulnerable people inside echo chambers where negative beliefs are constantly validated and extreme views become normalised. One example is the manosphere, a network of online communities focused on men, masculinity, gender roles, dating and relationships. Here, toxic masculinity flourishes unchecked, resentment towards women is cultivated, and some men are pushed towards increasingly extreme worldviews.

A second concern is social disconnection. Too many people are isolated. Some know it; others don't even recognise it. Many people work from home. They socialise online. They spend increasing amounts of time disconnected from their communities and, frankly, their families. Genuine human interaction is being replaced by digital interaction. Catch-ups at the pub or the club, a walk in the park, a play date and a family dinner are easily substituted or interrupted. When we lose those real-world connections, we lose opportunities that challenge unhealthy thinking, that develop empathy and that enable us to keep perspective and simply feel part of being a part of our crew.

That brings me to my third reflection: mental health. We are seeing rising levels of ill health across our communities. These are just some of the fault lines running through our society, and they demand our attention. As leaders, we must lead by example and turn the temperature down. Disagreement isn't the problem. Democracy requires disagreement. What democracy and societies cannot survive is the erosion of respect, the dehumanisation of opponents and the belief that abuse and violence are an acceptable substitute for debate and for unity. If there is something good to come from this, it's the opportunity to make this country better. Phil spoke about this so eloquently this morning, and his message was one of hope and a call for leadership and genuine change. This requires leadership from all corners of our community, starting in our homes, our schools, our community spaces and our workplaces and in this place.

Helen, lastly, to you: while your natural instinct is to focus on others, it's time to focus on you. It no doubt will be a tough road ahead. I hope you feel the strength from all of us in here and across Australia, and I hope that helps reduce the load just a little.

Sitting suspended from 13:47 to 14:00