Tears, tributes in parliament for wounded MP
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has led tributes to injured colleague Helen Haines, who was allegedly attacked outside her office, as parliament returns.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has led tributes in parliament for independent MP Helen Haines, who was allegedly attacked outside her electorate office last week, as some speakers became visibly emotional.
The well-regarded member for Indi was allegedly struck repeatedly by a four-wheel drive in a deliberate attack outside her office in Wangaratta, northern Victoria, on October 19.
Dr Haines had both her legs amputated but is now in a stable condition.
“The shock from what happened last Monday is like a stone in our hearts,” Albanese said, expressing his love, and the love of the nation, was with Dr Haines, her husband, Phil, and her family.
“It is 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.”
Albanese also paid tribute to the bystanders, witnesses, and medical staff who assisted Dr Haines immediately after the alleged attack.
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“We are also uplifted in the knowledge that on that terrible afternoon, we saw examples of the best of the Australian character,” he said.
A “rising tide of rage” was distorting public discourse, Albanese said, with the normalisation of “the language of grievance and violence”.
Aside from Question Time, Monday’s sitting will be devoted to tributes to the Indi MP.
The silhouette of a cockatoo, cut from orange card, was placed on Dr Haines’s chair by good friend and independent colleague Zali Stegall.
Above and to the sides of the chamber, dozens of senators, who had suspended government inquiries to attend, watched on.
Phil Haines also watched on as details of the alleged attack on this wife were read out by the prime minister.
Independent politicians will sign a civility pledge promising to treat their colleagues with respect in honour of fellow crossbencher.
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Independent MP Kate Chaney, wearing an orange blazer and a cockatoo brooch in support of Dr Haines, urged other politicians to act with kindness.
“It (the pledge) is a very simple thing. It just says: in my political life, I pledge to act with honesty, respect and compassion,” she said on ABC Radio.
Dr Haines was the first MP to sign the Compassion in Politics Australia pledge. Ms Chaney will add her name to it shortly.
“That feels to me like a simple and poignant way to honour the contribution Helen’s made to the parliament and continue to try to embody those values that she personifies in the way that I do my work in parliament,” she said.
Labor members have also learnt from her behaviour, and it was incumbent on each person to act respectfully in their sector, Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek told Seven’s Sunrise program.
“Just think: Can I do this better? Can I be kinder to the people around me?” she said.
Parliament opened on Monday with increased security in public areas, which the Australian Federal Police and government are continuing to work on.
A fundraiser for charity Save the Children, set up on Wednesday by Dr Haine’s family in lieu of flowers, had surpassed $1.2 million in donations by Sunday afternoon.
Despite the solemnity, federal parliament will continue wading through complex legislation and Senate estimates this week.
Labor’s digital duty of care bill, aimed at curbing harmful content online and stamping out predatory behaviour from platforms, will be debated in the lower house later in the week.
The government aims to pass the legislation before the end of the year, but opponents argue it could result in political censorship.
The government has pointed to the alleged attack and rising threats toward leaders as examples of why greater action is needed against online harms.
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