Australian Parliament Resumes Under Increased Security After Attack on Lawmaker
Lawmakers paid tribute to Helen Haines, who was critically injured last week, as Parliament reconvened with enhanced security measures.
Australia's Parliament resumed work on Monday with enhanced security and paid tribute to lawmaker Helen Haines, who was critically injured in what authorities allege was an act of political violence. The Parliament session marked the first since Oct. 19, when a driver allegedly rammed an SUV into Haines twice outside her electorate office, resulting in the amputation of both her legs. She remains in a Melbourne hospital in serious but stable condition.
A 43-year-old man has been charged with offenses including intentionally causing serious injury. Police have not publicly disclosed a motive for the alleged attack.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led tributes to Haines, an independent lawmaker, proposing a motion that expressed Parliament's wishes for her recovery and support for her family. Her husband, Phil Haines, was present in the public gallery.
"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," Albanese stated in Parliament. He added that the "normalization of the language of grievance and violence" is evident, often amplified by social media, and warned against conflating the robustness of Australian democracy with "this rising tide of rage."
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett indicated that threats against lawmakers are evenly distributed between genders, but those against women tend to be more personalized. Barrett also noted a direct correlation between the language used by political rivals and the threats and abuse directed at lawmakers from the public.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor addressed the Parliament, emphasizing that vigorous parliamentary debate should not spill over into violence. Speaker Milton Dick mentioned suggestions for lawmakers to sign a "civility pledge" in response to the incident. Haines herself became the first Australian lawmaker to sign such a pledge in August, a concept adopted from Compassion in Politics United Kingdom.
Around six federal and state lawmakers have committed to signing the pledge, which calls for political actors to "act with honesty, respect and compassion." Independent lawmaker Kate Chaney stated her intention to follow Haines' example, calling the pledge a "simple and poignant way to honor the contribution Helen’s made to the Parliament."
The director of Compassion in Politics Australia, Jonathan Granger, expressed that it is tragic that such an event was needed to draw attention to the pledge, and that more lawmakers have expressed interest in signing it since the incident.