Figures on both sides of the aisle have commented on the issue of political violence.
This comes in the wake of an alleged attack in Wangaratta targeting the Federal Member for Indi, Helen Haines.
In a statement shared with Gold Central Victoria, her Mallee counterpart and Nationals MP Anne Webster – whose electorate takes in Maryborough – said she was “horrified” to learn of what occurred.
“No one should ever be attacked while doing their job, and violence is never the answer to political disagreement,” Dr Webster said.
“This is not who we are as Australians. We rightly cherish freedom of debate and freedom of opinion. Every person has the right to hold and express a view, but no one has the right to resort to violence.”
Those views are being echoed by Labor’s State Member for Bendigo East and former Premier, Jacinta Allan who shared her own statement via social media.
“Helen was attacked at work, she was doing her job,” Ms Allan said.
“All Members of Parliament and their staff deserve to be safe at work.
“Violence as a substitute for debate must be repudiated at every turn, rejected and condemned unequivocally – by everyone, every time.”
The incident has also brought attention to the growing level of abuse being directed at politicians, both online and in-person.
Speaking to the ABC this week, Ballarat Labor MP Catherine King said threats towards public figures “have been escalating in their nature”, forcing her to change the way she works.
“I don’t do mobile offices in my caravan anymore – it was not deemed safe to do because there’s no second egress point for me to go if something happens,” Ms King said.
“I tend to do a lot more interactions over phone if we think, there could be something occurring that we’re not sure about or we’re not sure about who the person is.
“But you know, you’ve got to be able to do your job, and the very job of a politician is actually talking and listening to people.”
Dr Webster made a similar point in her statement to Gold.
“As politicians, we cannot allow fear to reduce our public service to an exercise in managing risk,” Dr Webster said.
“That is no way to live, and it is no way to stand up for the people who send us to Canberra to represent them.
“Helen and I were elected in the same year to serve our communities, and I believe she would want us to keep doing exactly that: listening to the people we represent, reflecting their views and carrying on with courage.”
As of Wednesday, October 21st, Ms Haines is recovering from the incident at Melbourne’s Alfred hospital in a critical but stable condition.
Her accused attacker, 43-year-old Brendan Nugent has been charged by Victoria Police with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury, and causing harm to a Commonwealth public official.
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