Helen Haines attack: Female MPs reveal disturbing rise in rape and death threats
Shaken female politicians have spoken out about the increasingly hostile environment in Canberra following the horrific attack on Helen Haines, revealing the terrifying threats they regularly face.
Women leaders have been left shaken by a savage attack on a well-liked fellow MP as they reflect on an environment in which serious threats have become commonplace.
Independent federal MP Helen Haines has undergone surgery and remains in a critical condition after being hit by a four-wheel drive outside her regional Victorian electorate office in what has been labelled a deliberate act.
She was known throughout parliament for her kind demeanour, intelligence and being a “thoroughly decent person”, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
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The 65-year-old MP was outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, in Victoria’s north, when she was struck by the vehicle on Monday afternoon.
The independent member for Indi was airlifted to a Melbourne hospital before undergoing surgery.
Following the apparent attack, several high-profile female politicians have warned that threats of serious violence are becoming increasingly common.
“The threats of violence have gone through the roof in the time I’ve been there,” Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek, who entered parliament in 1998, said.
“Rape and death threats are regular.”
In the last year, reports of harassment towards Australian politicians rose from 951 to 1067.
Attacks on electorate offices have also grown.
Ms Plibersek and her colleagues, including independent MPs Sophie Scamps and Monique Ryan, spoke with emotion as they recounted the popularity of the regional Victorian MP.
All of them stressed the importance of politicians staying accessible to the public, even as poor treatment towards them rose.
“This is the worst possible thing to happen to the best possible person in the world,” Dr Ryan told ABC Radio.
“Helen is extraordinary and I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t mean it.”
Dr Scamps, who called Dr Haines a “strong advocate for democracy”, said it was an attack on the core of Australian politics.
“There’s times during pre-election or the election campaigns where I think hatred and division is stoked purposefully, and I’ve had people being incredibly aggressive to me,” the northern Sydney MP said.
“I really hope that we don’t, you know, feel unsafe in our communities.”
Dr Haines was praised by the Centre for Public Integrity, with which she has worked closely.
“She is passionate, principled, intelligent, warm and down to earth,” the centre said in a statement.
“We are shocked by the increasingly hostile environment in which Australian parliamentarians are working.
“Our democracy depends on people being willing and able to serve their communities, engage openly with the public and advocate for what they believe in, without fear for their personal safety.”
The sentiment was echoed by Climate200, the Simon Holmes a Court-led organisation that backed Dr Haines and other independents in the last two elections.
“There is no place for violence in politics,” the organisation said.
