Opposition Leader Faces Backlash From Crossbench Over Response to Alleged Attack on Helen Haines

Opposition leader Angus Taylor is facing criticism from two crossbench MPs over a speech responding to the alleged attack on Indi MP Helen Haines. Monique Ryan and Zali Steggall described his remarks as "tone deaf" and said he failed to "read the room".

Parliament resumed in Canberra on Monday, one week after the alleged attack outside Haines's electorate office in northern Victoria. Haines lost both legs in the incident. A 43-year-old man has been charged, and the investigation is continuing. Police have not disclosed any established motive.

The episode has prompted a wider debate about the safety of MPs and the tone of political life, including the conduct of parliamentary debate. Former Liberal leader Peter Dutton told News24 that more violence against politicians in Australia was "inevitable". "It came as no surprise to me, I am sorry to say. I think it has been building for a long period of time," he said.

In his speech, Taylor rejected the idea that parliamentary behaviour feeds political violence. "In the past week, it has been suggested by some there is a causal connection between robust parliamentary debate and political violence," he said. "I disagree with this view." He argued that the Westminster system exists to settle differences through rigorous debate rather than violence, and that those who turn to intimidation or violence cross a line that must never be crossed.

Taylor said Labor had been right to call out far-right extremism but urged that all extremism be rejected. He also said judges should "come down harder" on people found guilty of intimidation or violence, and called for Australia to be celebrated more readily, suggesting too many people had been taught to feel guilt and shame about the country and its history.

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce also opposed changing parliamentary practice. He told News24 his thoughts and prayers were with Haines and her family, and called the alleged attack "so unAustralian". He said parliament had a part to play but would not solve the problem, pointing instead to a change in dynamics in Australia and abroad, and to "vindictive, arsenic type of rhetoric" in public life. "I think it's foolish to think if question time changes, Australia changes," he said.

Steggall, the independent member for Warringah who sits beside Haines in the lower house, said she was personally disappointed in Taylor's speech. "There is a link between our words and actions," she said, adding that she did not feel he had grasped the lesson Haines would want people to learn. She said the same care should apply to media reporting, election advertising and social media.

Steggall said she had spoken in Canberra on Monday with Haines's husband, Phil Haines, who asked MPs to raise the bar so that a meaningful shift toward respectful debate would have occurred by the time Helen Haines returns to parliament. "We can disagree respectfully, but words matter and have an impact," Steggall said.

Ryan, the independent member for Kooyong, called Taylor's response "hugely disappointing". "If Angus Taylor doesn't think that the words that we use matter, I don't understand how he aspires to lead a political party," she told ABC TV. She said that if parliament could not rise to the occasion after something as unthinkable as what happened to Haines, it never would.