She is respected, admired and even loved across the political spectrum as a kind and caring person, who stood up for what she believed in, with grace and integrity.
For our readers in the Rutherglen and Wahgunyah areas this is even closer to home.
She is your local member; many of you voted for her and many of you know her.
Helen was in Rutherglen recently to officially open the new community garden, where she cut the ribbon with local children.
I can only imagine their shock and the parents trying to explain the unexplainable to those children.
On Tuesday morning, I found myself reading social media comments and my sadness turned to anger and shame for what it appeared our country has become.
The vitriol screamed loudly off the screen. I’m not going to give those types of comments oxygen here, but they were ugly.
Australians have long prided ourselves in being decent people who can bicker and disagree on just about anything, but when disaster strikes, we are one, and we have each other’s backs.
When flood and bushfires threaten our communities, we don’t care where someone came from, who they voted for, which God they pray to or whether or not they are vaccinated; we are all mates in those times.
So, hearing seemingly ordinary Australians spit such venom while Helen is fighting for her life had me questioning who we are becoming.
Social media is an unnatural space, which gives the fringe a platform to yell and scream.
Their voices are amplified beyond their actual right to be but it’s timely to remember that most Australians are still decent, caring people who condemn extremism and violence in all its forms.
They may be loud, but they are not most of us.
From all of us at the Free Press, we offer our heartfelt sympathies to Helen, to her family and to her colleagues who will be feeling this deeply.
And to those in our own community who are grieving, we also feel for your sadness.
Yesterday, the elected members and mayors of Indi came together to issue a joint statement, which is well worth reading and printed in full below.
Christine McKee
Editor, The Free Press
From our elected members
Members of Parliament and Mayors stand united in condemnation of the violent attack upon our Federal Member for Indi, Dr. Helen Haines, in Wangaratta yesterday. Our thoughts are with Helen, her family, her staff, and all those affected by this deeply distressing incident.
We are each affected.
Personal threats, all forms of intimidation, and acts of violence have absolutely no place in our democracy or in our communities.
Helen represents the best of public service. Her commitment to integrity, her respectful engagement in debate, and her sense of democracy and peace are the example we should aspire to.
We should challenge our elected representatives; we should question their decisions; we should demand better of them. But there is a line. That line is crossed the moment we decide that disagreement gives us permission to abandon our humanity. We are better than this. And we must demand better.
We will not allow intimidation to silence public voices. Decency still outweighs division, and our communities reject hatred, violence, and fear. We will not allow violence to discourage participation in civic life. And we will not allow the values of democracy to be diminished by those who seek to undermine them.
Today, we stand with Helen. Tomorrow, we continue the work of building communities where differences are debated with respect, where people feel safe to serve, and where hope is stronger than fear.
We are better than this. We know we are. And together, we must demand better, expect better, and be better.
Sincerely and respectfully,
Tim McCurdy MP, Member for Ovens Valley; Bill Tilley MP, Member for Benambra; Cindy McLeish MP, Member for Eildon; Annabelle Cleeland MP, Member for Euroa; Mayor Nicholas, Alpine Shire; Mayor Hearn, Benalla Rural City; Mayor Price, Indigo Shire; Mayor Rabie, Mansfield Shire; Mayor Gallagher, Murrindindi Shire; Mayor Jeffery, Strathbogie Shire; Mayor Tolsher, Towong Shire; Mayor Grant, Wangaratta Rural City; Mayor Gobel, Wodonga City
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