WEBVTT - The Bolt Report | 19 October 0:00:07.430 --> 0:00:10.560 OK, straight to that breaking news, to that shocking news. 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.560 As you've heard, Federal Independent MP Helen Haynes has been 0:00:14.580 --> 0:00:18.420 seriously injured outside her Wangaratta office in regional Victoria. We're 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:22.360 expecting a press conference from the Prime Minister shortly. What 0:00:22.390 --> 0:00:24.329 we do know so far is that Haynes, who's the 0:00:24.350 --> 0:00:27.230 mother of three, was unloading food or something from the 0:00:27.570 --> 0:00:30.010 boot of her car when she was hit by a 0:00:30.410 --> 0:00:35.879 white SUV. Apparently, it had done a U-turn... when the 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:40.480 driver allegedly saw her. Her legs, at least, are very 0:00:40.550 --> 0:00:45.849 seriously injured. Passers-by reportedly jumped on the driver, pinned him down, 0:00:46.770 --> 0:00:50.430 reportedly took a penknife from him, and police are investigating 0:00:50.470 --> 0:00:54.930 if this was a targeted attack. And if so, how 0:00:54.970 --> 0:01:01.070 that will shock politics today. We've had so much anger 0:01:01.270 --> 0:01:05.510 in our polity that... Really, it's shocking. We've just got 0:01:05.530 --> 0:01:09.070 to wind this back. And for Helen Haynes to be 0:01:09.130 --> 0:01:12.980 the target of it, she's 53, she was first elected 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:17.800 in 2019. She's been re-elected twice. She's not a TLMP. 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:22.220 She hasn't been angry, one of these angry politicians, not 0:01:22.500 --> 0:01:26.660 at all, not at all. But she, by the way, 0:01:26.700 --> 0:01:32.440 she actually shares a lot of TLMP's concerns. It's terrible. Now, 0:01:32.459 --> 0:01:35.630 the The Prime Minister, like I say, is going to 0:01:35.730 --> 0:01:38.710 tell us more. It's significant that he's going to give 0:01:38.790 --> 0:01:42.250 a press conference. I assume that he has something very 0:01:42.310 --> 0:01:44.390 serious to tell us. But in the meantime, we've got 0:01:44.490 --> 0:01:49.880 Cameron Redden, who's been covering all this. Cameron, thank you 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:53.740 so much for your time. Andrew Clunell has also said 0:01:53.780 --> 0:01:57.640 that it is his understanding that it's a targeted attack. 0:01:57.720 --> 0:01:58.320 What do you know? 0:01:59.670 --> 0:02:02.730 Yeah, and that's the report coming through via Andrew. That 0:02:02.770 --> 0:02:06.730 is a belief of senior Labor sources, Andrew. So we 0:02:06.790 --> 0:02:08.450 are going to hear from the Prime Minister more. We'll 0:02:08.490 --> 0:02:11.549 also hear from the Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, who 0:02:11.570 --> 0:02:14.029 will be at this press conference as well. Now, that 0:02:14.070 --> 0:02:16.350 potentially tells us something, what we can read into the 0:02:16.389 --> 0:02:18.680 sort of language that we might expect and the way 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:22.760 that the government is viewing this incident. Andrew, this is shocking, 0:02:22.820 --> 0:02:25.200 as you mentioned. It is unsettling. We have not, if 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:27.500 this is confirmed, to be a targeted attack. That is 0:02:27.540 --> 0:02:28.200 the allegation. 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:29.440 That's the report at the moment. 0:02:30.110 --> 0:02:31.809 We would not have seen something like this to this 0:02:31.870 --> 0:02:34.270 scale in Australian politics, certainly not in my time and 0:02:34.310 --> 0:02:36.870 maybe at all, not for a very long time. So 0:02:36.889 --> 0:02:39.429 we'll hear from that. I don't anticipate that the Prime 0:02:39.450 --> 0:02:41.590 Minister will be keeping us waiting long. He and Tony 0:02:41.610 --> 0:02:43.370 Burke are going to be there in Sydney. They're not 0:02:43.410 --> 0:02:46.030 in Canberra at the moment. My understanding is that there 0:02:46.050 --> 0:02:48.620 have been meetings going on to try and ascertain exactly 0:02:48.660 --> 0:02:51.220 what has happened over the last couple of hours. And 0:02:51.260 --> 0:02:52.940 we'll be hearing now from the Prime Minister in the 0:02:52.980 --> 0:02:55.080 next few minutes, Andrew. But this is, as you say, 0:02:55.100 --> 0:03:00.100 a very unsettling moment in Australian politics and It's hard 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:02.429 not to, as Andrew Clennell reflected on a moment ago, 0:03:02.530 --> 0:03:04.590 think of the incidents we've seen around the world, particularly 0:03:04.610 --> 0:03:08.450 in the UK, and the impact that that has had where, 0:03:09.330 --> 0:03:13.530 whether it's Joe Cox, David Amess and others, some terrible 0:03:13.570 --> 0:03:14.890 incidents have taken place. 0:03:14.950 --> 0:03:16.910 So, look, we will get more details. 0:03:17.290 --> 0:03:20.210 All this coming to hand in the last three hours, really, Andrew, 0:03:20.310 --> 0:03:23.110 but hopefully we will get something comprehensive from the Prime 0:03:23.130 --> 0:03:25.609 Minister in the next few minutes. A terrible moment of 0:03:25.650 --> 0:03:27.470 the year, but certainly in Australian politics. 0:03:29.470 --> 0:03:32.790 No, we haven't seen something like this for many, many 0:03:32.870 --> 0:03:37.630 decades since Labor leader Arthur Call was shot in the jaw. And, 0:03:37.850 --> 0:03:41.290 of course, since then, well, recently, we've had the assassination 0:03:41.850 --> 0:03:46.860 attempts on Donald Trump. We've had the assassination of Dutch leader, 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:51.160 political leader Pim Fortone. We've had those attacks you mentioned 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:56.980 on two MPs in fatal attacks in Britain. Really, the 0:03:57.020 --> 0:04:01.190 world seems to be in extremely... dangerous place. And the 0:04:01.230 --> 0:04:06.030 fact that Anthony Albanese is going to hold a press conference, Cameron, Cam, 0:04:06.210 --> 0:04:09.050 what do you make of that? Oh, it elevates. 0:04:09.110 --> 0:04:11.730 I mean, it's a serious incident. That goes without saying, Andrew. 0:04:11.750 --> 0:04:13.930 But clearly the Prime Minister sees this as a moment 0:04:13.970 --> 0:04:16.550 when people need to hear from him. I anticipate that 0:04:16.670 --> 0:04:19.940 whatever programming was scheduled on every network in the country 0:04:19.980 --> 0:04:22.520 will be paused to take this address, given the severity 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.500 of it. And we've been talking for, I think it's 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:28.140 fair to say, years, Andrew, about some of the fears 0:04:28.220 --> 0:04:30.750 that people have had in this place in Parliament House 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:35.330 about attacks, about the safety of MPs. We've had other 0:04:35.710 --> 0:04:38.250 members of Parliament have to bolster their own safety because 0:04:38.270 --> 0:04:41.640 they receive threats online. We know what goes on social media, 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:44.060 but elsewhere too. And it's one of the great things 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:47.030 about our democracy when you travel around the world, that 0:04:47.110 --> 0:04:50.150 MPs are so accessible. They hold open rallies. They hold 0:04:50.550 --> 0:04:53.290 community stalls. They go to sport. They go for a run. 0:04:53.330 --> 0:04:56.030 They take the dog for a walk, often without heavy 0:04:56.089 --> 0:04:59.940 police security or without barricades around them, because that's how 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:00.980 our democracy works. 0:05:01.020 --> 0:05:01.680 It's so open. 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.200 And Helen Haynes in this situation, we're told, was getting 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:07.529 something out of the boot of her car and And seemingly, 0:05:07.650 --> 0:05:09.589 so the report goes, and so is the belief of 0:05:09.650 --> 0:05:12.500 senior Labor sources talking to Andrew Clunell, has been targeted 0:05:12.620 --> 0:05:15.700 in this attack. If that was to be the case, well, 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.260 that is going to cause a lot of pause for thought. 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:22.170 Going forward, Andrew, that door is opening, so the Prime 0:05:22.190 --> 0:05:24.270 Minister can only be a few seconds away, you would think. 0:05:26.570 --> 0:05:29.890 Now, we can't jump to conclusions. We don't know if 0:05:29.950 --> 0:05:33.230 it was targeted. And if it was targeted, for what reasons? 0:05:33.270 --> 0:05:36.080 Were they political? Were they personal? None of that we know. 0:05:36.100 --> 0:05:39.400 We might be told soon. We do not know. But 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:42.600 it is true that the temperature has heated up. And 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:46.990 I think, Cameron, you will back me up in saying, 0:05:47.029 --> 0:05:52.680 you know, if you... No politician deserves... Any violence? Absolutely none. 0:05:52.740 --> 0:05:55.780 We cannot have that. But of all the people, I 0:05:55.779 --> 0:05:57.820 wouldn't have thought Helen Haynes would be on the list. 0:05:58.100 --> 0:06:00.170 Here's the Prime Minister now about to give us an update. 0:06:00.310 --> 0:06:00.630 Here we go. 0:06:00.690 --> 0:06:06.510 serious incident that has occurred in Victoria. This afternoon, Helen Haynes, 0:06:06.790 --> 0:06:10.930 the member for Indi, was attacked outside her electorate. 0:06:10.410 --> 0:06:11.729 Office in Wangaratta. 0:06:12.750 --> 0:06:16.780 All of our thoughts are with Helen, her family, her friends, 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:22.050 her team and her community. at this extremely difficult time. 0:06:23.050 --> 0:06:27.030 We are praying for her full recovery. I want to 0:06:27.110 --> 0:06:31.980 thank the first responders for their extraordinary work. There is 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:36.700 a major police investigation underway and I can confirm that 0:06:36.779 --> 0:06:41.860 a suspect is in custody. The Australian Federal Police, Victorian 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:46.330 Police and ASIA are working together on this. The Joint 0:06:46.410 --> 0:06:50.609 Counter Terrorism Team has been activated but the motive is 0:06:50.690 --> 0:06:55.750 not known. I've spoken with Victorian Premier Ben Carroll and 0:06:55.770 --> 0:06:59.830 have been briefed by AFP Commissioner Chrissie Barrett. It is 0:06:59.890 --> 0:07:03.310 too early in this investigation for me to provide you 0:07:03.350 --> 0:07:07.390 with details of what the motivation is behind this attack. 0:07:08.450 --> 0:07:09.910 My thoughts are also. 0:07:09.650 --> 0:07:14.300 With those there who were there in Wangaratta today and 0:07:14.390 --> 0:07:20.790 Helen's community more broadly. Helen Haynes is incredibly hardworking. She 0:07:20.870 --> 0:07:26.900 is fiercely intelligent, but most importantly, she's just thoroughly decent 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:32.620 human being, full of integrity and respected right across the 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:37.060 Parliament and from everyone who comes into contact with her. 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:42.480 She is a well-loved member of her community, and this 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:48.260 will come as an incredible shock to that community. Our 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:52.940 thoughts remain with Helen Haynes at this very difficult time. 0:07:54.540 --> 0:07:58.240 Minister Burke will make some short comments and then we'll 0:07:58.260 --> 0:07:58.880 take just a. 0:07:58.900 --> 0:08:04.080 Couple of questions. Thank you, Prime Minister. As the Prime 0:08:04.110 --> 0:08:06.450 Minister said, we're still very early. 0:08:06.230 --> 0:08:10.510 In the investigation, but importantly, someone is in custody and 0:08:10.550 --> 0:08:15.110 acknowledges the family statement, has acknowledged the bystanders, the health 0:08:15.150 --> 0:08:16.030 workers and the police. 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:20.679 Last year, or the year before last. 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:25.980 We had 951 reports of harassing and threatening behaviour against 0:08:26.020 --> 0:08:29.880 various high office holders. The more recent financial year, that 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:35.160 951 has gone to 1,067. At this moment in time, 0:08:35.350 --> 0:08:38.309 while it's still so early in the investigation, our thoughts 0:08:38.390 --> 0:08:41.470 are all with Helen and her family and her community 0:08:41.510 --> 0:08:45.609 and her friends. As the Prime Minister said, Helen is respected, 0:08:46.110 --> 0:08:47.290 admired and loved. 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:48.500 Senator Morrison. 0:08:48.540 --> 0:08:53.120 Senator Morrison, was the suspect known to any police body 0:08:53.260 --> 0:08:53.800 or agency? 0:08:53.940 --> 0:08:59.100 Look, I'm not about to go into comments about an investigation, 0:08:59.260 --> 0:09:02.660 which is underway and has been underway for a matter 0:09:02.820 --> 0:09:03.880 of just hours. 0:09:04.260 --> 0:09:08.100 Did the government go with any threats made towards Helen 0:09:08.140 --> 0:09:10.260 Haynes and was there any concern around. 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:13.520 Anything she'd be copying? Look, we have made. 0:09:15.550 --> 0:09:20.189 a range of comments that I have made. Go look 0:09:20.290 --> 0:09:23.470 up the interviews in which I've done and call for 0:09:23.490 --> 0:09:27.920 the temperature to be turned down when it comes to 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:32.820 political discourse. It is too early though to speculate on 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:34.660 motivation and we won't be doing so. 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:37.380 We'll allow the authorities to do their work. 0:09:46.450 --> 0:09:55.800 Obviously Helen Haynes has suffered serious this is a serious 0:09:55.880 --> 0:10:00.699 incident and so our thoughts are with Helen and her 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.120 recovery at this time. 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:04.360 Can you say. 0:10:04.460 --> 0:10:07.380 What security measures, if any, she was afforded ahead of 0:10:07.420 --> 0:10:08.560 this attack by Parliament? 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:14.330 Look, we organise security arrangements based upon the. 0:10:16.230 --> 0:10:17.770 Threat levels which are there. 0:10:18.710 --> 0:10:22.800 But as Minister Burke has said, And as you would 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:31.040 be aware, and anyone who looks at comments made and 0:10:31.100 --> 0:10:36.160 directed towards members of parliament and high office holders, there 0:10:36.260 --> 0:10:42.809 is increased heightened risk has occurred. Our thoughts are just 0:10:42.830 --> 0:10:47.990 very much with Helen, her family, her community at this time. 0:10:48.110 --> 0:10:48.770 Thanks very much. 0:10:53.780 --> 0:10:57.230 Well, I take one tiny bit of hope from that, 0:10:57.250 --> 0:11:01.550 that the Prime Minister's talking about Helen Haynes' recovery. So, 0:11:03.130 --> 0:11:08.780 prayers for her and her family. But, you know, the 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:10.840 Prime Minister's also right. He has called for the temperature 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:13.900 to be lowered. I think he's right in having done that, 0:11:14.740 --> 0:11:17.950 and today bears out the wisdom of that. I always 0:11:17.990 --> 0:11:22.100 thought that... The person in greatest danger in Parliament was 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:25.380 Pauline Hanson with the threats against her. In fact, as 0:11:25.420 --> 0:11:27.620 you know, on this show, I've said her security should 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:31.260 be beefed up from what I'd seen, has been. But 0:11:31.340 --> 0:11:36.820 political violence, unfortunately, is not that new to Australia. We 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:40.679 tend to forget. 1966, Arthur Caldwell, shot in the face, 0:11:40.850 --> 0:11:46.270 Labor leader, federal Labor leader. In 1994, John Newman, the 0:11:46.350 --> 0:11:53.790 state MP, Laborer, Cameramatta also assassinated. But this will come as... 0:11:53.910 --> 0:11:58.530 This will really change things in Canberra. Politicians should not 0:11:58.650 --> 0:12:03.010 have to fear walking among us. But this... Back to 0:12:03.090 --> 0:12:05.840 our political reporter, Cam Redden. Cam, what did you take 0:12:05.910 --> 0:12:07.360 out of the Prime Minister's comments? 0:12:08.380 --> 0:12:10.110 Well, pretty clear from the language there, Andrew. 0:12:10.150 --> 0:12:12.890 He believes this is very much a targeted attack, that 0:12:12.950 --> 0:12:14.690 man in custody. I do just want to add that 0:12:15.450 --> 0:12:18.750 sources for News24, our understanding at this stage is that 0:12:19.070 --> 0:12:22.459 the person in custody has no immediate or obvious terror 0:12:22.500 --> 0:12:25.520 links known. The Prime Minister said there that the AFP 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.020 and ASIO are involved in this as well. There are 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:31.580 no immediate known links to terror, is our understanding. But 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:34.550 clearly now a major police investigation going on. You mentioned 0:12:34.570 --> 0:12:37.530 some of the history of... there, Andrew, but it goes 0:12:37.550 --> 0:12:39.550 without saying. We're about to go into a state election 0:12:39.590 --> 0:12:41.589 in Victoria. We've got a state election in New South 0:12:41.630 --> 0:12:44.179 Wales early next year. We're going towards the end of 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:48.699 a parliamentary year, but this will absolutely rattle and unsettle 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:52.140 politicians across the country, I would say, because rare as 0:12:52.179 --> 0:12:54.080 it is, you do have to go back several decades 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:55.880 for this to be the case in Australia. I also 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:57.540 want to point out one other thing that Tony Burke 0:12:57.600 --> 0:12:59.579 mentioned there as well, Andrew, and we've covered this a 0:12:59.610 --> 0:13:01.929 bit throughout the year. He noted there that in the 0:13:01.970 --> 0:13:05.920 last financial year alone, there were more than 1,000 registered 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:10.189 threats to politicians. Now, that isn't just somebody sending an email. 0:13:10.230 --> 0:13:13.410 That is somebody's office or the politician themselves taking it 0:13:13.490 --> 0:13:16.510 seriously enough to refer that on to the Australian Federal 0:13:16.550 --> 0:13:19.490 Police or to some sort of authority. So that's 1,000 0:13:19.490 --> 0:13:22.579 that have been escalated in just the financial year gone, 0:13:23.020 --> 0:13:25.540 and that has been escalating year on year. So that 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:29.080 investigation now ongoing, we didn't really get a clear health 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:33.260 update from the Prime Minister there on Helen Haynes, but 0:13:33.380 --> 0:13:36.650 he did talk about her recovery there. So perhaps some 0:13:36.710 --> 0:13:38.770 hope in amongst this terrible news, Andrew. 0:13:38.790 --> 0:13:39.250 Perhaps. 0:13:39.309 --> 0:13:42.150 But this break in tonight, we will clearly get more 0:13:42.190 --> 0:13:44.850 reaction to this tomorrow and over the months ahead. And 0:13:44.890 --> 0:13:46.329 as you can say, we can only hope that it 0:13:46.390 --> 0:13:48.410 is a good and speedy recovery for her. 0:13:50.490 --> 0:13:53.929 Yeah, but I come back to, I think you noticed 0:13:54.010 --> 0:13:56.490 it too, the words of the Prime Minister who said 0:13:56.570 --> 0:13:59.530 it's too early to speculate about motive. Motive is what 0:13:59.550 --> 0:14:02.870 you speculate on when you think this was a targeted attack, 0:14:03.950 --> 0:14:06.010 not if it was an accident. There's no motive for 0:14:06.030 --> 0:14:09.490 an accident. I think that's a pretty clear hint that 0:14:10.530 --> 0:14:13.970 something very serious has occurred and something that's very frightening 0:14:14.429 --> 0:14:16.410 and that will frighten a lot of politicians and may 0:14:16.450 --> 0:14:19.250 change the way they interact with the community. which will 0:14:19.270 --> 0:14:22.320 be to the loss of us all. Cameron Redden, thank 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:24.040 you so much for your time. No doubt we'll be 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:28.360 talking to you during the night if we get more information. 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:32.440 Thank you so much. After the break, more on this 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:44.140 shocking Helen Haynes news. So to repeat, Federal Independent MP 0:14:44.180 --> 0:14:50.320 Helen Haynes struck by a car outside her office Reportedly, 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:54.420 a car that turned around did a U-turn when the 0:14:54.470 --> 0:14:58.330 driver saw her. Motive not known. As far as we 0:14:58.370 --> 0:15:01.890 can tell, as far as we have heard, no terror 0:15:02.970 --> 0:15:07.490 motive there. So we shall see. The Prime Minister wouldn't speculate. 0:15:07.710 --> 0:15:10.710 But in saying that he wouldn't speculate on motive, he 0:15:10.750 --> 0:15:13.830 made clear, I think, that he did believe this was 0:15:13.950 --> 0:15:18.420 no accident. Joining me is the political panel, Cameron Milner, 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:20.420 former Chief of Staff to Labor leader Bill Shorten, now 0:15:20.460 --> 0:15:25.610 Director of GXO Strategies, and Michael Kroger, former Victorian Liberal President. 0:15:25.670 --> 0:15:32.950 Michael Kroger, this news will shock so many politicians and 0:15:32.990 --> 0:15:36.190 make a lot of them afraid to walk in public. 0:15:37.910 --> 0:15:40.150 Look, Andrew, as you said before, we've seen an increase 0:15:40.170 --> 0:15:45.220 in violence against political figures across the world in recent years. 0:15:46.870 --> 0:15:50.550 The question is, why is this happening? Well, I think 0:15:50.590 --> 0:15:53.470 without reflecting on what's happened to Helen Haynes, that the 0:15:53.490 --> 0:15:59.530 level of incitement around the world is increasing through demonstrations, 0:15:59.630 --> 0:16:00.500 social media. 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:01.270 Whatever else. 0:16:01.390 --> 0:16:04.760 So the level of hatred, anger in the world, in 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:10.050 Western countries is increasing. But specifically on that press conference, 0:16:11.250 --> 0:16:13.820 and look, it's improper to speculate too much at this 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:16.000 stage for all the reasons we know, Andrew, but that 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:19.340 was a most unusual press conference. I don't think I've 0:16:19.380 --> 0:16:21.740 ever seen a Prime Minister and Senior Minister give such 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:29.810 a press conference in my lifetime. Clearly, clearly something has 0:16:29.870 --> 0:16:33.730 gone on here that they are aware of. 0:16:34.590 --> 0:16:34.920 That is. 0:16:35.700 --> 0:16:37.900 That is not a press conference given by a Prime 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:41.970 Minister at any time that I've seen in these circumstances. 0:16:43.070 --> 0:16:48.810 So we, of course, wish Helen Haynes well. Everyone that 0:16:48.890 --> 0:16:52.590 I know knows her, thinks the world of her. So 0:16:52.630 --> 0:16:57.490 to her and her friends and family and supporters in India, 0:16:57.770 --> 0:17:00.550 you know, our hearts go out to her and all 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:01.460 strength and love to her. 0:17:03.740 --> 0:17:06.109 As I suggested earlier in the show, she'd be one 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:08.530 of the last people you'd think would be the target 0:17:08.550 --> 0:17:13.310 of such hatred, that someone might, might, this is speculating, 0:17:13.530 --> 0:17:20.230 might do something like this to her. But, my God. Cameron, 0:17:21.190 --> 0:17:23.689 what do you make of this? Because, like I say, 0:17:24.100 --> 0:17:26.580 this is not, Helen Haynes is not someone you would 0:17:26.740 --> 0:17:29.300 imagine would be a target of an attack. 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:33.369 No, you don't, and I think tonight we've all got 0:17:33.380 --> 0:17:35.270 to have our thoughts and prayers for Helen and for 0:17:35.310 --> 0:17:37.730 her speedy recovery and for the family to actually have 0:17:38.090 --> 0:17:40.510 lots of love around them tonight because they shouldn't be 0:17:40.550 --> 0:17:43.500 going through this situation. No politician, no member of public 0:17:43.540 --> 0:17:45.540 should be in a situation where they're doing their groceries 0:17:45.580 --> 0:17:47.720 and get hit by a car has potentially done a 0:17:47.820 --> 0:17:50.600 U-turn and might have motive for what they've done, Andrew. 0:17:50.619 --> 0:17:53.550 So this is just a truly awful, shocking moment. 0:17:53.310 --> 0:17:54.010 In Australian politics. 0:17:54.390 --> 0:17:57.310 To your point, Michael, unprecedented in terms of a Prime 0:17:57.330 --> 0:18:00.330 Minister coming to do a press conference so quickly. Obviously, 0:18:00.390 --> 0:18:02.270 more will come to light, but we need to make 0:18:02.330 --> 0:18:04.260 sure we get to the absolute root cause of this 0:18:04.619 --> 0:18:07.139 and understand exactly what's happened, because the last thing we 0:18:07.180 --> 0:18:09.680 need is our politicians to be less connected to the community. 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:11.660 We love the fact they go walking their dogs, going 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:13.970 to do the groceries. They want to be connected to 0:18:13.990 --> 0:18:16.410 the community. They can't just be behind a security fence. 0:18:16.790 --> 0:18:18.650 And this is what I think is the risk tonight, Andrew, 0:18:18.930 --> 0:18:21.410 is that we can't have politicians withdraw at the very 0:18:21.450 --> 0:18:23.850 moment we need them to connect, even more so than ever, 0:18:24.109 --> 0:18:24.729 to our community. 0:18:26.980 --> 0:18:30.840 That is so true, because, Michael, there's a real trust 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:33.359 deficit in our community at the moment, as well as 0:18:33.380 --> 0:18:37.300 the hatred, a lack of trust in the political institutions, 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:40.320 as well as in journalism. We've got to say that too. 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:40.609 But.... 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:47.119 Then to have at that moment politicians withdrawing from public 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:49.940 engagements that are deemed to be too risky. And we've 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:53.080 seen this build up. You might recall Julia Gillard as 0:18:53.140 --> 0:18:56.660 Prime Minister had to be bustled into a car when 0:18:56.700 --> 0:19:01.210 a demonstration looked like getting very dangerous. Police bundled her 0:19:01.270 --> 0:19:03.250 into the car. She lost her shoe on the way. 0:19:04.170 --> 0:19:06.129 You might remember, I mean, people laughed it off at 0:19:06.170 --> 0:19:09.609 the time, but Tony Abbott got headbutted by some fool 0:19:10.190 --> 0:19:13.180 in the streets of Hobart. He was also the target 0:19:13.260 --> 0:19:16.800 of demonstrations. His sister had her jacket half ripped off 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:21.179 her back. But the hatred has built up and up 0:19:21.500 --> 0:19:25.159 and up, and I wonder, Anthony Albanese has called this 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:27.690 out and said, you know, cool it down, but I 0:19:27.750 --> 0:19:29.869 wonder if the genie's out of the bottle, whether it 0:19:29.910 --> 0:19:30.310 can be. 0:19:32.070 --> 0:19:36.090 Well, the genie's out of the bottle, you know, bigger 0:19:36.130 --> 0:19:37.990 and brighter and worse than I've ever seen. 0:19:39.030 --> 0:19:41.389 I was just actually at Monash University a couple of 0:19:41.410 --> 0:19:45.659 hours ago and walked past the Krongold Centre, where in 0:19:45.660 --> 0:19:49.290 1976 I stood on a grassy knoll as Malcolm Fraser, 0:19:49.350 --> 0:19:53.040 the Prime Minister, had to run past with federal police 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:56.280 protecting him because he'd been locked in the basement of 0:19:56.340 --> 0:19:59.550 this centre which he'd opened. And he'd been locked in 0:19:59.590 --> 0:20:02.710 there for an hour by chanting rat-bag left-wing demonstrators. 0:20:03.790 --> 0:20:05.389 And then there was a moment for him to escape 0:20:05.450 --> 0:20:05.890 and he did. 0:20:05.910 --> 0:20:10.230 This has been going on in Australia forever. for decades, 0:20:10.410 --> 0:20:13.250 but I think it's getting worse now. I think, as 0:20:13.290 --> 0:20:16.510 I said, I think the incitement through social media whips up, 0:20:17.730 --> 0:20:19.760 let's call a spade a spade, it whips up the 0:20:19.820 --> 0:20:26.420 extreme left more than we've ever seen before, Andrew, because 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:30.000 in the old days, you'd have to phone people, send 0:20:30.020 --> 0:20:33.119 off a Gestetner machine or a fax or something. Now, 0:20:33.720 --> 0:20:37.260 the ease with which communication can be passed amongst the 0:20:37.280 --> 0:20:40.179 extremes of the left and right to organise functions and 0:20:40.220 --> 0:20:41.600 demonstrations is so easy. 0:20:41.660 --> 0:20:45.320 Encrypted messaging, these acts of violence, et cetera, et cetera. 0:20:45.340 --> 0:20:47.740 The world has changed. It's a far more dangerous place. 0:20:48.500 --> 0:20:53.000 That's why those inciting violence have a special low place 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:58.460 in Western civilisation, in Western societies, because of their capacity today, 0:20:58.510 --> 0:21:02.230 which they never had before, to incite hatred and violence. 0:21:02.310 --> 0:21:05.629 And violence has become their modus operandi, Andrew. 0:21:07.750 --> 0:21:07.910 Look. 0:21:09.020 --> 0:21:11.320 I know the chilling effect this can have. I mean, 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:15.080 I had to cut my own public appearances. I now 0:21:15.140 --> 0:21:18.560 take much more care. I mean, there's been one Islamist 0:21:18.740 --> 0:21:23.540 jailed for ordering me to be killed and got attacked 0:21:23.580 --> 0:21:26.179 in the street by Antifa. And, you know, a lot 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:28.590 of people just think, oh, well, you know, but it's 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:31.150 not oh well. If you're always looking over your shoulder, 0:21:31.530 --> 0:21:36.110 and now we know from Helen Haynes, you know, how 0:21:36.190 --> 0:21:39.620 serious this can be. You can't just... do as I 0:21:39.900 --> 0:21:41.720 too often have done and just thought, oh, well, I'll 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:44.600 go anyway, but, you know, don't care, won't happen. It 0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:49.360 does happen. We just saw, perhaps we saw that happen today. 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:52.070 We have a grant from the Prime Minister just to 0:21:52.109 --> 0:21:53.510 remind people of what he just said. 0:21:53.530 --> 0:21:58.510 I can confirm that a suspect is in custody. The 0:21:58.530 --> 0:22:03.189 Australian Federal Police, Victorian Police and Asia are working together 0:22:03.310 --> 0:22:06.560 on this. It is too early in this investigation for 0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:10.450 me to provide you with details. what the motivation is 0:22:10.690 --> 0:22:11.830 behind this attack. 0:22:13.609 --> 0:22:18.050 So there you go, Cameron. A suspect is in custody 0:22:18.570 --> 0:22:22.050 with an accident that's not really a suspect. We can't 0:22:22.090 --> 0:22:25.560 speculate a motive. There's not a motive if it's just 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:30.180 an accident. And security agencies are investigating. And, of course, 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:34.300 Tony Burke was there, who's overseas, some of those security agencies. 0:22:35.260 --> 0:22:39.230 I'm afraid this is going to be Very bad news 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:40.560 when we get to the bottom of it. 0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:44.780 Well, it may well be, but I also want to 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:46.980 be reminded by the fact that at moments like this, 0:22:47.060 --> 0:22:49.240 Prime Ministers need to step up and lead the nation 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:52.800 with true courage. This is Albo's John Howard moment. I mean, 0:22:52.820 --> 0:22:55.139 John Howard stood up after the Port Arthur massacre. He 0:22:55.180 --> 0:22:59.010 went and publicly engaged even dangerous and difficult crowds. He 0:22:59.070 --> 0:23:01.550 engaged and told people where the country needed to go. 0:23:01.570 --> 0:23:03.890 And that's the moment that Albo needs to take now 0:23:04.270 --> 0:23:06.820 if we're in such a serious situation that... A serving 0:23:06.859 --> 0:23:10.540 member of parliament has been, you know, run down with 0:23:10.560 --> 0:23:13.910 the intent, obviously, clearly, to cause severe injury, potentially worse. 0:23:16.770 --> 0:23:19.830 Except I struggle to know what you can do, apart 0:23:19.850 --> 0:23:26.470 from improve security. It behooves everyone, really, to tone it down, 0:23:26.550 --> 0:23:30.449 tone down the hate, tone down the vicious mockery. And 0:23:30.470 --> 0:23:33.160 I might have something to say about One Nation that 0:23:33.200 --> 0:23:35.820 I was going to plan to say before all this. 0:23:36.380 --> 0:23:38.960