Independents Criticize Taylor Over Haines Attack Speech

Independent MPs Monique Ryan and Zali Steggall criticized opposition leader Angus Taylor on Monday for his response to the alleged attack on Indi MP Helen Haines. The two crossbenchers described his speech as tone deaf and said he failed to read the room.

Parliament resumed in Canberra on Monday, one week after the incident outside Haines's electorate office in northern Victoria. Haines lost both legs in the attack. A 43-year-old man has been charged, and police are continuing their investigation without disclosing a specific motive.

Taylor rejected the idea that parliamentary behavior feeds political violence. He argued that the Westminster system settles differences through rigorous debate rather than violence. He stated that those who use intimidation or violence cross a line that must never be crossed.

Taylor said Labor was right to call out far-right extremism but urged all parties to reject extremism. He suggested judges should come down harder on those found guilty of violence and said Australia should be celebrated more readily. He argued that too many people have been taught to feel guilt about the country's history.

Steggall, the independent member for Warringah, said she was personally disappointed in the speech. She noted there is a link between words and actions. She added that she did not feel Taylor grasped the lesson Haines would want people to learn.

Ryan, the independent member for Kooyong, called the response hugely disappointing. She told ABC TV that if Taylor does not think words matter, she does not understand how he aspires to lead a political party. She said if parliament could not rise to the occasion after the incident, it never would.

Steggall spoke with Haines's husband, Phil Haines, in Canberra on Monday. He asked MPs to raise the bar so that a meaningful shift toward respectful debate occurs by the time Haines returns to parliament. Steggall reported that he said words matter and have an impact.