Want to counteract political violence? Then weigh words carefully.

With the attack on Independent MP Helen Haines, who are we becoming?

Yesterday, a 43-year-old man rammed his Toyota LandCruiser into Haines in regional Victoria, pinning her against another car before a local barbershop owner heroically restrained the driver.

Australia’s geographic isolation and our middle power status means we often feel insulated from turbulence abroad, from violence on Paris’ streets to assassination attempts in the US.

This is lunacy. The Bondi terror attacks happened almost a year ago and the spectre of political violence has escalated in recent years. Labor MP Josh Burns’ office was firebombed in 2024. Small Business Minister Anne Aly revealed she received 19 death threats alone last week after the ATO banned credit card payments for tax bills.

Admittedly, the motives of Haines’ attacker aren’t fully known. But collective grievance has been simmering for years. Factors include online extremism, economic strain, declining social trust, that feeling of racing just to stay in place. The fact that anger goes viral like nothing else. People feeling powerless and resentful while increasingly unable to deal with difference can be potentially explosive.

If we’re going to take political violence seriously, we need to weigh our words carefully.

Those disposed to political violence may believe actions speak louder. But words are a superpower of the social contract since they enable the existence of a diverse but peaceful community. What we say to and about each other is a litmus test of our hearts. Our words prime us to love, hate, tolerate, or vilify those with whom we disagree. When we abandon persuasion, political violence isn’t far behind.

We can’t afford further fracture, a complacent ‘she’ll be right’ approach, or more thoughtless, threatening words dashed off in anger. It’s on us all to take words seriously – and speak up.

This week’s Thinking Out Loud was first published on Facebook.