Federal MP Helen Haines’ first thoughts were for the bystanders who rushed to help her moments after waking up from the alleged attack that left her fighting for life.
The independent MP for Indi in north-east Victoria remains in Melbourne‘s The Alfred Hospital in a serious but stable condition after losing both her legs in the horrific incident outside her office in Wangaratta last Monday.
All sides of parliament united in paying tribute to Haines on Monday, where her husband of 40 years Phil watched on from the gallery.
Fellow crossbencher Allegra Spender revealed Haines’ first words after she woke up from the alleged attack, adding that it’ speaks to the character of who you are’.
‘Phil told us about your first words since when you woke up after the attack, and said that your first concerns when you woke were for your staff and gratitude to your first the first responders, nurses, and bystanders,’ she said.
‘People have spoken about your empathy and grace, and they deserve recognition,’
‘But I think it paints a sort of picture of you as a sort of benign force wandering through the parliament.
‘What I will say is that you are also a force for change.’
The first words Helen Haines said after waking up from the alleged attack have been revealed
Fellow crossbencher Allegra Spender fought back tears during the tributes to Helen Haines in parliament on Monday
A orange cut-out of a cockatoo was placed on Haines’ seat by her good friend and fellow independent MP Zali Stegall
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins agreed, adding it was ‘not a surprise to any of us who know her’.
‘After everything that she has been through, she was thinking of others,’ Collins said.
A orange cut-out of a cockatoo was placed on Haines’ seat by fellow independent MP Zali Stegall, who described her good friend as the the matriarch of the crossbench.
She and Spender was among the many MPs seen visibly distraught on Monday as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led the outpouring of tributes in parliament.
The shock from what happened last Monday is like a stone in our hearts’ he told the chamber.
‘It is hard to think of anyone in this place with a more irrepressible twinkle in the eye, a twinkle that more than hints at a real inner strength.’
More to come.
