“Not enough politicians are afraid for their lives right now & I think that’s a problem.”
asserted
that → think → lives
The comment had been made into a meme, with the words in fancy font printed on an image of a man pointing a gun.
asserted
words → make → gun
It was posted on the official page of Nichole Overall, a NSW Nationals MP, by an account with a full name and a shadowy profile pic of a man’s back.
asserted
It → post → back
“I’ve never had anything of this nature, this was quite shocking.
asserted
this → have → nature
I was taken aback,” says Overall of the post, which appeared on Monday, in the hours before the violent attack on federal Independent MP Helen Haines.
asserted
which → take → Haines
“It’s just not the way, in a civilised society, we should be addressing things,” Overall says, becoming agitated.
asserted
Overall → ’ → things
“It’s too much.”
asserted
It → ’ → ?
It is posted for all to see, but it is deeply silo-ed, which is to say that I don’t know what’s happening in your feed, and you don’t know what’s happening in mine.
asserted
what → post → mine
You will only see the post on Overall’s Facebook page if it pops up in the online bubble that is perfectly tailored to you, courtesy of a tech company’s algorithm, breeding an isolation that is anything but pro-social.
asserted
that → see → isolation
We live in an age of bombardment, with overwhelming amounts of content coming at us all the time – more content than we could ever need or enjoy.
uncertain
we → live → us
But at the same time we are increasingly ignorant of the worlds, lives and viewpoints of those who don’t appear in our over-full feeds.
asserted
who → appear → feeds
This confusion of content has metastasised threats to public safety, which are now splintered along strange fault lines that don’t necessarily follow traditional ideological positions of left/right.
asserted
that → metastasise → right
As Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said earlier in October of the terrorist threat: “We are getting some weird mixed ideologies, logically inconsistent, all cohering on violence.”
But extremists who deal in hostility do tend to share some common denominators – antisemitism being one, and misogyny being the other.
asserted
misogyny → say → denominators
These two ancient hatreds are useful bellwethers for talk that might turn violent.
uncertain
that → turn → talk
It is too early to know if Haines’ gender was a factor in the attack on her.
asserted
gender → know → her
But we are alive to the possibility because we know women politicians cop a degree of sexualised, highly personal abuse unique to their sex.
asserted
politicians → know → sex
In March 2025, then-AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw flagged that the nature of threats made towards women MPs was of particular concern, following the arrest of six men for harassing public officials within a few months.
asserted
nature → flag → months
“High office holders are being targeted because they have a public profile, because of the comments they have made in the media, or their positions on policy,” Kershaw said.
asserted
Kershaw → target → policy
“However, in some cases it appears male offenders are targeting women because they are women, or women with an ethnic background.”
asserted
they → appear → background
Examples include a neo-Nazi leader who was arrested for calling on supporters to “rhetorically rape” independent MP Allegra Spender, a man sentenced for sending death threats to MP Fatima Payman (he told her he had a bullet with her name on it), and another charged with allegedly harassing independent senator Lidia Thorpe.
uncertain
he → include → Thorpe
When asked if she thinks women politicians are singled out for particular abuse, Overall says: “I don’t want to make it a gender thing, but yes, it is most certainly the situation.”
asserted
it → ask → abuse
“Within the last 12 to 18 months there has absolutely been a heightened level of viciousness and sadly, it is misogyny.”
asserted
it → heighten → viciousness
She mentions a recent instance where she was called a “ho”.
asserted
she → mention → instance
“It’s things that just simply aren’t said to men.”
asserted
that → ’ → men
The political week took a horror turn with Monday’s attack on Haines.
asserted
week → take → Haines
But even before then, the political discourse had already entered a new era of coarseness.
asserted
discourse → enter → coarseness
Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has spoken before about her suffering from vaginal prolapse, in a laudable effort to de-stigmatise the condition from which hundreds of thousands of Australian women silently suffer.
asserted
thousands → speak → women
The latest of the cretinous “Please Explain” videos put out on Pauline Hanson’s YouTube feed over the weekend features Lambie in cartoon form, and witlessly mocks her condition.
asserted
latest → explain → condition
One should avoid hyperbole when discussing extremes in political debate, but the cartoon truly represents a new and imbecilic threshold passed.
asserted
cartoon → avoid → threshold
Hanson told Lambie to “get over it”.
asserted
Hanson → tell → it
“Have a bit of a laugh, Jacqui, and lighten up.”
It is the same line Hanson issued to Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie, a veteran who has been labelled a “traitor” on these nasty video shorts.
As Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said on Tuesday, the videos are “not satirical”.
“They’re not funny when you attack someone personally, and they incite people.
asserted
they → have → people
you’ve got other MPs, to be honest, posting things about other MPs
asserted
MPs → get → MPs
, it doesn’t help.”
asserted
it → help → ?
No line can be drawn from the contemptible vulgarity of the videos to the violence of Tuesday in Wangaratta.
asserted
line → draw → Wangaratta
But the two things exist in the same sphere of pernicious influence.
asserted
things → exist → influence
Anyone who pretends otherwise, or tells others, butter-wouldn’t-melt-style, that hateful rhetoric is “just a joke”, should be called out.
asserted
rhetoric → pretend → others
To re-purpose former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s saying about disrespect and violence towards women – not all hate speech ends in violence, but all political violence starts with hatred.
Read more:
- News: Independent MP Helen Haines in critical condition after attack
- Suspect named: The 43-year-old man has a history of activism.
- Hero barber:
asserted
man → re → activism
Ricky thought it was a car accident.
asserted
it → think → ?
Then he saw the knife
asserted
he → see → knife
- Analysis: Attack on Haines must be a turning point for Australia
- What we know so far: The attack on Helen Haines
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis.
asserted
we → know → news
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
