Haines’s first words after alleged attack relayed to parliament
Independent MP Allegra Spender said she had spoken to Phil Haines about his wife’s first words since she was allegedly attacked.
In Spender’s address to the House of Representatives, she said:
double quotation markPhil told us about your first words when you woke up after the [alleged] attack, and said that your first concerns when you awoke were for your staff and gratitude to the first responders, nurses and bystanders.
That exactly speaks to the character of who you are.
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.
Phil Haines, husband of Independent MP Helen Haines, speaking at Alfred hospital in Melbourne on 21 October 2026. Photograph: Jay Kogler/EPAShare
Updated at 21.28 EDT
Key events
Sarah Basford Canales
Banning politicians posting videos of bureaucrats to social media ‘not something’ they can do, Senate clerk says
Earlier this morning, the retiring clerk of the Senate, Richard Pye, was asked about a recent push by senior public servants to stop politicians from uploading videos of them to social media.
To recap, the secretaries’ board – which includes heads of departments and agencies – warned that uploading clips of public officials answering questions in public forums, like Senate estimates, risked exposing them to “ridicule, hostility and abuse”.
Pye said he offered the committee advice about the move, telling Senate estimates this mornin that it’s “simply … absolutely not something that a witness can do”.
double quotation markThis is not to minimise the fact that there are some people who have been very bruised by their experiences before Senate and House committees, and the treatment of footage that has come out of those … but it is profoundly unhelpful, I thought, on the day for the matter to be raised in that way without any notice to anybody, not through the secretariat, not to the chair, not to other members of the committee, when the secretary’s board had raised the matter in a submission to the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Standards …
Pye added any proposals to deal with the issue would require “difficult discussions”.
He continued:
double quotation markIt’s going to require a lot of sensitivity and ingenuity to make sure that in trying to clean up the conduct associated with the way in which social media clips are dealt with, we need to remind ourselves that the accountability that is involved in these processes, the scrutiny – particularly in that case of a contested government policy – that that can’t be thrown out in these issues. That needs to be something that is given a great deal of weight.
Updated at 21.44 EDT
Josh Butler
More MPs sign civility pledge in honour of Helen Haines
More federal MPs are signing the civility pledge from Compassion in Politics Australia in honour of Helen Haines, who was a signatory to the promise before she was allegedly attacked last week.
Cipa’s website shows half a dozen federal and state politicians as signatories to the pledge, with more to come. Federal independent Kate Chaney and Greens leader David Shoebridge are listed online as having signed, while Greens deputy Steph Hodgins-May posted on social media that she too had signed on to the pledge.
Independent Allegra Spender said she would add her name to the pledge.
The Cipa pledge is simple and brief:
double quotation markIn my political life, I pledge to act with honesty, respect, and compassion.
The organisation says it is “primarily targeted at MPs, senators, councillors, MLAs, MLCs”, it also wanted “those in and around politics to sign up” – suggesting journalists, lobbyists, civic leaders, academics, commentators and “anyone who despairs at the state of politics and wants change.”
Updated at 21.29 EDT
Haines’s first words after alleged attack relayed to parliament
Independent MP Allegra Spender said she had spoken to Phil Haines about his wife’s first words since she was allegedly attacked.
In Spender’s address to the House of Representatives, she said:
double quotation markPhil told us about your first words when you woke up after the [alleged] attack, and said that your first concerns when you awoke were for your staff and gratitude to the first responders, nurses and bystanders.
That exactly speaks to the character of who you are.
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.
Phil Haines, husband of Independent MP Helen Haines, speaking at Alfred hospital in Melbourne on 21 October 2026. Photograph: Jay Kogler/EPAShare
Updated at 21.28 EDT
Sarah Basford Canales
PBO notes Haines is only independent to have all policies costed
Every senior bureaucrat appearing in the Senate estimates finance and public administration hearing this morning has shared their thoughts and well wishes for Helen Haines but the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has noted why the independent MP for Indi is so well respected.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer, Sam Reinhardt, said the office “recognised that Dr Haines played an important role in parliamentary accountability and transparency”.
But, and perhaps more importantly, that Haines puts her money where her mouth is.
Reinhardt said she had been the “only independent member to have all her commitments costed in the last two election commitments report”.
Updated at 21.00 EDT
Biosecurity lockdown called in Sydney suburb after fire ants found
The detection of a pest with the ability to wreak havoc on Australia’s economy has triggered a biosecurity lockdown.
South-west Sydney suburb Enfield will be subject to a biosecurity control order from Monday after fire ants were discovered at the area’s freight centre in late September.
Close-up of a fire ant. Fire ants were discovered at Enfield’s freight centre in late September. Photograph: National Fire Ant Eradication Program
The lockdown will cover a two-kilometre radius from the Enfield intermodal logistics centre, where red fire ants – likely to have been imported from overseas via a shipping container – were discovered.
Fire ants are notorious for their extremely painful sting and pose a major threat to agriculture and native wildlife.
Australian Associated Press
Updated at 21.04 EDT
Petra Stock
More big batteries switched on in first half of 2026 than whole of 2025
More big batteries were switched on, and more renewable energy reached financial close, in the first six months of this year than the whole of 2025, a report by the Clean Energy Council has found today.
Between January and June, 12 renewable energy projects totalling 2.6 gigawatts reached financial close, compared with 2.3GW in 2025. The six month period also saw five new solar and wind farms start generating electricity and a further eight begin construction.
Nine large-scale batteries were connected to the grid, adding 7.1 gigawatt-hours of storage in six months, compared with 5.1GWh in 2025. A further 6.5 GWh reached financial close.
Jackie Trad, the renewable industry group’s chief executive, said:
double quotation markAustralian sun and wind cannot be cut off by conflict overseas. Each new solar, wind and battery investment helps make Australia more energy independent and economically resilient, shielding Australians from global fossil fuel price shocks and supply disruptions.
Updated at 20.33 EDT
Nick Visser
Where will those in NSW be able to surrender their guns under the buyback?
From Monday, six police stations across the state will accept surrenders, including those in Sutherland, Penrith, Narellan, Grafton, Griffith and Dubbo, and 34 others stations will join the program from 1 December and more in January.
The scheme will be open for 12 months in NSW, with around 18% of licence holders eligible to participate. The state government estimates up to 274,000 firearms could be surrendered under the program.
Officials said the NSW government will also consult on “limited and exceptional circumstances” where certain types of licence holders can apply to the police commissioner for additional firearms above the 10 gun limit. The government said in a statement:
double quotation markUnder this draft proposal, the only licence holders who may be eligible to apply for additional firearms through this process are licence holders with the genuine reason of sport/target shooting; vertebrate pest animal control; or business/employment, and they will have to explain to NSW Police the genuine need for each additional firearm over the cap.
Updated at 20.06 EDT
NSW to open gun buyback program bookings from noon todayNick Visser
The NSW government just announced what it calls the biggest gun buyback “in a generation”, with eligible firearms licence holders able to book beginning midday today to surrender firearms and ammunition.
The Minns government said the buyback scheme will begin in NSW next Monday, 2 November, which will give residents a “clear and safe pathway” to give up surplus or reclassified firearms. They will receive compensation under a fixed price schedule.
NSW police minister Yasmin Catley (centre) flanked by NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon (left), and premier Chris Minns (right)on 8 October, 2026. Photograph: Sarah Wilson/AAP
Registered licence holders will hear from the NSW Firearms Registry today, which outlines the booking process. Walk-in surrenders will not be accepted.
Yasmin Catley, the NSW minister for police, said in a statement:
double quotation markFewer guns in the community mean a safer community. It means fewer guns at risk to fall into the wrong hands. It’s that simple. The buyback is a significant undertaking in public safety. NSW police across the state are well placed and trained to safely and securely deal with the surrender and destruction of firearms.
The program comes after the Bondi terror attacks, which prompted the NSW government to pass new, tough gun laws that include caps on the number of guns an individual can own from between four and 10, depending on the reason.
Updated at 20.45 EDT
Leave the ‘nasty personal politics of Maga’ in the US, Andrew Hastie says
Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has admitted to overreaching in his language during his political career but notes that is why members are asked to withdraw unparliamentary remarks.
However, Hastie says there can be “no place for the targeted destruction of character, or the relentless demonisation of personality”.
double quotation markBecause it only takes one person with a twisted mind or a perverted sense of reality to strike out, to weaponise a car, a kitchen knife or a firearm, and to feel justified in doing so because they judge that an online assassination must be followed up with a real-life assassination.
What is said in parliament and online shapes the political culture, Hastie says, and all politicians can do better.
double quotation markSo let’s play the ball, not the person, and leave the nasty personal politics of Maga in the United States.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers holds a sprig of Baby’s Breath during tributes to Independent member for Indi Helen Haines, Monday, 26 October, 2026. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 20.46 EDT
Politicians have been a ‘poor example’ to communities, Monique Ryan says
Continuing from the previous post, independent MP Monique Ryan has urged politicians to reflect on their behaviour in the days following the alleged attack on Haines.
double quotation markThe [alleged] attack on Helen united the country in shock and grief, but within days, politicians reverted to partisan brawling. That’s a poor example to our communities. If we can’t come together to act after the gentlest of us has been [allegedly] subjected to unthinkable violence.
We can pledge to debate robustly with honesty, respect, and compassion. We can work together against rising inequality. We can support digital protections against impulse farming and anonymous abuse. We can legislate truth in political advertising. If we achieve greater integrity in government, we will restore trust in it. The media has to rethink how it weaponises anger and amplifies the most divisive voices. But the public is responsible too. We all share the public square.
The orange cockatoo placed in Helen Haines seat is synonymous with Haines. She explained in 2024 that it came about after volunteers for her predecessor, Cathy McGowan, ‘were like a flock of cockatoos’ with their orange shirts on. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 20.02 EDT
Helen Haines is the ‘very best of us’, Monique Ryan says
Independent MP Monique Ryan, wearing an orange shirt and a white blazer in honour of Haines, has paid tribute to the parts of Haines’s life outside parliament.
double quotation markHelen Mary Haines is the very best of us, a woman of luminous generosity and kindness, the most intelligent and measured of voices, someone who stands firmly for a more accountable and more civil parliament.
She can put anyone at ease. She makes an excellent sponge. She grows a beautiful garden. She tells great stories about being a small Colac schoolgirl, unafraid to take on the nuns, about riding her bike through the snow … during her PhD studies, who adores her husband – and this week the whole country has seen why.
Independent member for Kooyong Monique Ryan pays tribute to Helen Haines, 26 October, 2026. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPIndependent member for Curtin Kate Chaney, Independent member for Wentworth Allegra Spender, Independent member for Bradfield Nicolette Boele and Greens member for Ryan Elizabeth Watson-Brown during tributes to Independent member for Indi Helen Haines, Monday, 26 October, 2026. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 20.30 EDT