21 October 2026

Topics: Dr Helen Haines MP; security of parliamentarians; political leadership.

E&OE……………………..

Peter Stefanovic: Let's get back to the fallout from the horror incident on Monday now, where Independent MP Helen Haines was hit by a car. The alleged offender will face court today on three charges. Let's go to the Shadow Treasurer, Tim Wilson, for his thoughts on the broader ramifications of this now. There is a meeting, apparently, with the AFP and ASIO today. Is that something you'll be attending, Tim?

Tim Wilson: Firstly, I just want to express, Pete, my deep sorrow at the events that have unfolded and of course wish Helen Haines every best on behalf of all of us. We're shocked by these events and of course we wish her as fast and fulsome a recovery as possible. In answer to your question, yes, I'll be attending, but these briefings are not new. We have been receiving them for a long time because we know there's a heightened security threat.

Peter Stefanovic: Okay, so this is not an out-of-the-ordinary meeting that's just been put on for MPs today if they have any concerns?

Tim Wilson: I'm not saying that. Obviously, after the events in the past couple of days, there is a heightened concern of security around members of parliament. I have no doubt that this has been organised to reflect that. But it's not the first one. There was one only a few weeks ago, and there's been ones previously, because the heightened security environment around members of parliament doing their job is real.

Peter Stefanovic: What concerns do you have at the moment, Tim?

Tim Wilson: I've had long-running concerns around security and it's very clear that there's been an increase in the environment. When I was last in office, I only had AFP protection occasionally. Now it is a not insignificant part of my duties, and I know I'm not alone in that. But we also need to look on the positive side, which is that when you have a public profile, when you stand up and you take responsibility, people are going to recognise you. Of course, we've had a horrific incident where somebody's taken advantage of that. I was only at a petrol station about 20 minutes ago and I had three people come up to me and chat to me about policy, about issues. The guys at the servo wanted a selfie. So, it's one of these situations that's the big risk that we all face when we're in public life, but we just have to make sure that we keep our wits around us and make sure that we're careful. In saying that, I don't believe that wits around us would have solved or addressed the problem that obviously happened to Helen Haines.

Peter Stefanovic: Sure. I mean, because it can be so random, as we've seen in many instances in the past, is it your hope that you would have full-time security?

Tim Wilson: I don't want to live in a country where politicians need full-time security. I don't want full-time security. But the reality is there's proportionate risk that members of parliament need sometimes when there's particular types of events, and that is clearly becoming more common. And I don't think anybody wants to see an environment where politicians need full-time security.

Peter Stefanovic: And should that be applied to all MPs, not just those on the front bench? I mean, does the government even have the resources for all of that?

Tim Wilson: Well, that's obviously something that needs to be factored in. Some people are at a higher risk assessment than other people are at a lower risk assessment. That's just the reality of profile, communities, issues that people confront. And of course, some people are confronting very challenging issues, and in a heightened environment of economic anxiety, that only contributes, as well as the broader issues of social cohesion.

Peter Stefanovic: If this was just a random, isolated, kind of mad, lone-wolf attack that maybe points to mental health more than anything else, does that change in your view the overall threat, the overall picture in the country at the moment?

Tim Wilson: I think we actually do have a serious issue around a heightened security threat. The AFP has said that. We are certainly living with it. As I said before, last time I was in office, I had security a limited number of times. Now it's a much more common feature of my time in office. Now, some of that's because of a higher office, I accept that, but it's not just because of that. And so, yes, you might have had an isolated incident, that's what might eventually be established. But every time you're in a public environment, as a member of parliament I can tell you you're always looking to see what's coming next in every direction to the extent you can, while you also, of course, want to support and assist the people who are immediately in front of you, because people can come with good intentions or ill intentions, and you don't know until it's too late.

Peter Stefanovic: Yeah, and that's true. I mean ASIO has already cited the fact that threats have doubled in the past two years, so there are stats to back up that reasonable fear that you and others have. Just on this question now of discourse and rhetoric and dialogue, the Prime Minister came out yesterday, and Monday night too, saying, hey, we've got to calm things down, we've got to reduce the rhetoric, if you like. Have you got a view on that? Is that something that is needed, or is that kind of separate from Canberra?

Tim Wilson: There's a broader societal problem that's occurring where people are increasingly frustrated and don't feel like they're being heard. Of course, we see that most explicitly on social media, but it's not just on social media. But we also need leaders who embody that and build trust and have moral leadership. Frankly, I think one of our big challenges right now is we don't have a Prime Minister who has a huge amount of moral leadership to be able to guide these conversations, and that has a cascading effect. I don't think that's a direct correlation to what happened with Helen Haines, but I do think we need to acknowledge that. It's why when we elect leaders, they need to maintain trust with the community so they can lead us through the good times and the challenging ones, and that comes with the public having a degree of trust in the way going forward.

Peter Stefanovic: Okay. That's Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson joining us on this Wednesday.

[ENDS]