Investigators have yet to establish the alleged assailant’s motive behind the attack on independent MP Helen Haines, although reports suggest he holds strong environmentalist and pro-Palestinian views. If confirmed, that mindset will inevitably invite questions about the relationship between political conviction and violence.
Had the accused been associated with the far right, the media would be quick to examine whether extremist views helped fuel the attack. The same scrutiny should apply if the accused’s sympathies lie on the far left.
Political hostility, meanwhile, remains a troubling feature of democracies across the Western world.
Read my column in The Australian:
theaustralian.com.au/comment…