An attack on Helen Haines is an attack on the values we share

Some people enter Parliament to make a difference. Others remind us what public service should look like. Dr Helen Haines is one of those rare individuals. An attack on Helen is not simply an attack on a parliamentarian. It strikes at something far greater: goodness, integrity and service.

In June this year, representatives of NASOG had the privilege of meeting Dr Helen Haines MP, the Independent Member for Indi. As an association representing specialist obstetricians and gynaecologists, we regularly engage with parliamentarians to advocate for women's health. Few encounters have left such a profound impression.

Helen is a former nurse and midwife, a woman who described herself to us as a 'bush midwife'. She understands women's health not simply through policy briefings, but through having lived and worked within the communities that depend upon it.

What makes Helen exceptional is the breadth of that understanding.

Beyond her clinical experience, Helen holds a PhD in medical science from Uppsala University in Sweden. Her doctoral research examined women's fear, attitudes and beliefs surrounding childbirth, including their influence on birth experiences and outcomes.

She is not simply familiar with the challenges facing maternity care. She has contributed to the academic evidence that informs it.

When meeting parliamentarians, we hope our position papers have been read. We rarely expect the supporting research to have been examined in detail.

Helen had done both.

She demonstrated a commanding understanding of the health economics literature, the complex interdependence of midwives, GP obstetricians and specialist obstetricians, and the essential role of maternity services within regional healthcare.

She understood that when a regional maternity service closes, the consequences extend far beyond the delivery suite. She had witnessed those consequences within her own community.

Importantly, Helen approached our discussions without professional prejudice. She asked intelligent, probing questions, challenged assumptions respectfully and recognised that differing clinical perspectives need not divide us. Rather, robust, evidence-based discussion is fundamental to improving outcomes for women and babies.

In a healthcare environment where professional groups can too easily find themselves positioned against one another, Helen demonstrated something invaluable: respect for the contribution of every profession, and an understanding that safe maternity care depends upon collaboration.

She also understood how clinical evidence must be translated into policy. Through her engagement with NASOG, she connected us with fellow parliamentarians and senators, opening opportunities for constructive dialogue about Australia's maternity challenges.

Tonight, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Helen as fiercely intelligent, thoroughly decent and a person of integrity. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke highlighted the disturbing increase in threats and harassment directed towards those serving in public office.

Their words should concern every Australian.

We do not yet know the motivation behind this act of violence. That determination belongs to investigators. But its symbolism is impossible to ignore.

That car was not driven at Helen Haines alone. It struck at the values she represents: goodness, integrity, respectful disagreement and the courage to serve. These are values that belong to all of us.

For Australia's women's health professionals, Helen represents something particularly precious: a parliamentarian who understands our work, respects our differences and recognises that our collective purpose is to improve the lives of women, babies and families.

Helen represents the people of Indi with distinction. Through her work, she has also become an important voice for regional healthcare and the professionals who sustain it.

On behalf of NASOG and the specialist obstetricians and gynaecologists of Australia, we extend our deepest thoughts and prayers to Helen, her family and the community she serves with such distinction.

Helen, you have shown us what it means to serve with intelligence, compassion and unwavering integrity. May you now feel the extraordinary respect, gratitude and affection of those whose lives you have touched, including so many of us who have had the privilege of meeting you.