“T houghts and prayers.” After each soul-destroying mass shooting in the United States, this is the platitude invariably trotted out by every impotent politician unable to confront the stranglehold reality of the country’s gun lobby.

“Turn the temperature down,” risks becoming Australia’s equivalent. The plaintive cry to hold back a rising tide of hatred and anger, incubated, amplified and legitimised online, now spilling into grotesque real-world violence.

Helen Haines, the independent member for Indi, remains in hospital. She has lost both legs after a driver allegedly deliberately drove into her twice, outside her electorate office. A man has been charged . The motivation for his alleged attack remains unclear. But the horrific incident has sparked an urgent national reckoning about the safety of public figures, especially women.

Helen Haines, the member for Indi in Victoria in the House of Representatives. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/Reuters

Haines’s life will never be the same.…