Emma Husar (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution on the motion concerning the shocking murder of UK Labour MP Jo Cox, the former member for Batley and Spen in the UK parliament, who was murdered in her community while just doing her job. Jo Cox was elected to parliament in 2015 and she quickly became known as a fierce advocate for inclusive public policy. In her inaugural speech she spoke of the fact that, regardless of difference, strong communities are far more united and have far more in common than the things that divide.

She spoke of the need to bring people together, and certainly throughout her life she led by example. Prior to entering parliament Jo Cox worked as the head of policy and advocacy at Oxfam Great Britain and then ran the humanitarian program for Oxfam International. Well before entering parliament, Jo Cox had made a mark on the world by working to reduce poverty and increase opportunity for the world's poorest and most vulnerable.

She was killed while going about her normal business as an elected representative. There was certainly nothing unusual about the scene. Meeting constituents and hearing concerns are the duties that all MPs carry out day to day irrespective of their political stripes, not unlike what I and my colleagues do in our own electorate. Of course being a member of parliament is not a job for everyone. In fact, earning your place in the House of Commons or here in the House of Representatives is hard fought. MPs give up many things to lead the fight on issues and steer the country in the right direction, making it better and creating a more just society.

Jo Cox was doing just that when her life was taken in a cowardly and planned attack. The man who would be her killer was a racist and a right-wing terrorist, who believed that the ideology of acceptance and multiculturalism was so dangerous and so perverse that those who believed in it should be killed. The irony of this, I am sure, will not escape many people, but it brings to light the broader problem that we see here in Australia of political posturing by extreme and retaliatory groups, who teach aggressive reactions to perceived threats. We even hear it in this place from time to time. We hear it in the press, we hear it in press conferences and we hear it out in the community. It is divisive behaviour that acts as an example to communities who feel let down by the political status quo. We hear the echoes of extremism repeated in the media by journalists, commentators and self-appointed experts, because apparently having a platform makes you an expert on any number of things these days. I am reminded of the quote by Bill Bullard, who said:

Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge … is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self kind of understanding.

It leads me to wonder—as I am sure Jo Cox did while advocating for a more accepting and harmonious society—whether the people who would have us believe the world's problems can be solved by segregation and hostility have ever sought to put themselves in the shoes of the most vulnerable.

We cannot just count ourselves lucky to live in an open and free society and pretend that severe human suffering does not exist around the world. We cannot just blame those who have come to this country to seek a better life for themselves for the things we, as leaders, are ultimately responsible for: opportunity, equality and a fair go. Jo Cox had that clarity of purpose. She spoke of the importance of being an accepting society and she spoke of the government's role in making sure everyone has a chance to succeed.

I extend to her family my sincere condolences. I pay tribute to her life of advocacy and purpose. She was a credit to her family, to her party and to her country. In the words of her husband, 'Jo would want us to fight against the hatred that killed her.' To honour Jo, her husband and their children, I undertake to do just this.

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