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Political debate should be ‘robust but respectful’, Anne Ruston says


A day after MPs addressed the House of Representatives paying tribute to the independent Helen Haines, who was injured after an alleged attack in her electorate, the Liberal senator Anne Ruston maintains that respect is necessary in political debate.


What we do here sets the tone for what the rest of the nation thinks is acceptable.


There is a huge responsibility on politicians, not to shy away from robust debate. I don’t want anyone to think that we shouldn’t be having strong debate.


It’s simply out of control in an online world and we’ve got to make the platforms accountable.


Facebook is the worst in terms of the platforms, Instagram and TikTok less so, but still bad.

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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2026/oct/27/one-nation-pauline-hanson-independent-jacqui-lambie-labor-anthony-albanese-coalition-ntwnfb