After a week of unimaginable grief at the attack on Helen Haines, MP for Indi, many of us have been reflecting on the role everyone plays in the public discourse. It's easy to point the finger and say "politicians", "media outlets" and "social media" needs to be better.
As the Member for Canning, Andrew Hastie stated last week "we can all be a better steward of Australian democracy. How can we each be better? Maybe don't like that nasty post or don't send that nasty comment or don't trash someone when you don't even know who they are. These are the sorts of things that we need to start reconsidering."
As we send Helen and her family wishes for her recovery, we can choose positive ways to reflect her amazing work:
If you have capacity
- Donate to her chosen charity Save the Children- Helen Haines action
- Donate to the Regional Voices fund Regional Voices Fund- a group committed to improving Regional representation
- Donate to the Vida Fund Vida Fund- committed to improving female representation at all levels of Government
If you have time:
- find a local organisation and offer to help out
- Join us at one of our community events: this weekend Love where you Live(see below)
If you have a big heart:
- chat to your neighbors
- hug your family and friends
- Be kind
Your New Committee in Action
Committee member Charlotte Rawlinson on stepping up
Charlotte was recently interviewed for the ABC, see link above, following the attack on Helen.
She writes this extra commentary for us following on from this awful attack:
"Politics in this day and age is a different beast than it has been in previous years, especially for women. The critics are louder than ever and more often than not they take on a violence that is becoming more realised by the day. No more recently has this feeling been encapsulated than the recent attack on Helen Haines and at Hannah Beazley’s office, violence either for violence’s sake, or to express distaste. The pity of it is that we will likely never truly know motivations, but narratives will form all the same, the most vicious of which, that violence against women in positions of power gets headlines, while the women themselves get traumatised at best.
The public outcry has been astounding but I doubt most women are all that shocked. Shocked in the sense that it’s horrific, not at all surprised that it happened to a woman. We know we have a crisis of violence against women, but now it seems that it is extending from domestic to public relationships, right along with a rise of vitriolic political extremism. If we want to truly protect women in our politics we need to examine how we treat extremist politics and more importantly how the people around us absorb it."
Wendy Astbury - Committee Member
"Last week five of us attended a Huddle course titled "Build Grow Win!" Over the two days we had the opportunity to discuss & plan as a Forrest Electorate team, plus interact & share experience with representatives from other WA electorates. Some are well-established, such as Curtin & Fremantle, while others are still at the development stage of setting up a Voices group. Feedback from the others suggested that Forrest is seen very much as well-established & on the brink of successfully electing an Independent candidate at the next Federal election.
The course was based on Ganz's 5 organising principles & covered topics such as establishing teams, building shared leadership, designing effective strategies and organising measurable actions. Of particular value was learning the principles of having effective conversations (along with the chance to role-play these) for practice in how to engage people in a way that will inspire them to make a commitment to become actively involved in our group's activities. We plan to share this with our volunteers.
We came away from the two days of intense learning feeling much better equipped and inspired to put these new skills into practice."
CCWA Annual Conference Comes to the Seat of Forrest.
The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) is bringing its annual conference to the Seat of Forrest this year, with the 2026 Regional Gathering – Protect. Restore. Transform. taking place at Sabina River Farm near Busselton on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October.
The gathering will bring together environmental groups, Traditional Owners, community leaders and campaigners from across WA to discuss environmental challenges, share ideas and explore how communities can have a greater say in decisions affecting the places where they live.
Voices for Forrest committee member David Mitchell will be speaking at the conference, participating in the session “Balancing Development with Natural Values.” Drawing on his background as an architect and development manager, together with his involvement in the Save Smith’s Beach campaign, David will discuss the challenges communities face when major development proposals intersect with environmental, landscape and community values.
For Voices for Forrest, the conference reflects an important part of what our movement is about: ensuring the people of Forrest are engaged in the decisions that affect our region and that South West voices are heard clearly at every level of government — including in Canberra.
The gathering is also an opportunity to build stronger connections between the many community organisations working across Forrest and the wider South West.
Tickets for the event can be purchased at the door or via the website https://events.humanitix.com/2026-regional-gathering
WA Conservation Council Conference
Love Where We Live is our way of getting out, exploring our beautiful region together and giving our precious places a bit of care in return.
Each month we’ll visit a different spot somewhere in the electorate, spend an hour or so picking up rubbish, and then take some time to enjoy where we are.
When: Sunday, 1st November at 9am
Where: Wyalup Rocky Point - Meet at the BBQ area by the car park
Bring: A hat, water, sunscreen, gloves and closed-toe shoes. We’ll provide extra gloves and bags.
Organiser: Trish Delaney, Committee Member
Could you be our next Candidate?
We came so close last election and would love to be able to support the right individual to run and win at the next Federal Election. Maybe it's not you, maybe it's someone you know.
Regardless we want to hear from you. Reach out at [email protected]