I protected politicians and presidents. It used to be easier to tell who the bad guy was

October 21, 2026 — 11:30am

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Follow our live coverage of the attack on Indi MP Helen Haines here. 

One of my first jobs when I joined the NSW Police Protection Operations Unit was to provide a security escort to then prime minister John Howard through the Sydney CBD. A young man spotted the “C1” number plates and the little Australian flag fluttering as the PM’s white saloon car rolled by. So he ran up to the window, stuck up his middle finger, shouted a few expletives and stood down.

A very minor incident, but I point it out because Australians have always had the larrikin tendency to feel they have the right not only to tell their mates what they think of them and where to go but also their elected representatives – in this case Australia’s 25th prime minister in 2005.

Fast-forward two decades and things are radically different.

I am deeply saddened by the attack on Helen Haines and wish her a full recovery, although I wonder if it’s possible to fully recover from an attack such as this – physically or psychologically.

But what about politically?

Things are different. People are polarised. There’s anger at a level beyond a middle finger at a........

© The Age