As the national political conversation descended into fear and loathing after Monday's horrific attack on Helen Haines, two federal parliamentarians had the political nous, or good grace, to step back from instances of offensive behaviour.

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Liberal frontbencher Angie Bell, who last week said in parliament that Small Business Minister Anne Aly, a Muslim, and Anthony Albanese should be "stoned in the square" - a line she had to withdraw on the day - referred on Wednesday to her "regrettable comment".

Pauline Hanson on Tuesday apologised for a One Nation cartoon lampooning Jacqui Lambie over speaking about her vaginal prolapse. Hanson, saying she hadn't seen the cartoon before it went up, said it was not "as tastefully done as it could've been".

But Albanese, who'd been lauding Haines as a person of the highest integrity, wasn't inclined to admit any fault over a so-called "dirt sheet" implicitly inviting questions about her integrity, which his office reportedly distributed to journalists after Haines highlighted pork barrelling that included $6 million for a golf club in the PM's seat.

Rather, the prime minister put a creative and disingenuous interpretation on the document: "It's a list of funding asks from Helen Haines just showing that people of integrity stand up for their electorate. No personal criticism of Helen."

We can't know, at this stage, if (or how) the cesspool of our national political discourse, including and especially on social media, contributed to the attack on Haines.

Regardless, the attack has triggered an outpouring over how politicians, old (now click-driven) media, social media and the community more widely contest differences, as well as questions about security arrangements for political figures.

Almost everyone would agree political discourse has coarsened in recent times and, at worst, become appalling. We shouldn't romanticise the past - bad things were often said and done. But now there seems to be no let up, partly because the political players are in constant campaign mode, as are the activists, and especially because social media is a round-the-clock platform for unfiltered expression.

Politics, however, reflects society, and our society is in poor shape on many........

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