How everyone — including politicans — can turn down the political temperature

Last night, independent MP Helen Haines was the victim of an attack that has left her hospitalised in a critical condition, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the incident as "a deliberate act".

Although we don't yet know the motivation of the attack, the Prime Minister has called for every Australian to turn down the heat of our political discourse.

He spoke of how there had been a "significant increase" in the number of people charged with threatening parliamentarians over the last few years and discourse has gone in the wrong direction.

Today, politicians from across the aisle have echoed the same sentiment. But is it possible to put this genie back in the bottle?