While Australia looks on in shock at the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, don’t assume that we are immune from similar political violence at home.

We may think our Westminster system, with its focus on the party rather than the personality, as well as compulsory voting makes for a more centrist, less politically charged polity, but our history shows that Australian politics can also be dangerous.

With the firebombing of an Australian politician’s offices last month, it’s not just the US that needs unifying leadership in the face of political violence.

One of the most striking displays at the impressive Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, is on the attempt on Reagan’s life on March 30, 1981.

Just 70 days into his first term as president, Reagan was shot in the left armpit, just an inch from his heart. It was not until he began to cough up blood that his wounds were noticed. He very nearly lost his life. While recovering in hospital, he worked on how to end the Cold War. We are the beneficiaries of that legacy.

The impact of the assassination attempt on Reagan was immense. Reports of his humour and bravery impressed the American public. He is said to have quipped to the surgeons before they put him under anesthetic, “I hope you are all Republicans”, to which one responded, “Today, Mr president, we are all Republicans”.

President Reagan was lucky, but four US presidents were not. Abraham Lincoln was shot dead in 1865, followed by James Garfield in 1881, William McKinley in 1901, and John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Political violence in the US has touched not just the presidency but politicians and activists. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California, paints a picture of the climate of division and unrest in 1968 in which Republican presidential nominee Nixon would successfully campaign.

1968 saw the assassinations of civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King jnr and Democrat candidate hopeful Senator Robert F. Kennedy (brother of JFK). Amid the mayhem, Nixon pitched himself as the “law and order” candidate, appealing to the silent majority of conservative Americans who rejected the unrest and division. He won.

Until recently, political violence in Australia seemed a distant feature of the past. The attempt on opposition leader Arthur Calwell’s life in 1966 is barely remembered, but it’s an important lesson in the risks facing politicians even in Australia and the leadership Calwell showed in the aftermath.

Calwell, after speaking at a rally on conscription for the Vietnam War, was shot by Peter Raymond Kocan because he “didn’t like his politics”. Kocan was convicted, but Calwell forgave him and committed himself to getting Kocan’s sentence reduced. Kocan was released from jail after 10 years, going on to become a celebrated poet.

Other incidents include the 1868 assassination attempt on Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, in Sydney by Irishman Henry James O’Farrell, who claimed (falsely) that he was acting under the orders of the Fenian brotherhood.

Then there was the 1921 killing of anti-conscription NSW MP Percival Brookfield by a Russian migrant, and allegations (never proven) that NSW MP Thomas Ley had murdered several political opponents in the 1920s.

The most recent incident of a political assassination in Australia was of NSW MP John Newman in 1994, who was killed on the orders of a political rival.

While Australia hasn’t experienced serious political violence since the Newman shooting, the recent decline in our public discourse is matched by record numbers of threats of violence against Australian politicians.

Nicolle Flint, the former member for Boothby in South Australia, was the victim of stalking and sustained harassment, leading her to give up politics in 2022. The recent violent protests at ALP fundraisers, the firebombing of Labor MP Josh Burns’ office, and the picketing of MP’s offices, including the prime minister’s, are another concerning development in the increasing violence in our politics.

Creating a climate of fear and intimidation through the use of inflammatory language, let alone violence, is a danger to our democracy. Good people are less likely to seek political office if faced with these risks, for who would want to put themselves or their families in such a situation.

America is a nation divided, and we are lucky in Australia that our politics is more moderate. Theirs is a politics that is hard-fought and, to the outsider, all pervasive – even the local school board faces an election!

Westminster systems like Australia aren’t immune to the trends taking place in the US, nor are we immune from the influence of conflicts overseas spilling onto Australian soil.

The UK has a political system and climate much more like our own, yet it has experienced some of the worst atrocities, with the murder of two politicians in the last 10 years.

There has never been a more important time to learn how to disagree respectfully. Calling people names, associating those with whom you disagree with fascism, racism, homophobia and the like, might be red meat to one’s supporters, but it inculcates a toxic and possibly dangerous environment. It is time for political leaders across all parties to stamp this out.

By Georgina Downer. Originally published in Australian Financial Review 17 July 2024