Australia's political culture is being pushed to the edge by a rising wave of hostility aimed at the people it elects. What passed for rough-and-ready disagreement between rivals is increasingly turning into intimidation, threats and outright violence. That raises a blunt question: is this what the country has become? MPs at every level now report abuse that follows them from the chamber into their inboxes and homes. When threats become routine, capable people stop standing for office, and the public loses the representatives it needs. The argument being made is that hostility toward MPs must not be waved through as the new normal. Once violence is accepted as a feature of politics, the damage spreads to every citizen who depends on open debate. Pushing back means calling out abuse early, in Parliament and in public, instead of shrugging it off.