Hanson Young and her supporters from all walks of political life understand that this treatment not only has an individual impact, our democracy suffers when diverse groups are driven out.

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The fact that, as the Queen would say, Australia’s 2018 anus horribilis in terms of political women's treatment was the subject of international headlines — a BBC article on the issue branding Australian politics “toxic” for women was widely shared last week — should embarrass anyone who cares about Australia’s standing in the international community.

Internationally, a number of high-profile instances of violence against women in politics that have reached extremes, most notably the murder of Parliamentarian Jo Cox in the UK, have prompted concern — and action.

Earlier this year, also in the UK, Labour MP Jess Phillips was threatened with rape by her political adversary, UKIP candidate Carl Benjamin. In response, Sam Smethers, the CEO of the Fawcett Society, a high-profile feminist campaign group, started a petition seeking a lifetime ban on running for office for those who threaten violence against women. Smether’s petition has since garnered more than 90,000 signatures.

This isn’t just the rough and tumble of politics, as some would have you believe. It is highly gendered and women are specifically targeted.

Writing in the Huffington Post about her decision to start the petition, Smethers wrote, “We have descended through too many tiers of Dante’s Inferno now. We have seen an MP murdered. We are seeing others receiving multiple death and rape threats. Many have additional security. Our politics have changed.”

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The United Nations General Assembly first recognised political violence as a problem in 2011, calling for zero tolerance for violence against female candidates and elected officials. In 2016, the National Democratic Institute launched the #NotTheCost campaign, developing tools to observe violence against women in elections, address violence inside political parties, and document violent incidents against politically active women.

That same year, the Inter-Parliamentary Union undertook the first global study of sexism, violence, and harassment against female members of parliament. And UN Women and the UNDP published a programming guide for tackling violence against women in elections in 2017. Late last year, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women published a special report on the issue.

But you don’t need to read all these reports to understand exactly why the Sunshine Coast Daily’s front page was wrong on so many levels. You could just apply good old-fashioned common sense and the basic standards of human decency (particularly in a country that sees, on average, one woman a week murdered by a current or former partner). Many on social media did just that, judging by the swift condemnation.

“All Australians should be appalled by this blatant display of attitudes supportive of violence against women,” said Heather Nancarrow, the CEO of Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS). “Media has a significant influence on community attitudes, so has particular responsibility to counter, not promote, such attitudes.”

Betty Taylor, the Chair of the Queensland Based anti-violence initiative The Red Rose Foundation called it an “outrageous” promotion of violence against women and appealed to members of the public to lodge a complaint with the Australian Press Council.

It is a great pity that such qualities were not on display at the editorial offices of the Sunshine Coast Daily yesterday. The editors should be deeply embarrassed.

What’s more, they have further embarrassed a country that, I believe, would like to tell a different story to the rest of the world about how it values and respects women in public life. A new federal Parliament with a record high number of women in it is a good opportunity for a fresh start, not more – ever more horrific – of the same.