The July 27 edition

After the Bondi Junction stabbings in April, I, like thousands of others, felt compelled to lay flowers at the impromptu memorial that had sprung up in the nearby shopping centre. I found myself walking past regularly in the days that followed, bearing witness to the growing number of floral tributes, a life-affirming antidote to the darkness of the time. And here’s the thing. More often than not, Allegra Spender was there. The member for Wentworth stood in that mall not just when the TV crews were buzzing but long after they’d gone, talking quietly with grieving constituents. I found that deeply moving, and impressive. As Deborah Snow writes in today’s cover story, Spender was a reluctant draft to politics but, two and a bit years in, is finding it more rewarding than she’d imagined. She’s taken a keen interest in economic policy, particularly tax reform, which will put her in the national spotlight again in coming months. Watched closely, too, will be her evolving response to the war in Gaza, the most morally and politically fraught issue of our times – and one in which her electorate has a keen interest. – Editor, Katrina Strickland