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Australian MP Helen Haines loses a leg after car ramming; police call it isolated
A 43-year-old man has been charged over the attack outside the independent MP's office in Wangaratta. She remains in critical condition in Melbourne.
Key points
- Independent MP Helen Haines lost a leg after being struck by a car outside her office.
- Brendan Nugent, 43, faces three charges, including causing harm to a Commonwealth public official.
- The AFP is treating the attack as an "isolated incident" with no known connected threats.
Helen Haines, the independent member of Australia’s Parliament for the rural Victorian seat of Indi, has lost a leg after a man drove a car into her outside her electorate office, and doctors are fighting to save the other.
The 65-year-old was struck shortly before 3:35 pm local time on Monday on Murphy Street in Wangaratta, a town in north-east Victoria. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the car hit her twice. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said early inquiries suggested the driver had made a U-turn. She was flown to The Alfred hospital in Melbourne and operated on overnight. On Tuesday afternoon the hospital said she remained in critical condition.
Brendan Nugent, 43, from nearby Tarrawingee, has been charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury and the federal offence of causing harm to a Commonwealth public official, which carries up to 10 years in prison. Police allege the attack was targeted. He is due before Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
Isolated, police say
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the attack was being treated as an “isolated incident” with no known connected threats. Officers who were nearby reached the scene within a minute of the call.
Bystanders rushed in to help. Local barber Ricky Jefferies said the driver had a knife and that he stepped in to stop anyone else being hurt. Albanese praised him, saying “light will win over darkness each and every time”.
“Helen Haines represents the best of our political representatives,” the Prime Minister said.
A warning about the mood
The attack has shaken Australian politics. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said “what happened yesterday crossed the line”. ASIO chief Mike Burgess warned of a “permissive environment of violence” fuelled by polarisation. Victorian Premier Ben Carroll said he was “shocked and sickened” and called for social media platforms to be held to account.
Campaigning for Victoria’s state election, due on 28 November, was paused on Tuesday, and a vigil was held at Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral in Wangaratta. Federal MPs and senators are being given security briefings this week.
Haines has represented Indi since 2019.