Doctors have amputated both legs of Australian federal lawmaker Helen Haines, who remains in critical condition after being struck by a car outside her office in Wangaratta, her husband said Wednesday.1,3,4,7
Haines, a 65-year-old independent, was hit on Monday by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV and was airlifted to a hospital in Melbourne. Her husband, Phil Haines, said her left leg was amputated on Monday and her right leg on Wednesday, after doctors abandoned hope of saving it.1,3
"The good news in all this is that Helen is alive and she's stable. That is the most important thing for our family," Phil Haines told reporters in Melbourne. "We are grateful and thankful that at this stage, both her heart and her mind are in good shape," he said.1,7
Witnesses said the driver rammed Haines, pinning her against her own car, before reversing and ramming her a second time. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Haines was getting things from the trunk of her car when the attack happened and that the driver did a U-turn to get back to her. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the driver reversed and struck her again after the first impact.1,3,4
Bystander Cody Lepoidevin told reporters he thought he was witnessing a hit-and-run when the SUV backed away after the first impact. "Then reversed and drove back into her," he said, describing the driver's next move.3
Police charged Brendan Nugent, 43, of nearby Tarrawingee, with intentionally causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing serious injury and causing harm to a federal official. Police said the charges followed an incident they described as targeted. Local barber Ricky Jefferies ran from his store, searched the driver's pockets and removed a knife, and police confirmed a knife had been found. "It was crazy," Jefferies said. "A lot of people got involved immediately and they didn't even check for danger. They just ran to help."1,3,4,7
Nugent appeared in Wangaratta Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. He did not apply for bail or enter a plea, and he will remain in custody until his next court appearance in February. His lawyer, Chirag Patel, told the magistrate that his client had suffered potential mental health issues but had never been diagnosed with a mental health problem, and that he had a neurological condition and a concussion. Patel did not explain how Nugent had been concussed. Nugent's father, Rod Nugent, said in a statement that Haines had been a friend for more than 20 years and that he would cooperate with police.1,3
Police have yet to determine a motive. Counterterrorism investigators have joined the police probe, and police have said the incident appears to be isolated. Albanese said, "This wasn't an accident. There was a deliberate act, it would appear. We don't know what the motivation is." Albanese has declined to speculate on the motive while the investigation continues.1,3,4,7
Political violence is uncommon in Australia, where politicians are highly accessible and most lawmakers do not have security details. Opposition lawmaker James Paterson called for a review of lawmakers' personal security. "The reality is that Australian parliamentarians by global standards are uniquely accessible to the public and that's a good thing," Paterson said. He added that "we... can't have a situation where shocking attacks like this take place because that will fundamentally change our democracy forever if it becomes a serious risk to your life to be a member of parliament."1,3
Albanese urged lawmakers to keep engaging openly with the public. "We want to make sure that people can feel as much comfort as possible that everything's being done to maximize security," he said. Australian Federal Police provide personal security only to lawmakers assessed as higher risk. Federal Police Commissioner Kissy Barrett said providing police protection to all parliamentarians would take an "incredible amount of resourcing." Police received 1,067 reports of threatening, harassing, nuisance and offensive communications against high officeholders, including federal lawmakers, in the last fiscal year, a 12% increase on the previous year. Lawmakers began online meetings with security agencies on Wednesday.1
Haines was first elected to Parliament in 2019 and was reelected twice since. Before entering politics she worked as a nurse, midwife and academic, and she advocated for rural health matters. France 24 reported that Albanese called the attack a "test of our character." Opposition leader Angus Taylor described it as a "shocking day for our nation," and Senator Pauline Hanson said "violence against any elected representative, whoever they are and whatever they stand for, is never acceptable in Australia." The family thanked "the swift assistance of bystanders" as well as health workers and police.3,4,7
Threats against political figures have also risen elsewhere. Authorities have warned of growing threats to lawmakers in the United States, where there have been attacks including the 2022 hammer assault on the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and in Britain, where the killings of Labour lawmaker Jo Cox in 2016 and Conservative David Amess in 2021 led to tighter security. Australian Security Intelligence Organisation chief Mike Burgess has reiterated a warning that politically motivated violence is a top security concern. Nugent is due back in court in February.1,3