An Australian independent lawmaker, Helen Haines, has had both legs amputated after being struck by a car outside her office in Wangaratta, Victoria state, in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called “a deliberate attack”.
The MP’s right leg was amputated on Wednesday, two days after her left leg was amputated at a hospital in Melbourne, where the ۶۵-year-old politician has been receiving treatment after being flown by helicopter.
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“The good news in all this is that Helen is alive and she’s stable. That is the most important thing for our family,” her husband, Phil Haines, told reporters outside the Melbourne hospital.
“We are grateful and thankful that, at this stage, both her heart and her mind are in good shape,” he said.
The Australian police said it was a “targeted attack” and warned of growing “online extremism” and recorded a rise in abuse, threats and intimidation targeting lawmakers – steadily growing in a country where political violence has been rare.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has led an outpouring of support for Haines. “It’s a reminder that the world is a more dangerous and divided place than it was a generation ago,” Albanese told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
“I think that Australians do want to see their politicians be able to go about their business, to be able to get something from the back of their car, for goodness sake.”
So, why have threats against Australian lawmakers risen?
What do we know about the alleged attack?
On Monday, Haines, who entered parliament in ۲۰۱۹, was struck by an SUV in Wangaratta in the afternoon, sending the rural Australian town into a mix of horror and disbelief.
Haines was getting something from the boot of her car when her alleged attacker drove past in a Toyota Land Cruiser. Authorities said the ۴۳-year-old man turned the car around before veering at Haines and pinning her against her vehicle. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the driver then reversed before ramming her again.
Police named the suspect in the attack as Brendan Nugent, who appeared in court on Wednesday but did not apply for bail or enter a plea.
He was charged with three offences: dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury, and causing harm to a public official. Additional charges of cannabis cultivation and possession have also been laid against him.
Nugent will remain in custody until his next court appearance in February.
The Australian Federal Police received no warning of any imminent danger from the alleged attacker, Commissioner Krissy Barrett told reporters.
“What I can say is we didn’t have any specific intelligence that would have indicated something as atrocious as happened on Monday afternoon,” she said.
Victoria Police Chief Mike Bush said the state police could not find any direct past contact between Haines and the accused.
“Motivation is one of these things that we absolutely need to explore. His motivation for this, what we allege is a deliberate attack, is very much a centrepiece of the investigation,” Bush said.
Who is Helen Haines?
Haines entered parliament in ۲۰۱۹ after working as a nurse and midwife, becoming known for stances such as supporting stronger climate action. She retained the rural seat of Indi in ۲۰۲۲ and ۲۰۲۵.
She was widely praised for her efforts to increase transparency in politics and crack down on corruption.
“My background in nursing guides my work. As a nurse and a midwife, you’re with people in their most joyous and difficult moments. It’s taught me that life is precious, that everyone deserves dignity and respect, that good policy starts with listening, and – as a health researcher – that facts matter,” she describes herself on her website.
“Every day, I work to be a strong, independent voice – guided by common sense, decency and a commitment to delivering for our community and your family.”
In parliament, she pushed for a national anticorruption body. She introduced a bill in ۲۰۲۱ for a federal integrity commission, but it was defeated.
A year later, the Australian Parliament passed the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act ۲۰۲۲, leading to the formation of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
Haines, who played a major role in the passing of the bill, served as the deputy chair of the parliamentary committee on the NACC.
Why are threats against lawmakers rising?
The Australian Human Rights Commission said the attack happened “against a backdrop of increasing polarisation and threats against politicians” that could undermine democracy.
Threats against Australian lawmakers and electorate offices doubled between ۲۰۲۱ and ۲۰۲۵, with ۱,۰۶۷ incidents reported to police last year.
The police also charged ۴۱ people with offences relating to threats against parliamentarians last year, after the Australian federal police formed a National Security Investigations team described by police commissioner Barrett as a “flying squad of hate disruptors”.
In the ۲۰۲۵ election, threats to candidates jumped ۱۷ percent from the previous campaign.
Earlier this month, police charged three men over separate threats to politicians and government officials, and three others were sentenced by courts.
Senior opposition politician James Paterson on Wednesday called for a review of personal security in response to the alleged crime. “The reality is that Australian parliamentarians by global standards are uniquely accessible to the public and that’s a good thing,” Paterson told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“But 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,” he added.
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Director-General Mike Burgess warned last year that politically motivated violence was among the agency’s fastest-growing security concerns, driven by “grievance narratives, conspiracies and online echo chambers”.
Antiterrorism police are among the agencies investigating the attack on Haines, but the police maintain that they believe it was an isolated incident and there was “no intelligence to suggest any threat to Haines”.
What do we know about the attacker?
Nugent, a ۴۳-year-old resident of the rural town of Tarrawingee within Haines’s electorate, has been charged with offences that carry a maximum penalty of ۱۰ years in prison.
The motive remains unknown, and authorities have refused to speculate while the investigation takes place.
But police said on Wednesday they were examining all possible leads, including that Nugent may have held radical antigovernment views.
“Like everyone, we’re examining social media associations, talking to witnesses, friends and colleagues,” Bush, the Victoria police commissioner, told journalists.
During the brief court appearance on Wednesday, Nugent’s lawyer said his client suffers from a rare neurological condition called idiopathic transverse myelitis and that it was his first time in custody.
Meanwhile, Wangaratta’s Mayor Irene Grant said a sombre mood has settled over the town of about ۳۰,۰۰۰ people, a regional hub about ۲۵۰km (۱۵۵ miles) northeast of state capital Melbourne.
“What has happened to Helen has caused the community to step back in utter disbelief. We can’t believe it; people are horrified by what has happened,” she told AFP news agency.
