Helen Haines live updates: Helen Haines loses leg after alleged attack outside electorate office

Surgeons working to save Haines’ other leg

The man accused of attacking Helen Haines allegedly made a U-turn before ramming the independent MP twice in an alleged targeted attack near her electorate office, causing her to lose one of her legs.

The member for Indi was airlifted from Wangaratta in northern Victoria to Melbourne’s Alfred hospital for emergency surgery on Monday night.

Surgeons were on Tuesday fighting to save Haines’ other leg, as the 65-year-old remained in a critical condition.

Read more:

How the events allegedy unfolded yesterday

The alleged attack on Helen Haines on Monday took place outside her Wangaratta electorate office.

The incident happened about 3.35pm and involved a four-wheel drive, which allegedly U-turned before striking Haines. The independent federal MP is in a critical but stable condition at Melbourne’s Alfred hospital and has lost one of her legs.

A 43-year-old man has been taken to Wangaratta police station for questioning.

This map shows how the events allegedly unfolded.

‘Violence has no place,’ says human rights body

The Australian Human Rights Commission has expressed shock and sadness at the attack on Helen Haines. In a post to social media, the commission said:

Everyone should be safe at work and in life. Violence has no place in our society.

Everyone should be treated with respect, irrespective of their political opinions, gender, faith, race or background.

Parliamentarians must be able to carry out their duties safely. This attack happened against a backdrop of increasing polarisation and threats against politicians. We must address intimidation, hatred, threats and violence that undermine our democracy and democratic institutions.

Zoe Daniel: ‘It was obvious … someone would get physically hurt’

The three-time ABC foreign correspondent and former independent member for Goldstein, has written a comment piece after the alleged attack.

It was obvious to those of us who work in and around politics, that eventually, someone would get physically hurt.

The fact that it’s Helen Haines, arguably the best of all of us, not just as a politician but a person, is unbearable.

Some of us community indies have T-shirts that say, “What would Helen do?”

They were a gift from the member for Kooyong, Dr Monique Ryan, a few years ago.

And while it was a bit funny at the time, it’s not a joke.

Helen is the one you go to when you’re grappling with the moral quandaries that arise frequently as an MP, in a job when a binary yes/no vote sometimes feels impossible. With intelligence, warmth and deeply held ethics, she represents the very backbone of the parliament.

Read more:

‘Don’t send that nasty comment’: Hastie joins calls to turn the temperature down

Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie said he’s shocked and saddened by the alleged attack on Helen Haines, and also had concerns about his own safety and of others in Parliament.

“It’s always in the back of my mind”, he said, “which is why I stay fit and I take precautions”. Hastie was recently given extra security by the government due to threats on himself and his family, and says more broadly that the temperature needs to be turned down, particularly on social media.

Speaking to ABC radio this morning, Hastie said:

Be a better steward of Australian democracy. The worst thing we can do right now is point fingers at our political opponents and say, see, it was something that they posted or something that they said. How can we each be better? Maybe don’t like that nasty post or don’t send that nasty comment or don’t trash someone when you don’t even know who they are.

Despite their political differences, he said he held Haines in “very high regard” and called her one of the gentlest and friendliest MPs. It echoed the tributes from other politicians across federal and state parliaments who described her as “the best of us”.

Albanese praises Haines, as MP remains in critical condition

Anthony Albanese is speaking at an event organised by The Age in Melbourne. He says Helen Haines is still in a critical condition in the Alfred Hospital.

Albanese said:

Helen Haines represents the best of our political representatives.

Kind, compassionate, a person of integrity, totally committed, strongly representing the people of that beautiful part of Victoria.

I was asked earlier today when someone suggested ‘could we do a vigil somewhere? What can we do to show our support and solidarity between fellows at this difficult time?’

My response to them, when I thought about it, was just ‘be like Helen: kindness, compassion, caring.’

Light will win over darkness: PM reiterates praise for barber who rushed to help

Prime minister Anthony Albanese is speaking in Melbourne and has again praised Rick Jefferies, the local barber who stepped in during the alleged attack against MP Helen Haines.

He says Jefferies’ actions represented the best of the Australian character.

“This is just a bloke,” Albanese said.

He said it was just the right thing to do, but he did run into danger, not knowing what the consequences could potentially be for him.

Just running to help someone else. A great example of the Australian spirit and the best of the Australian character.

So I think that even in dark times we see light. What Ricky represents is light, and light will be over darkness each and every time.

The independent member for Indi has lost her leg and remains in a critical condition after being rammed by a vehicle, in what has been labelled a deliberate attack.

Haines was hit by a Toyota LandCruiser outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, northern Victoria, at about 3.35pm on Monday afternoon.

She was airlifted to a Melbourne’s Alfred hospital and is fighting for her life after undergoing surgery overnight, with sources confirming to AAP the MP had lost one of her legs.

– AAP

State and local government representatives across the Indi electorate have released a joint statement condemning the violent attack on Helen Haines.

Our thoughts are with Helen, her family, her staff, and all those affected by this deeply distressing incident.

We are each affected.

Helen represents the best of public service. Her commitment to integrity, her respectful engagement in debate, and her sense of democracy and peace are the example we should aspire to.

The statement, signed by Victorian members Tim McCurdy, Bill Tilley, Cindy McLeish and Annabelle Cleeland, along with the mayors of nine local councils said personal threats, intimidation and acts of violence had no place in our democracy. “We will not allow intimidation to silence public voices. Decency still outweighs division, and our communities reject hatred, violence, and fear,” the statement said.

Prime minister meets police commissioners and politicians in Melbourne

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has met AFP commissioner, Krissy Barrett, and her Victorian counterpart, Mike Bush, in Melbourne after the alleged attack on Helen Haines.

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, and the Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, also attended.

If the increasingly vituperative tenor of our public discourse, online and verbal, has fully trailed America’s into the murky dungeon of political violence with the appalling alleged attack on Helen Haines, Australia’s political class has only itself to blame.

Read more:

Nationals MP says office did not feel threatened by Brendan Nugent

Victorian Nationals MP Tim McCurdy said the alleged attacker, Brendan Nugent, was known to his Wangaratta office and regularly came in to raise different issues.

McCurdy said:

We get plenty of people come in, half a dozen a day come for various things. So yes, he’s been into our office, [to raise] various issues.

Our office didn’t feel threatened by him. If they had, they would ring the police.

I want to wish Helen all the best.

I’m going to hand over coverage to my colleague Petra Stock, who will take you through further updates throughout the afternoon.

Helen Haines’ alleged attacker has been named as 43-year-old Brendan Nugent, Guardian Australia has confirmed.

Nugent is a long-term forestry campaigner in the state’s north east. Environment campaigners who worked with Nugent several years ago have expressed shock at his arrest.

He has a master’s of forest ecosystems science from the University of Melbourne and spent years researching the forestry industry in Victoria. He has also been a registered business owner in Wangaratta.

Read more:

Prayer vigil to be held for Helen Haines

Wangaratta locals will unite to pray for the independent MP in a lunchtime vigil at the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral.

In a social media post, the Anglican Diocese of Wangaratta says the event is an opportunity for the community to “come together to reflect, have silence, and to pray for Helen, her family and her close friends”.

Our time together is an important act of solidarity with Helen and a sign of peace and goodwill for all people.

Haines remains in a critical condition.

Calls for non-violence as Greens leader pays tribute to Helen Haines

The Greens leader, David Shoebridge, has called Helen Haines a “powerful voice for compassion and humanity” and said the notion she could be allegedly targeted for her work is “horrifying, senseless and shameful”.

In a statement, he says:

I believe in politics centred on peace and non-violence because normalising violence in our civil and political debate lowers the threshold for violence.

We cannot let [alleged] political violence become the norm and I believe that politics grounded in non-violence is a powerful way to address this threat.

AFP and Victorian police working to identify potential charges

The Australian federal police commissioner, Krissy Barrett, said in a statement a 43-year-old man from Tarrawingee in Victoria remains in custody and confirmed the event appears to be an “isolated incident”, with no known threats connected to the matter.

Victoria police and the AFP are working to identify potential charges, such as the offence of causing harm to a commonwealth official, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Barrett said the AFP had announced the establishment of a “flying squad of hate disrupters” who focus on high-harm, high-impact politically motivated violence, communal violence and hate crimes that do not meet the threshold for terrorism and investigates threats against federal parliamentarians.

The AFP provides regularly briefings to parliamentarians about their safety and security, and further briefings will be undertaken soon.

The AFP’s thoughts are with Dr Haines and her family at this time.

Between 2024 and 2025, the AFP received 951 reports of harassing, nuisance, offensive and threatening behaviour against high office holders, federal parliamentarians, electorate offices and protected establishments. This increased to 1,067 reports the following year.

Jacinta Allan issues first statement since quitting politics on Helen Haines

Former Victorian premier Jacinta Allan has issued her first statement since quitting politics in August, describing Helen Haines as an “outstanding representative for regional Victoria” who has “worked hard every day for her community”.

She said she was “sickened by the [alleged] attack” and that Haines should have been safe doing her job:

Helen was [allegedly] attacked at work, she was doing her job. All members of parliament and their staff deserve to be safe at work. Violence as a substitute for debate must be repudiated at every turn, rejected and condemned unequivocally – by everyone, every time.