Photo: Alison Newman / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Australian independent MP Helen Haines has lost both her legs after being run down by a vehicle outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, Victoria, on Monday, her husband Phil Haines told reporters on Wednesday. Hours earlier, the man accused of the attack, 43-year-old Brendan Nugent, appeared in court for the first time and was remanded in custody.
‘She is a fighter’
Speaking at the Alfred hospital in Melbourne, where the 65-year-old lawmaker is being treated, Phil Haines said her left leg was amputated on the day of the attack. Doctors had hoped to save the right leg, but surgeons removed it on Wednesday.
Helen’s road to recovery will be long and difficult, but we know she is a fighter.
Phil Haines, husband of Helen Haines
He said the good news was that she was alive and stable, and that “both her heart and her mind are in good shape”. He thanked her office staff, who reached her first, along with police, paramedics and hospital workers, and asked well-wishers to donate to Save the Children instead of sending flowers. Governor-General Sam Mostyn, a friend of the MP, stood beside him and urged Australians to treat the attack as a moment to choose to be better and to debate issues rather than attack people.
What police allege
Police say a man struck Haines twice with a Toyota LandCruiser outside her office on Monday. Members of the public held the driver at the scene until officers arrived. Victoria Police describe the attack as targeted and deliberate but believe it was an isolated incident, and say they have found no record of earlier contact between Haines and the accused.
Nugent, from Tarrawingee in Haines’ electorate, is charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury and the federal offence of causing harm to a Commonwealth public official. Court documents show he also faces charges of cultivating and possessing cannabis.
The hearing at Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court lasted only a few minutes. Nugent did not speak or enter a plea and did not apply for bail. His lawyer told the court he has idiopathic transverse myelitis, a rare inflammatory condition of the spinal cord, and was suffering from concussion. The magistrate ordered that he be seen by a mental health professional immediately. It was his first time in custody.
Motive still unclear
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said the investigation was far from complete and that further serious charges had not been ruled out. He said detectives were examining Nugent’s social media associations and speaking to witnesses, but had no direct evidence so far linking him to the sovereign citizen movement.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called the incident a reminder that the world is “a more dangerous and divided place than it was a generation ago”.
Why it matters and what’s next
Haines, a former nurse, midwife and health researcher, has held the rural seat of Indi since 2019 and is known for her work on climate policy and regional housing. A direct attack on a sitting federal lawmaker is rare in Australia, and it has sparked a national conversation about rising hostility in politics. Victoria’s government has said extra security resources will be put in place for the state election due in November.
Police are due to hand their brief of evidence to the defence by December 24. Nugent’s case returns to court on February 4 for a committal mention.
