Australian federal lawmaker Helen Haines has undergone a double leg amputation after being repeatedly struck by a four-wheel-drive vehicle outside her rural constituency office in Victoria, in what police allege was a targeted attack on a sitting parliamentarian.
The 65-year-old independent MP for the regional seat of Indi remains in critical but stable condition at the Alfred hospital in Melbourne.
Her husband, Phil Haines, confirmed that surgeons amputated her left leg shortly after she was airlifted from the scene on October 19, and were forced to amputate her right leg on October 21 after attempts to save the limb failed.
He said his wife has suffered significant injuries but “her heart and her mind are in good shape”. He added that the “good news in all this is that Helen is alive and she’s stable”. Her recovery, he said, would be “long and difficult”.
The incident occurred outside Haines’ electorate office on Murphy Street in Wangaratta, roughly 230km northeast of Melbourne, at about 3.35pm. Witnesses reported that a white Toyota Land Cruiser struck the parliamentarian before reversing and hitting her a second time, pinning her beneath the chassis before bystanders intervened and restrained the driver.
Police arrested and charged 43-year-old Brendan Nugent, a local resident from the nearby rural locality of Tarrawingee within Haines’ own electorate.
Nugent, an Australian national who attended secondary school in the district and has been active in regional environmental campaigns, appeared in court charged with intentionally causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing serious injury and causing harm to a Commonwealth public official, a federal offence that carries up to 10 years in prison. He made no bail application and is due back before Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on February 4, 2027.
His lawyer told the court that his client had “mental health concerns”. The court was also told that he has the neurological condition idiopathic transverse myelitis, a condition caused by inflammation of the spinal cord, and that he had been suffering from concussion. The magistrate asked for him to be assessed by a medical professional immediately after the hearing.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush confirmed that while investigators view the vehicular attack as deliberate, it appears to have been an isolated incident, with detectives still examining the suspect’s motive. Bush said police were “not ruling out further serious charges”.
Politically, Haines has sat on the crossbench since 2019. A former nurse and midwife, she was central to the creation of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which began work in 2023.
She has repeatedly opposed hardline border enforcement measures in parliament, voiced support for refugee arrivals and criticised bipartisan efforts to expand deportation powers for non-citizens. In November 2024 she opposed the Migration Amendment Bill, which widened ministerial powers to overturn protection findings and to remove people to third countries.
Liberal MP Andrew Hastie said it was “very easy to weaponise a car, a kitchen knife, a cricket bat or anything else” against a public office holder, adding: “My concern is people being whipped up into a frenzy.”
