Independent MP Helen Haines has had both legs amputated after being struck by a car outside her electorate office, her husband Phil Haines told a press conference on Wednesday. The suspect in the attack made a brief court appearance the same day.
According to Phil Haines, the incident occurred on Monday in Wangaratta, northeast of Melbourne, when the driver struck the MP twice. Doctors amputated her left leg after the attack, while efforts to save her right leg were unsuccessful.
"The good thing in all of this is that Helen is alive and in a stable condition," he told reporters. "That is the most important thing for our family."
The suspect was identified as Brendan Nugent, 43. He faces three charges: dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing injury, and harming a public official. According to court records, the suspect was also charged over cultivating and possessing cannabis.
The suspect's lawyer said his client has a rare neurological condition called idiopathic transverse myelitis and is recovering from a concussion, ABC reported.
Police are still investigating the motive for the attack. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said there was no intelligence indicating Haines had previously been threatened. "What I can say is that we had no specific intelligence foreshadowing anything as cruel as what happened on Monday afternoon," she told reporters.
Before entering parliament, Haines worked in nursing, midwifery and teaching. She was elected in 2019 to the rural seat of Indi and held it in the 2022 and 2025 elections.
Attacks on politicians are rare in Australia, but concerns have grown in recent years as online abuse and threats directed at elected officials have increased.
