Helen Haines, the independent federal member for the rural Victorian seat of Indi, had both legs amputated after being hit twice by a car outside her electoral office on Monday. Her husband, Phil Haines, told a news conference on Wednesday that doctors had to amputate her left leg and later her right leg after attempting to save it. "The good news in all this is Helen is alive, and she's stable," he said. "That is the most important thing for our family."
The suspect, Brendan Nugent, made a brief court appearance on Wednesday. He has been charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing injury, causing harm to a public official, and cultivation and possession of cannabis. His lawyer told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that Nugent suffers from a rare neurological condition called idiopathic transverse myelitis and is also recovering from a concussion. Police are still investigating the motive for the attack.
Australia’s federal police commissioner, Krissy Barrett, said there was no specific intelligence that indicated a threat to Haines. "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 told reporters.
Haines, a former nurse, midwife and academic, was first elected to parliament in 2019 and retained her seat in 2022 and 2025. Attacks on politicians are rare in Australia, though concerns about online abuse and threats against elected officials have grown in recent years.