Hundreds of residents gathered at Wodonga's Holy Trinity Cathedral on Wednesday night for the vigil, held two days after Haines was struck by a car outside her electorate office on Monday afternoon. McGowan, whose historic 2013 election victory helped launch the modern community independents movement, described the assault as an attack on the political system itself.
"That this happened in our town, by one of our community members, to one of us: in the attack on Helen, it is an attack on all of us," McGowan said. "It's so very hard to get our minds around."
The former MP said northeast Victoria was grappling with grief, shame and the confronting reality that one of its own had been attacked in the community she represented. She revealed that Governor-General Sam Mostyn and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had both been in contact and asked her to convey their condolences to the community. Flowers lined the front of Haines's High Street electoral office, with handwritten well-wishes from residents.
In a show of cross-party solidarity, state MPs Tim McCurdy, Bill Tilley, Cindy McLeish and Annabelle Cleeland joined nine local mayors from across northeast Victoria in a joint statement warning that threats and violence "have absolutely no place in our democracy or in our communities". Civic leaders from Alpine, Benalla, Indigo, Mansfield, Murrindindi, Strathbogie, Towong, Wangaratta and Wodonga said that while robust disagreement was essential to democracy, targeted harassment abandoned basic humanity.
"We should challenge our elected representatives, we should question their decisions, we should demand better of them. But there is a line," they said, pledging that "decency still outweighs division".
McGowan said conversations across Indi since Monday had exposed deeper scars, particularly among women already living with the threat of violence. Many women were scared for their own safety and the safety of women in public positions, and questioned whether they could enter public life without facing violence, she said.
She urged residents not to allow their grief to harden into fear or retreat from political participation, and challenged the community to make next month's Victorian election a demonstration of the democratic values that had been threatened.
"Let's make it the best ever, not only here in [the electoral district of] Benambra but across Victoria," she said. "My ask, in closing, is that we don't let violence win, that we ensure the legacy of this attack on Helen will be a stronger, more vibrant and effective democracy. And from a personal perspective, all candidates and especially women, know they can run for office and be safe."
Nugent made no application for bail at his court appearance on Wednesday morning. Police are weighing up further charges against the accused.