Australian MP Helen Haines loses both legs after alleged car attack; man charged, motive unknown

Helen Haines, a 65-year-old independent member of Australia's federal parliament, has lost both of her legs. Her husband, Phil Haines, told reporters in Melbourne on Wednesday that doctors amputated her left leg on Monday and her right leg on Wednesday, after they gave up hope of saving it. She remains in critical condition in a Melbourne hospital, where she was flown by helicopter.

The injuries came after she was hit repeatedly by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV in her hometown of Wangaratta on Monday, in what her husband describes as an apparent act of political violence. Witnesses say the driver rammed her, pinning her against her own car, then reversed and struck her a second time. Phil Haines was giving the family's first public comments on her condition, and he spoke hours after the man accused of running her over made his first court appearance.

He struck a note of gratitude. "The good news in all this is that Helen is alive and she's stable," he said, calling that the most important thing for the family. He added that both her heart and her mind were in good shape at this stage. Their 40th wedding anniversary falls in November.

The accused is Brendan Nugent, 43, from nearby Tarrawingee. He appeared in Wangaratta Magistrates' Court on Wednesday charged with intentionally causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing serious injury, and causing harm to a federal official. He did not apply for bail or enter a plea, and he will stay in custody until his next court appearance in February. Police have not determined a motive.

Nugent's lawyer, Chirag Patel, told Magistrate Allison Vaughan that his client may have mental health issues but has never been diagnosed with any. Patel said Nugent has a neurological condition, idiopathic transverse myelitis, and a concussion, though he did not explain how Nugent was concussed. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the rare condition damages the protective myelin sheath of the spinal cord and disrupts nerve signals between brain and body, causing rapid muscle weakness, sensory loss, pain, and bladder and bowel dysfunction.

The attack has shocked Australians. Political violence is uncommon there, and politicians are highly accessible; most lawmakers have no security detail and go about their work and private lives alone. Senior opposition lawmaker James Paterson called on Wednesday for a review of lawmakers' personal security. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Australian parliamentarians are uniquely accessible by global standards, and that this is a good thing, but that attacks like this cannot be allowed to happen because they would change the country's democracy forever if serving in parliament became a serious risk to life.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged lawmakers to keep engaging openly with the public despite growing animosity in the community. He said the aim is for people to feel as comfortable as possible that everything is being done to maximize security, and that parliamentarians across the board are determined to keep up the interaction he called important to democracy. Lawmakers began online meetings with Australia's security agencies on Wednesday, which Albanese described as a chance for anxious people to ask questions. Such briefings are routine.

The Australian Federal Police currently provide personal security only to lawmakers assessed as higher risk, usually because they have drawn the attention of dangerous people. Prime ministers always have protection, and immigration ministers often do because visa decisions anger people. Paterson said protecting all 226 federal lawmakers would not be practical, but suggested more security at electorate offices, where lawmakers are "most identifiable" and where coming and going can be a risky moment. Haines was hit at her own electorate office. Police Commissioner Kissy Barrett said protecting every parliamentarian would take an incredible amount of resourcing.

The numbers show pressure building. In the last fiscal year, police received 1,067 reports of threatening, harassing, nuisance and offensive communications against high officeholders, including federal lawmakers and their staff, a 12 per cent rise. Barrett said almost one suspect a week was charged over such threats.

Australia has not seen the violence recorded elsewhere. In the United States, political violence has risen over the past decade, including the 2022 hammer attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband, attempts on Donald Trump's life, and the 2025 killings of a Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and her husband and of commentator Charlie Kirk. In Britain, Jo Cox was killed in 2016 and David Amess in 2021, and in July former politician Ann Widdecombe was found beaten to death with a hammer at home; a man has been charged with murder and terrorism-related offences. Nugent returns to court in February, and the security review Paterson wants has yet to be agreed.