Australian MP Helen Haines loses both legs; accused appears in court

Australian police have charged a 43-year-old man after independent MP Helen Haines was struck by a car outside her electorate office in the Victorian town of Wangaratta on Monday.

Victoria Police charged Brendan Nugent with dangerous driving causing serious injury and intentionally causing serious injury, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported. He was also charged with the federal offence of causing harm to a Commonwealth public official, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Nugent is due to appear in the Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. Police said they would allege the incident was targeted.

Update: both legs amputated

Haines has had both legs amputated, her husband, Phil Haines, said on Wednesday. Doctors had hoped to save her right leg, but surgeons could not prevent a double amputation, Geo News reported. “But the good news in all this is that Helen is alive and she’s stable. That is the most important thing for our family,” he said.

Brendan Nugent appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday morning, where he was formally charged.

Fighting to save her leg

On Tuesday, the ABC confirmed that Haines, 65, had lost one leg and that doctors are fighting to save the other, after she was pinned between two cars outside her office. She suffered critical lower-body injuries and was flown to The Alfred hospital in Melbourne.

Haines was reportedly unloading her car when a white Toyota Land Cruiser struck her, The News reported, citing The Independent. Police said a knife was found inside the vehicle, but the motive remains unknown.

Nugent was detained on Murphy Street after the incident. On Tuesday, officers searched his home in Tarrawingee, about 15 kilometres east of Wangaratta.

“Devastating and unfathomable”

Nugent’s father, Rod Nugent, and his partner Christine Cunningham said in a statement that Haines had been their friend for more than 20 years, and that Monday’s events were “devastating and unfathomable”.

“Helen Haines is a deeply respected, valued and much loved member of our local community,” they said, thanking residents and police who came to her aid after “the shocking and horrific crime”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised Haines after the attack. “She’s just a thoroughly decent, respectful human being who is a delight to work with, and her presence in the Parliament adds to it,” he said.

How the attack happened

Haines had spent Monday afternoon at a sod-turning event for a BMX track and dog park in Mansfield, where Senator Michelle Ananda-Rajah said she was “in high spirits”, the ABC reported. She then drove back to her office on Murphy Street in Wangaratta, where she was due to give a 4pm interview to the ABC.

Witnesses said that as she stood at the back of her car unpacking, a white Toyota LandCruiser drove past on the opposite side of the road, made a U-turn and rammed her, pinning her against her car.

Bystanders rushed to help, applying tourniquets and holding the driver until police arrived. One witness said Haines stayed conscious and “remarkably calm and dignified” despite her injuries. Sources told the ABC that Nugent had undergone a mental health assessment in custody.

On Tuesday, people gathered outside a church in Wangaratta after a vigil for Haines.

Who is Helen Haines

• Her seat: Haines has represented the rural electorate of Indi, north of Melbourne, since 2019, and was re-elected in 2022 and 2025
• A first: in 2019 she became the first independent to succeed another independent in the same Australian parliamentary seat
• Her career: a former nurse, midwife and academic, she spent three decades in rural healthcare before entering politics
• Her causes: she has campaigned on regional healthcare, housing, climate change and government transparency

Colleagues in Parliament and members of the community have expressed shock and support.

Why it matters

Attacks on elected representatives strike at democracy itself. The federal charge reflects how seriously Australia treats violence against its public officials, as the country waits for news of Haines’s recovery.

This article draws on reporting by the ABC, The News and Geo News.