{"id":933675,"date":"2026-10-19T11:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T11:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/933675\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T11:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T11:20:12","slug":"deeply-appalled-politicians-condemn-alleged-attack-after-independent-mp-helen-haines-critically-injured-helen-haines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/933675\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Deeply appalled\u2019: politicians condemn alleged attack after independent MP Helen Haines critically injured | Helen Haines"},"content":{"rendered":"

The independent MP Helen Haines<\/a> has been critically injured in an alleged attack involving a vehicle outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, in regional Victoria.<\/p>\n

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, confirmed on Monday night that a man is in custody after an alleged attack on Haines that was now being investigated by the Australian federal police (AFP), Asio and the joint counter-terror taskforce.<\/p>\n

He said the motive for the alleged attack was not known, and would not comment on whether the suspect was known to police.<\/p>\n

\u201cHelen Haines is incredibly hard-working. She is fiercely intelligent, but most importantly, she\u2019s just a thoroughly decent human being, full of integrity and respected right across the parliament, and from everyone who comes into contact with her, she is a well-loved member of her community, and this will come as an incredible shock to that community,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n

He said he respected her integrity most of all.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean we always agree, but I always agree that her motives are good,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur thoughts remain with Helen Haines at this very difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n

ABC vision from the scene near where Helen Haines was allegedly struck by a vehicle. Photograph: ABC<\/p>\n

The prime minister and Victoria<\/a> police said they were not aware of any recent direct threats to Haines.<\/p>\n

Albanese later said on the ABC\u2019s 7.30 program that while he did not want to speculate on the motivation for the alleged attack, he had repeatedly warned \u201cthe temperature has increased in recent times\u201d in relation to politics.<\/p>\n

He had feared that would increase the risk of political violence occurring in Australia that had been seen in other western democracies.<\/p>\n

Albanese, who became emotional at times during the interview, said he first was told that Haines had been injured in a car accident, before being informed it was allegedly a deliberate act.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis wasn\u2019t an accident,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, also said there had been an increase in threats towards politicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe year before last, we had 951 reports of harassing and threatening behaviour against various high office holders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more recent financial year, that 951 has gone to 1,067.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Our beloved Helen\u2019<\/p>\n

In a statement, Haines\u2019s family confirmed that she had been injured and thanked bystanders for their assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis afternoon, our beloved Helen was involved in an incident outside her Wangaratta Electorate Office, and is receiving medical care,\u201d they said in the statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thank the swift assistance of bystanders and the dedicated health workers who assisted her, and police for their response.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur family, and Helen\u2019s staff, will be making no further comment at this time, and ask that their privacy be respected by the public and media.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease keep Helen in your thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wangaratta map <\/a>Wangaratta map<\/p>\n

Haines has been airlifted to hospital in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Victoria police said a 43-year-old man from Tarrawingee, about 10km from Wangaratta, was in custody and that a knife had allegedly been found in his car. They alleged he had been detained by a passerby when he exited the car.<\/p>\n

The statement said the woman that was struck was in a critical condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolice have arrested a man after a woman was struck by a vehicle in Wangaratta this afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is understood a white Toyota LandCruiser struck the 65-year-old woman outside an office on Murphy Street about 3.35pm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police said that they were investigating as to whether it was an intentional act, and it was not known if \u201cthe parties are known to each other\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Speaking at the scene, acting Supt Ashley Mason said it was being treated as an isolated incident.<\/p>\n

He said that the bystanders who assisted in the arrest and with Haines should be commended for acting as they did when confronted with a \u201chorrific tragic incident\u201d.<\/p>\n

It was a \u201cdynamic incident\u201d with an extensive crime scene, he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Deeply appalled\u2019<\/p>\n

The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, said he knew the alleged attack would be devastating for the Wangaratta community and all those Haines represented.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am deeply appalled by this [alleged] violent attack on Helen Haines,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy thoughts \u2013 and the thoughts of all Victorians \u2013 are with Helen, her family, her friends, her colleagues and her community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, said the incident involving Helen Haines was a \u201cshocking day for our nation\u201d, and that political attacks cannot be normalised in Australia.<\/p>\n

The Liberal leader said he was \u201cdeeply saddened and distressed\u201d and was praying for Helen Haines and her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a shocking day for our nation \u2026 Australians will be angry and appalled by the [alleged] attack on Helen outside her electorate office in Wangaratta,\u201d he said in a statement on social media.<\/p>\n

In a social media post, Nationals MP Michael McCormack said it was \u201csuch awful news\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSending my love and best wishes to Helen Haines for a full and speedy recovery,\u201d McCormack said.<\/p>\n

Police were expected to release a statement regarding the incident on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Haines has represented the electorate of Indi since 2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018Politically motivated violence\u2019<\/p>\n

Asio has in recent years repeatedly warned about the rising threat of politically motivated violence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitical differences, political debates and political protests are essential parts of a healthy democracy,\u201d Mike Burgess, the Asio director general, said in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, here and overseas, levels of personal grievance and frustration are growing.<\/p>\n

\u201cRightly or wrongly some Australians feel dispossessed, disaffected, disenfranchised \u2026 many of the aggrieved do not necessarily espouse violent views, but may still see violence as a legitimate way to effect political or societal change.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added last year that although Australia\u2019s terrorism threat level remained at probable, the system was not \u201cdesigned for a situation like the one we now face\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do know the environment is degrading and acts of politically motivated violence are becoming more likely than probable suggests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as climate change increases the likelihood of extreme weather but does not forecast specific storms, politically motivated violence, including acts of terrorism, is more likely even though we cannot predict a specific attack.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The independent MP Helen Haines has been critically injured in an alleged attack involving a vehicle outside her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":933676,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-933675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=933675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/933676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=933675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=933675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=933675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}