{"id":2982,"date":"2026-10-20T09:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T04:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2982"},"modified":"2026-10-20T09:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T04:04:14","slug":"australian-pm-says-attackers-car-made-u-turn-before-critically-injuring-lawmaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2982","title":{"rendered":"Australian PM says attacker’s car made U-turn before critically injuring lawmaker"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The car that struck an independent Australian lawmaker outside her office had \u200bperformed a U-turn before hitting her, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday, describing the incident<\/a> as clearly intentional.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Helen \u200cHaines<\/a> underwent surgery overnight and remained in critical condition after she was struck by a white Toyota Land Cruiser in Wangaratta, around three hours\u2019 drive northeast of Melbourne, on Monday.<\/p>\n

Australian media, citing unidentified sources, reported Haines had lost one leg as a result of her injuries and that doctors were working \u200bto save the other leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clear that there was a deliberate act here. This wasn\u2019t an accident, someone just skidding \u200boff the road,\u201d Albanese told ABC News.<\/p>\n

Early investigations suggested the car hit Haines as she was loading \u2060or unloading things from the trunk of her car, he said.<\/p>\n

A 43-year-old man was arrested following the attack, with counter-terrorism authorities among \u200bthe multiple agencies involved in the investigation.<\/p>\n

Police are considering potential charges, including causing harm to a public official – an offence that carries a \u200bmaximum penalty of 10 years\u2019 imprisonment – as they work to establish a motive for the attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this stage it appears this is an isolated incident,\u201d Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Struck two times<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told ABC Radio that witnesses said the alleged attacker reversed the vehicle and \u200bstruck Haines a second time before a bystander intervened.<\/p>\n

Ricky Jefferies ran from his barber shop and restrained the attacker and removed a \u200bknife from him after initially believing the incident was a car accident, Australian media reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard a loud bang with no brakes. It was crazy, \u200cI just \u2060ran out to the front to see what\u2019s happening,\u201d Jefferies told reporters outside his shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t realise the seriousness of the situation initially, and once it became relevant I just did what I could and what others were already trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2018Turn temperature down\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Violent attacks on politicians are extremely rare in Australia, where federal lawmakers, state leaders and even prime ministers are regularly seen in supermarkets and coffee \u200bshops, attending community events and chatting \u200bwith voters with minimal security.<\/p>\n

Haines<\/a> \u2060worked in nursing and midwifery and as an academic before being elected to parliament as an independent in 2019 in the seat of Indi. She retained the seat in 2022 and 2025.<\/p>\n

Outside the \u200bhospital where Haines is being treated, Melbourne resident Shawn Hill said the attack showed that \u201cthe political \u200bclimate is becoming more \u2060and more polarising today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one deserves to be put at risk of anything, especially someone who is serving the people and trying to do what is best for the Australian community,\u201d Hill told Reuters.<\/p>\n

Albanese urged Australians to engage more respectfully with one another, expressing concern about growing \u2060division in \u200bthe country. He also noted a \u201csignificant increase\u201d in threats against politicians in recent \u200byears.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have a responsibility to turn the temperature down,\u201d Albanese said. \u201cI really don\u2019t want to see the character of Australia change.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The car that struck an independent Australian lawmaker outside her office had \u200bperformed a U-turn before hitting her, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday, describing the incident as clearly intentional. Helen \u200cHaines underwent surgery overnight and remained in critical condition after she was struck by a white Toyota Land Cruiser in Wangaratta, around three hours\u2019 drive northeast of Melbourne, on Monday. Australian media, citing unidentified sources, reported Haines had lost one leg as a result of her injuries and that doctors were working \u200bto save the other leg. \u201cIt\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}