{"id":3054,"date":"2026-10-21T14:03:47","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T09:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3054"},"modified":"2026-10-21T14:03:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T09:03:47","slug":"australian-lawmaker-loses-both-legs-in-vehicle-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3054","title":{"rendered":"Australian lawmaker loses both legs in vehicle attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Australian lawmaker Helen Haines has had both legs amputated after \u200bbeing rammed by a car outside her electoral office, her husband said on Wednesday, as the man accused of the \u200cattack appeared in court.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Doctors amputated Haines\u2019 left leg after the alleged attacker struck<\/a> her twice with his car in Wangaratta, northeast of Melbourne, on Monday, Phil Haines said.<\/p>\n

They worked for days to save her right leg but were ultimately unsuccessful, he told a press conference in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good news in all this is Helen is alive, \u200band she\u2019s stable. That is the most important thing for our family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Brendan Nugent, a 43-year-old resident of the rural town \u200bof Tarrawingee within Haines\u2019 electorate, was charged with three offences: dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious \u2060injury, and causing harm to a public official.<\/p>\n

Additional charges of cannabis cultivation and possession have also been laid against Nugent, court filings showed.<\/p>\n

The \u200bsuspect was restrained<\/a> by members of the public at the scene before being arrested.<\/p>\n

Haines<\/a>, an independent lawmaker who has championed causes including climate change and \u200bregional housing, remains in critical condition.<\/p>\n

Police are still investigating the motive for the rare attack on an elected official.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Mental health concerns<\/strong><\/h3>\n

During a brief court appearance on Wednesday, the accused\u2019s lawyer said his client suffers from a rare neurological condition called idiopathic transverse myelitis and was also being treated for concussion, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation \u200breported.<\/p>\n

His lawyer told the magistrate his client had some mental health concerns and that it was his first time in custody.<\/p>\n

There was no \u200bapplication for bail, and the case was deferred until February 4.<\/p>\n

Anti-terrorism police are among the agencies investigating the incident. While police allege the attack was \u201ctargeted,\u201d they \u200cbelieve it \u2060was an isolated incident.<\/p>\n

There was no intelligence to suggest any threat to Haines, and the Australian Federal Police received no warning of any imminent danger from the alleged attacker, Commissioner Krissy Barrett told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I can say is we didn\u2019t have any specific intelligence that would have indicated something as atrocious as happened on Monday afternoon,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Victoria state police said they could not find any direct past contact between Haines and the accused, \u200bwith the motive still unknown.<\/p>\n

\u201cMotivation is \u200bone of these things that \u2060we absolutely need to explore. His motivation for this, what we allege is a deliberate attack, is very much a centrepiece of the investigation,\u201d Victoria Police Chief Mike Bush said.<\/p>\n

Bush declined to comment on the man\u2019s mental \u200bhealth, saying the matter was before the court.<\/p>\n

Haines had worked in nursing, midwifery and academia before being \u200belected to parliament in \u20602019 for the rural seat of Indi, which she retained in both 2022 and 2025.<\/p>\n

Violent attacks on politicians are rare in Australia, where federal lawmakers, state leaders and even prime ministers are often seen shopping, grabbing coffee or attending community events with relatively little security.<\/p>\n

However, concerns<\/a> about politicians\u2019 safety have grown in \u2060recent years \u200bamid rising political polarisation, online abuse and threats against elected officials, prompting calls for \u200bgreater protections while preserving the accessibility that has long characterised Australian politics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australian lawmaker Helen Haines has had both legs amputated after \u200bbeing rammed by a car outside her electoral office, her husband said on Wednesday, as the man accused of the \u200cattack appeared in court. Doctors amputated Haines\u2019 left leg after the alleged attacker struck her twice with his car in Wangaratta, northeast of Melbourne, on Monday, Phil Haines said. They worked for days to save her right leg but were ultimately unsuccessful, he told a press conference in Melbourne. \u201cThe good news in all this is Helen is alive, \u200band…<\/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-3054","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\/3054","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=3054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3054\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}