Australian MP Helen Haines critically injured in deliberate car attack outside office

Wangaratta, Australia. Independent Australian MP Helen Haines was critically injured on Monday when a car deliberately hit her outside her office. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said a terrorism taskforce would investigate the arrested suspect, but that the motive could not yet be determined.

Man arrested after attack

Victoria Police reported the arrest of a man aged 43 following the attack in Wangaratta, roughly a three-hour drive to Melbourne’s northeast.

Albanese said Haines, 65, had been transported to hospital by air.

At a news conference, Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Ashley Mason said the incident posed no continuing danger to the public.

Albanese raises concerns about online hostility

Albanese linked the evolving nature of social media to a more heated political climate in Australia, where violence of this kind is extremely unusual.

Public broadcaster ABC asked whether growing political anger had prompted concerns about attacks targeting politicians. In response, Albanese highlighted online anonymity, saying people posted comments they would not make in person. He said political tensions had unquestionably risen, both in Australia and elsewhere, and noted incidents overseas.

The prime minister said politicians’ ability to move around their communities and interact with residents was valuable. He said he did not want a system that prevented conversations in supermarkets, on streets, at street meetings or during public forums, describing such contact as essential to Australian democracy.

Support for Haines and those assisting her

Speaking earlier at a news conference, Albanese expressed sympathy for Haines and her relatives, friends, staff and community during an exceptionally difficult period. He said they were praying that she would recover fully.

In a message published on Haines’ Facebook page, her family thanked bystanders for helping quickly, the dedicated healthcare workers who treated her, and police for responding.