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SYDNEY/MELBOURNE — Doctors have amputated the leg of an Australian lawmaker after a man rammed her with his car and then reversed to hit her a second time, media and officials said on Tuesday, in an incident being investigated by anti-terrorism police.
Helen Haines, an independent, underwent surgery overnight and remained in critical condition after Monday’s attack in the small rural town of Wangaratta, north of Melbourne.
Australian media, citing unidentified sources, said Haines had lost one leg as a result of her injuries and doctors were working to save the other.
“At this stage it appears this is an isolated incident, and there are currently no other known threats connected to this matter,” police in the southeastern state of Victoria said in a statement.
While the motive for the attack has yet to be revealed, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese linked it to a domestic climate of ugly, polarized political debate.
“It’s clear that there was a deliberate act here. This wasn’t an accident, someone just skidding off the road,” Albanese told ABC News.
Initial investigations suggested the car hit Haines as she was loading or unloading items from the trunk of her car, he said.
The 43-year-old alleged attacker was arrested at the scene and charged on Tuesday with the offenses of dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury, and causing harm to a public official.
Police, who are investigating the incident along with counter-terror authorities and the domestic intelligence agency, said in a statement they would allege the attack was targeted.
STRUCK TWO TIMES
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told ABC Radio that witnesses said the alleged attacker reversed the vehicle and struck Haines a second time before a bystander intervened.
Ricky Jefferies ran from his barber shop, restraining the attacker and removing a knife from him after initially believing the incident was a car accident, Australian media reported.
“I heard a loud bang with no brakes. It was crazy, I just ran out to the front to see what’s happening,” Jefferies told reporters outside his shop.
“I didn’t realize 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.”
‘TURN TEMPERATURE DOWN’
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 shops, attending community events and chatting with voters with minimal security.
Haines worked 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.
Outside the hospital where Haines is being treated, Melbourne resident Shawn Hill said the attack showed “the political climate is becoming more and more polarizing today.”
“No 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,” Hill told Reuters.
Albanese expressed concern about growing division, and urged Australians to engage more respectfully with one another. He also flagged a “significant increase” in threats to politicians in recent years.
“We all have a responsibility to turn the temperature down,” he added. “I really don’t want to see the character of Australia change.”