Australia news LIVE: Save the Children fundraiser for Helen Haines surpasses $600,000 as the MP remains critical; Canavan set to announce move to lower house, reports say

Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of national and world news for this Friday, October 23. Here’s what is making headlines this morning.

• Indi MP Helen Haines remains in a critical but stable condition after losing both her legs in an attack outside her electorate office in Wangaratta on Monday afternoon. A fundraiser for Save the Children has raised more than $600,000 in her honour.
• Politicians could receive bolstered police protection and security for homes and offices under options being weighed by Labor to address mounting safety concerns among MPs after the attack on Haines.
• Nationals MP Michelle Landry is expected to announce her retirement today, paving the way for party leader Matt Canavan to announce a move to the lower house at the next election, according to the ABC. Canavan is set to nominate for preselection to run as the Nationals candidate in the Queensland electorate of Capricornia.
• And Labor’s controversial invite-only election grant program “piqued” the interest of the acting head of Australia’s corruption watchdog during an inquiry yesterday, as departmental staff were grilled over the funding promises one legal expert says amounts to “grey corruption”.

Greens leader David Shoebridge has slammed the prime minister’s office for a reported “dirt sheet” it compiled on independent MP Helen Haines, and said it was a mistake for Albanese to enter into an “integrity fight” with Haines.

“We’re in a week of grief. Helen was a close friend, and one of the things Helen is renowned for, and it’s work we did very closely together, was anti-corruption work. Like she’s passionate about this. She’s passionate about ensuring public money goes where it’s needed,” he told the Today show.

“Helen is a woman of incredible integrity, and I don’t know who in the prime minister’s office thought it was a good idea to have an integrity fight between the Labor Party and Helen Haines, because every single time in that fight, I’ll tell you who’s going to win, Helen Haines.”

Yesterday, the PM dismissed the suggestion it was a “dirt sheet”, and said it was “a list of funding”.

Haines has been a vocal critic of Labor’s controversial invite-only election grant program, which the corruption watchdog said during an inquiry yesterday had “piqued” its interest.

Nationals MP Michelle Landry will likely announce her retirement today, according to a report in the ABC, leaving Nationals leader Matt Canavan poised to make a switch to the lower house.

Landry’s announcement will pave the way for Canavan’s run for preselection as the Nationals candidate in the central Queensland seat of Capricornia.

Several LNP sources told the ABC that Landry, who has held the Capricornia seat for 13 years, would step aside at the 2028 election.

Landry’s office said she would make a “significant announcement” today alongside Canavan.

Politicians would receive bolstered police protection and security for homes and offices under options being weighed by Labor to address mounting safety concerns after the attack on Helen Haines.

Parliament will hold a dedicated session of tributes for Haines on Monday, according to sources in the Albanese government, but Labor will still push forward its legislative agenda on taxing trusts, the digital duty of care, and keeping gas onshore.

MPs have privately noted an increase in erratic behaviour at electorate offices since the Haines attack, though it is not clear if this is due to increased reporting.

Monday’s four-wheel-drive attack on the independent MP has exposed long-running tensions between federal parliamentarians and the authorities responsible for protecting them.

Elected officials claim security agencies are too reactive and need to modernise their communication with MPs to ensure politicians and their staff feel safe. But authorities have also expressed frustration with MPs who fail to follow protocol when flagging high-risk events or reporting incidents.

The solutions currently being contemplated would probably have done little to stop what authorities believe was an opportunistic, rather than planned, attack on Haines.

Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of national and world news for this Friday, October 23. Here’s what is making headlines this morning.

• Indi MP Helen Haines remains in a critical but stable condition after losing both her legs in an attack outside her electorate office in Wangaratta on Monday afternoon. A fundraiser for Save the Children has raised more than $600,000 in her honour.
• Politicians could receive bolstered police protection and security for homes and offices under options being weighed by Labor to address mounting safety concerns among MPs after the attack on Haines.
• Nationals MP Michelle Landry is expected to announce her retirement today, paving the way for party leader Matt Canavan to announce a move to the lower house at the next election, according to the ABC. Canavan is set to nominate for preselection to run as the Nationals candidate in the Queensland electorate of Capricornia.
• And Labor’s controversial invite-only election grant program “piqued” the interest of the acting head of Australia’s corruption watchdog during an inquiry yesterday, as departmental staff were grilled over the funding promises one legal expert says amounts to “grey corruption”.