A car-ramming attack on independent MP Helen Haines is the most serious violence against an Australian politician since the killing of a NSW MP in the 1990s, but it did not occur in isolation.
The number of threats against parliamentarians is up fourfold since 2020, amid repeated warnings from the Australian Federal Police about a rise in politically motivated violence.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Krissy Barrett says authorities are charging “almost one individual every week” for targeting Commonwealth parliamentarians or high office holders, adding it is one of the “biggest parts of the business”.
Ms Haines has lost a leg, and doctors are fighting to save the other after she was hit by a four-wheel drive in an attack outside her electorate office in Wangaratta on Monday.
AFP data shows an alarming upward trend of threats and harassment towards federal politicians since the start of the decade.
In the past year, 41 people were charged with offences relating to threats against parliamentarians, the AFP said.
Threats to candidates during the 2025 election were also 17 per cent higher than during the previous campaign.
And just days before the attack on Ms Haines, Labor MP Anne Aly said she had received 19 death threats on social media, in response to comments from Liberal MP Angie Bell calling for her and the prime minister to be "shamed and stoned in the square" over an Australian Tax Office decision to stop taking credit card payments.
A 'new step' in political violence
Lowy Institute research fellow Lydia Khalil said the attack on Ms Haines was "unfortunately tragic but unsurprising" given the current political climate in Australia.
Misinformation and a "worrying" breakdown in trust were leading to a harsh critique of leadership, Professor Khalil said.
"A lot of it is driven by a more fundamental factor of an othering of political leaders and almost a dehumanisation of them," she said.
Anti-elite and anti-government conspiracy theories enabled by the digital media environment led to the dehumanisation of political figures, she said, while "othering" lowered the barrier to violence.
"That's a troubling trend that I don't think we're paying enough attention to," she said.
Deakin University political sociologist Josh Roose said the attack on Ms Haines marked a "new step" in political violence in Australia.
He said nothing had been as "sensational in the sense that it's in a public street" since the murder of NSW MP John Newman, who was shot dead in the driveway of his home in 1994.
"You have an elected official, a well-respected member of the community, a grandmother, a mother, being run down in the street," Dr Roose said.
"You've got someone who cares about their community who's not a member of a major political party who, in all intents and purposes, is well respected, being targeted because she's at the front line."
Nearly one in 10 say political violence sometimes 'justified'
A McKinnon Institute survey from 2025 found nearly 9 per cent of Australians either strongly or somewhat agreed with a question asking whether it was sometimes justified to use extreme measures, such as violence, to advance a cause.
The result was concentrated among certain age groups, with those below the age of 35 more than twice as likely as those over 50 to say they supported political violence under some circumstances.
"Nine, 10 per cent is a substantial amount of people who are saying something like that," Professor Khalil said.
"That is not a sign of health within a democracy."
The finding is part of a wider trend, with acceptance of political violence climbing across numerous countries.
The World Bank measures "political stability" based on multiple sources that track terrorism, electoral violence, risk of political instability, and social unrest.
It shows Australia's metric has slid since 1996, but not as far as the United States. Australia's score is also higher than the United Kingdom's, but statistically there is not as significant a difference.
Professor Khalil said when you looked at Australia comparatively across the globe, "We are still doing better than some democracies."
"For example, you're seeing the recent rioting in Paris. There's a greater level of political violence targeted toward electoral officials in the United States. So relatively speaking, we are doing better," she said.
"But we are in territory that we still don't want to be in."