Australian MP Helen Haines Loses Leg in 'Targeted' Car-Ramming Attack

Australian MP Helen Haines

Australian independent lawmaker Helen Haines is fighting for her life in a Melbourne hospital after a man deliberately rammed her with a four-wheel drive outside her electoral office on Monday afternoon. The 65-year-old, who represents the rural Victorian seat of Indi, was struck twice by a Toyota Land Cruiser in the regional city of Wangaratta at about 3:30pm local time, in what police describe as a "targeted" attack.

Doctors were forced to amputate one of her legs, and are working to save the other, Australian media reported. Haines was standing at the back of her car, unloading items from the boot, when the driver turned around and drove at her. Bystanders, including a local barber, wrestled the driver from the car and held him until police arrived. A knife was found in his vehicle.

The suspect, 43-year-old environmental campaigner Brendan Nugent — a long-time friend of Haines' family — was charged on Tuesday with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury, and the federal offence of causing harm to a Commonwealth public official. He was due in Wangaratta Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it "a deliberate act" and warned of the rising temperature of political debate, as Australia — where political violence is rare — grapples with the shock. Source: read more

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