Australian MP Helen Haines, deliberately hit by a vehicle on Monday, has had both legs amputated, her husband announced on Wednesday, who declared himself “overwhelmed by the support” received since this attack.
“Helen’s left leg was amputated on Monday. We hoped that his right leg could be saved, but (…) the surgeons also had to amputate his right leg,” detailed Phil Haines at Melbourne hospital, where his wife is still in critical condition. “We have been really overwhelmed by the support we have received” in Australia and overseas, he added.
“But the good news is that Helen is alive and in a stable condition,” Mr Haines said at Melbourne Hospital. “What matters most about Helen to us, her family, is her heart and her spirit.”
Known for her anti-corruption stances and her fight for the climate, Helen Haines was standing near the trunk of her car at the time of the impact. The driver of the vehicle, 43-year-old Brendan Nugent, was known to police. He was charged with reckless driving resulting in serious intentional injury, as well as the federal crime of violence against a public official, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The forty-year-old appeared in Wangaratta court on Wednesday, according to an AFP journalist present on site. He was also charged with possession and cultivation of cannabis, according to documents sent to AFP. His motive remains unknown and authorities have declined to speculate as the investigation continues.
This attack led to a wave of support for the MP. “We were really overwhelmed by the support we received” in Australia and abroad, Phil Haines said.
“Extremist positions”
This attack has provoked a soul-searching in a country where political violence is rare, but where the police have noted a regular increase in threats and violence targeting elected officials in recent years.
“Australians yearn for kindness and solidarity, and they ask us why we have lost our essential ability to express our disagreements properly and respectfully,” said Governor General – King Charles’s representative in Australia – Sam Mostyn on Wednesday, alongside Phil Haines.
“Unfortunately, what we’re seeing is, I would say, an increasing level of extremist positions, particularly in the online space,” said Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Krissy Barrett.
“The current criminal threat situation is feverish and, when it comes to federal parliamentarians, the AFP continues to record an increasing volume of online abuse, threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” she added.
The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has made himself one of the leaders of the campaign to support the MP, who entered Parliament in 2019 after a career as a nurse and midwife.
“It’s a reminder that the world is a more dangerous and divided place than a generation ago,” he told ABC Melbourne radio on Wednesday. “I think Australians want their politicians to be able to go about their business, to be able to get something out of the trunk of their car, dammit,” the leader said.
Intelligence chief Mike Burgess expressed concern that “high levels of resentment, intolerance and polarization continue to create a climate conducive to violence.”
