An Australian federal lawmaker remained in critical condition Tuesday after surgery for injuries she suffered when a car hit her in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said appeared to be a deliberate attack.
Helen Haines, a 65-year-old independent, was struck by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV outside her electoral office in the city of Wangaratta, in Victoria State, in the middle of Monday afternoon, police said. The driver was arrested and remains in custody.
Albanese said the national counterterrorism team, which draws on police and intelligence agencies, was investigating.
“This wasn’t an accident. There was a deliberate act, it would appear. We don’t know what the motivation is,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Witnesses say the driver hit Haines twice
Members of the public detained the 43-year-old driver at the scene, and investigators will interview him. He has not been publicly identified, and no charges had been announced by Tuesday morning.
Albanese said eyewitnesses reported that the man drove past Haines as she stood by the trunk of her parked car, then turned around and came back before allegedly driving into her.
“This wasn’t something with a car just going off the road,” Albanese told the Australian channel News24. “This is something that is very clear was aimed at causing harm to Helen Haines.”
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told the ABC on Tuesday that, according to witness accounts, the driver reversed and struck Haines a second time after hitting her initially.
Ricky Jefferies, a barber who ran out of his shop to help restrain the suspect, told reporters he searched the man’s pockets and took a knife from him. Police confirmed that a knife was found and said officers were investigating whether the attack was intentional.
Haines, first elected to Parliament in 2019, was taken first to a hospital in Wangaratta, a city of 30,000 people. Albanese said she was later airlifted to a hospital in the state capital, Melbourne, 236 kilometres away.
Attack prompts scrutiny of public anger toward politicians
The incident has renewed safety concerns for Australian lawmakers. Politicians in the country have historically been highly accessible to the public and usually go about their business without security officers present, but public incitement against officials is growing.
Police reported in 2025 that threats against parliamentarians had doubled over the previous three years. Official data showed more than 1,000 such threats against politicians in the 2025-2026 financial year.
Albanese said it was “unfortunate” that an increasingly polarised political climate had already led to security changes for lawmakers.
“I think there has been a rise in temperature and there has been too much shouting, not enough discourse, not enough polite conversation and disagreement,” he said. He added that there was “no question” social media played a part.
Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Ashley Mason said investigators considered the attack on Haines an “isolated incident”.
“We certainly do not have any intelligence that there is any further or any ongoing threat to any other person or the broader community,” Mason told reporters.
Additional sources • AP