Driver Charged in Targeted Attack on Australian Lawmaker Helen Haines

Police on Tuesday charged Brendan Nugent with intentionally causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing serious injury, and causing harm to a federal official, following an alleged targeted attack on Australian federal lawmaker Helen Haines.

Nugent, from Tarrawingee, will appear in a Wangaratta court on Wednesday. Helen Haines, an independent politician, is in critical but stable condition in a Melbourne hospital after being struck by a car outside her office in Wangaratta, Victoria, on Monday. She lost one leg, and surgeons are working to save the other. Witnesses reported that the car struck Haines as she was loading items from her trunk, then reversed and struck her a second time.

A local barber, Ricky Jefferies, intervened, subdued the driver, and removed a knife from him. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked Jefferies for his intervention. Political violence is rare in Australia, but law enforcement has documented a steady rise in threats and abuse directed towards elected officials in recent years. The motive for the attack has not been revealed, but an ABC News investigation found that Brendan Nugent had previously shared pro-Gaza content and criticized Israel on social media.