MELBOURNE: Australian lawmaker Helen Haines has had both legs amputated after being hit by a car, her husband said on Wednesday, hailing her as a “fighter” despite critical injuries sustained in what police described as a targeted attack.
Haines is now in a stable condition at a Melbourne hospital days after being struck by a car on Monday near her office in the town of Wangaratta, just over 200 kilometres northeast of the Victoria state capital.
The incident has prompted soul-searching in a country where political violence is rare but where police have documented a steady rise in threats and abuse towards elected officials in recent years. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has led tributes to Haines, an independent member of parliament and a passionate campaigner for transparency and against corruption.
And he has acknowledged the need for Australians to turn down the temperature and embrace respectful disagreement over polarisation. Speaking at the hospital on Wednesday, Haines’s husband of almost 40 years, Phil, said that after days in intensive care, surgeons had been forced to amputate both her legs.
“But the good news in all this is Helen is alive and she’s stable. That is the most important thing for our family,” he said. “The two most important parts of Helen for us as a family are her heart and her mind.
“Her heart is huge. She is a very compassionate, caring, loving person. “Helen’s road to recovery will be long and difficult, but we know she is a fighter.” The man alleged to have wounded Haines in what police have called a “targeted” attack faced court for the first time earlier on Wednesday.
Forty-three-year-old Brendan Nugent has been charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury and intentionally causing serious injury, as well as the federal crime of harming a public official, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2026
