Australia is a country where members of parliament still chat with voters in the supermarket queue. On Monday that easy closeness was shaken in Wangaratta, a country town in north-east Victoria, when Helen Haines, the 65-year-old independent who represents the rural seat of Indi, was hit by a white Toyota LandCruiser on Murphy Street, right in front of her electorate office. It happened at about half past three in the afternoon local time.
Haines suffered critical injuries. After first treatment in the region she was flown to Melbourne, where surgeons operated on serious wounds to her lower body. Her family thanked bystanders, medics and police and asked the public for privacy.
The suspected driver, a 43-year-old from nearby Tarrawingee, did not get far: a passer-by held him until officers arrived and took him into custody. Investigators then found a knife in the four-wheel drive. Victoria Police say they are still establishing whether the collision was intentional and what the motive might be, while stressing there is no further danger to the public. Anthony Albanese was blunter. “This wasn’t an accident,” the prime minister told the ABC, adding that a joint counter-terrorism team had been switched on.
Rare scenes of unity followed. Opposition leader Angus Taylor, Greens senator David Shoebridge and One Nation’s Pauline Hanson all condemned violence against elected representatives. Tony Burke, who runs the home affairs portfolio, pointed to a worrying trend: reports of threats and harassment aimed at senior office holders rose to 1,067 over the latest financial year, up from 951 the year before. Albanese urged Australians to cool the political temperature, which he said social media had pushed higher.
Before entering parliament in 2019, Haines spent three decades working in country hospitals, first as a nurse and midwife, later as a researcher. She made history as the first independent to take over a federal seat from another independent, and colleagues from every camp describe her as a bridge-builder.
