Alleged Haines attacker’s anti-Israel posts

The man alleged to have rammed Independent MP Helen Haines posted extensively on social media against Israel.

Doctors have amputated Haines’ leg after a man rammed her with his car and then reversed to hit her a second time, local media and officials said on Tuesday, in an incident being investigated by anti-terrorism police.

65-year-old Haines was struck by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV on Monday outside her office in her electorate in the city of Wangaratta in Victoria state.

The 43-year-old driver, Brendan Nugent, from nearby Tarrawingee, was charged on Tuesday with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury, and causing harm to a Commonwealth public official, according to Australian media.

Police believe the attack was targeted, although the motive has yet to be revealed. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has linked it to a climate of ugly, polarised political debate in the country.

“It’s clear that there was a deliberate act here. This wasn’t an accident, someone just skidding off the road,” Albanese told ABC News.

Early investigations suggested the car hit Haines as she was loading or unloading items from the trunk of her car, he said.

Media, citing unidentified sources, reported Haines had lost one leg as a result of her injuries and that doctors were working to save the other leg.

Nugent, according to ABC News, is a longtime campaigner for environmental causes who has also posted extensively about politics, particularly with regard to Australian policy on Israel, on social media. He and Haines follow each other on X, and in 2019, he replied to a post she published by describing her as a “politician who takes climate change seriously.”

Nugent’s father Rodney Nugent and his stepmother Christine Cunningham released a statement in support of Haines, whom they said has been their friend “for more than 20 years,” and pledged to assist with the police investigation in any way they can.

“Helen Haines is a deeply respected, valued and much loved member of our local community,” the pair said. “What happened to her yesterday is devastating and unfathomable.”

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told ABC Radio that witnesses said the alleged attacker reversed the vehicle and struck Haines a second time before a bystander intervened.

Ricky Jefferies ran from his barber shop, restraining the attacker and removing a knife from him after initially believing the incident was a car accident, media reported.

“I heard a loud bang with no brakes. It was crazy, I just ran out to the front to see what’s happening,” Jefferies told reporters outside his shop.

“I didn’t realise the seriousness of the situation initially, and once it became relevant I just did what I could and what others were already trying to do.”

Haines worked in nursing and midwifery and as an academic before being elected to parliament as an independent in 2019 in the seat of Indi. She retained the seat in 2022 and 2025.

With the motive of the attacker still unclear, and in light of his apparent personal connection to Haines, some politicians have suggested that the independent lawmaker was the victim of an act of deliberate gender-based violence.

“Fifty-six women in this country have been killed as a result of gender-based violence” in 2026, said Labor MP Ed Husic. “We cannot have women targeted for violence as well, as much as this is a conversation about politics and the nature of politics in this country.”

Deputy minister for the prevention of family violence, Ged Kearney, also suggested that the attack against Haines was indicative of the treatment of women in public office.

“There is an added aspect being a woman I think that really heightens your vulnerability in some ways and the ways you go about your business,” she said.

While Nugent’s social media presence showed no outward signs of hostility toward Haines, he appeared to have frequently criticised the Australian government over various issues, including the environment, disability support, and its response to Israel’s war in Gaza.

The most recent post on the account attributed to Nugent concerned reports that Italy was probing Defence Minister Israel Katz and other Israeli officials over the treatment of Gaza flotilla activists.

“This investigation also involves sexual abuse, including rape, during processing and detention by Israeli forces,” wrote Nugent. In fact, the probe concerns alleged torture, kidnapping, personal injury, robbery and damage. Israel has denied all the allegations.

Nugent also posted a video from “Voice of Gaza” about growing food “in a genocide” and repeatedly issued fundraising calls for Gazans.

In May 2024, the account responded to Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong writing: “You have not been clear on anything other than giving Israel impunity to kill thousands of children.”

There was no immediately apparent link between Nugent’s views on Gaza and the attack against Haines.