Australian MP Helen Haines in critical condition after deliberate vehicle attack, prime minister says

Australian lawmaker Helen Haines was in a critical ‌condition on Monday after being deliberately struck by a car outside her office in Wangaratta, police and Prime ​Minister Anthony Albanese said.

43-year-old driver arrested at the scene in Wangaratta in state of Victoria

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Oct 19, 2026 6:16 AM EDT | Last Updated: 25 minutes ago

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Australian lawmaker Helen Haines was in a critical ‌condition on Monday after being deliberately struck by a car outside her office in Wangaratta, police and Prime ​Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Haines, 65, ‌was airlifted to hospital, Albanese said.

"This wasn't an accident. There was a deliberate act, it would appear. We don't know what the motivation is," Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Victoria Police ​said a 43-year-old man had been arrested after the attack on the Independent MP in Wangaratta, around 200 kilometres northeast ⁠of Melbourne.

"A knife was located by police and seized from inside the Toyota," police said.

Victoria Police acting superintendent Ashley Mason told a news conference there was no further threat to the public.

Albanese ​said it was too early to determine the ⁠motive for the attack, though a terrorism taskforce ⁠would be investigating the arrested suspect.

"We thank ⁠the ⁠swift assistance ​of bystanders and the dedicated health workers who assisted ​her, and ⁠police for their response," a statement by Haines's family posted on her Facebook page said.

Haines was first elected to the Parliament in 2019 to represent the electoral division of Indi.

Authorities are concerned that there were more than 1,000 threats of violence against public figures in Australia in the past year and that being in public office has become more dangerous.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said in 2025 that threats against parliamentarians had doubled over the past three years. Police data showed more than 1,000 such threats against politicians in the 2025-26 financial year, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Monday.