Vehicle strikes MP Helen Haynes outside her office, costing her a leg; police call attack targeted

According to The Times of India, citing Reuters, the Associated Press and local media, Australian federal independent MP and member for the Indi electorate Helen Haynes was struck by a Toyota Land Cruiser at around 3:35 p.m. local time on Monday while retrieving items from the boot outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, Victoria. She lost a leg and subsequently underwent emergency surgery at a Melbourne hospital, remaining in critical condition after the operation.

According to the reports, Australian Home Minister Tony Burke relayed witnesses’ accounts that the man driving the vehicle first turned around and rammed Haynes into her vehicle before reversing and striking her again. A bystander stepped in to stop the man until police arrived. Police subsequently arrested a 43-year-old man at the scene and charged him with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury and assaulting a public official.

Victoria Police, the Australian Federal Police and the counter-terrorism unit are investigating. Police said they would characterize the attack as targeted, and there are no known subsequent threats linked to the case. However, existing reports have not explained why the man selected Haynes or what evidence police have gathered. “Targeted” remains the police’s characterization during the investigation, and the motive for the attack is still unclear.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “This was clearly deliberate. It was not a vehicle that lost control, and it was not someone who skidded off the road.” He also called for a more respectful political environment. Deliberateness does not automatically amount to an established political motive, and the involvement of the counter-terrorism unit does not prove that a terrorist organization or broader attack plan has been uncovered. The investigation must still establish why the man turned around, reversed and selected Haynes.