Australian Independent Member of Parliament Helen Haines speaks to reporters in the press gallery at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday September 8, 2026.
Image by Mick Tsikas/AAP via AP
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Image by Mick Tsikas/AAP via AP
MELBOURNE, Australia — A car rammed into an Australian independent federal lawmaker on Monday, seriously injuring her in an apparently deliberate attack, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. The driver was arrested.
Helen Haines, 65, was struck by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV outside her constituency office mid-afternoon in the Victorian town of Wangaratta, police said.
Albanese said the National Counterterrorism Team, made up of police and intelligence agencies, was investigating.
“It was not an accident. It appears there was a deliberate act. We don’t know what the motivation was,” Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to independent MP Helen Haines in the House of Representatives of Parliament in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, August 18, 2026.
Lukas Coch/AAPIMAGE via AP
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Lukas Coch/AAPIMAGE via AP
The 43-year-old driver was arrested on the spot by a passer-by. He will be questioned about the incident, police said.
“A knife was located by police and seized from inside the Toyota,” police said.
“At this stage, police are investigating to determine whether this was an intentional act,” police added.
Haines, who was first elected to Parliament in 2019, was taken to hospital with serious injuries, police said.
The episode has renewed security concerns for Australian lawmakers, in a country where politicians have historically been highly accessible to the public and typically go about their business without the presence of security officers. But public incitements against civil servants are increasing.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said in 2025 that threats against parliamentarians had doubled in the past three years. Police data showed more than 1,000 such threats against politicians in the 2025-2026 financial year, Home Secretary Tony Burke said on Monday.
Albanese told the ABC it was “unfortunate” that an increasingly polarized political climate had already led to changes to security for Australian lawmakers.
“I think there has been a rise in temperature and there has been too much shouting, not enough speeches, not enough polite conversations and disagreements,” he said Monday. There is “no doubt” that social media played a role, Albanese added.
In Britain, the killings of politicians have led to increased security. Labor lawmaker Jo Cox was fatally stabbed in 2016 by a far-right extremist, and conservative David Amess was stabbed in 2021 by an attacker inspired by the Islamic State group.
In July, former politician and reality TV contestant Ann Widdecombe was found hacked to death in her home. A man has been charged with murder and terrorism-related offences.
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