Simon Atkinson
Reporting from Wangaratta

As we've just reported, police in Australia have charged a man after Helen Haines was hit by a car on Monday.

The 43-year-old man has been charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury and the Commonwealth offence of causing harm to a Commonwealth public official.

He remains in custody and will appear at Wangaratta Magistrates' Court tomorrow.

Police say they will allege the incident was targeted.

A 43-year-old man has been charged over the alleged attack on Australian MP Helen Haines.

We'll have more in our next post.

Australia will be changed by the attack on Helen Haines, the mayor of the city where the incident took place tells the BBC.

Irene Grant adds the incident "should" change Australia, adding: "It's a terrible thing."

She describes the incident as an "assassination attempt", adding: "The discourse in public life has changed. It's become a lot more tense."

The Wangaratta mayor says Australia has always imagined it's "immune" to violence like that which occurred on Monday, but adds "we're not".

Haines is as a "warm", "cheerful" and "committed" MP, Grant says, who had a focus on issues such as environmental and indigenous rights.

Police say they are still investigating the "alleged targeting" of Haines. Officers said on Monday they were investigating whether the incident was intentional - the suspect has not been charged.

Image source, AAP

We've just had an update from the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, where Haines underwent surgery last night.

They say the MP remains in a critical condition.

Earlier, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Haines was in "critical but stable".

Local media, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, has reported that the MP has lost one of her legs.

Wangaratta, Victoria, is a rural town of 30,000 people, around three hours' drive north-east of Melbourne.

Our correspondent Katy Watson has sent this report from the town - a place, she says, that remains in a state of shock.

Simon Atkinson
Reporting from Wangaratta

I’ve been speaking to locals who are still clearly shocked at what happened here 24 hours ago.

Jane Hill, who owns The Spirited Party Shop, a few hundred metres down the town's Main Street from where Dr Haines was hit, says she feels "numb".

"Everyone knows Helen. She is a such a good person in our community. She’d go to everything - celebrations, funerals, she’s one of those genuinely kind people - and so are her family.

"They’re saying it was deliberate - and as a country person, I worry that things like this are happening here now."

Image source, BBC: Simon Atkinson

Image source, Getty Images

The family of the man accused of attacking Helen Haines have released a statement, describing the alleged attack as "devastating and unfathomable".

The suspect's father, Rod Nugent, and father's partner, Christine Cunningham, say they've been friends with Haines "for more than 20 years".

"We would like to sincerely thank members of the local community and police who came to Helen’s aid yesterday after the shocking and horrific crime," they say.

"Helen Haines is a deeply respected, valued and much loved member of our local community.

"All of our love and all of our thoughts are with Helen and her family and friends."

The suspect has been named by local media as 43-year-old Brendan Nugent, an environmental campaigner in the city of Wangaratta.

The family statement adds they will be "assisting Victoria Police in any way we can".

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

The local barber who grabbed the suspect out of his car told reporters earlier he doesn’t think he is a "hero".

"I just think I was a person who had the opportunity to intervene in a safe-ish sort of way," Ricky Jefferies says.

Jefferies, whose barber shop is near the scene of the attack, says he searched the suspect and found a knife.

"He didn’t pull it [the knife] out. I just wasn't comfortable with his movements and so I took it out of his pocket and threw it away," Jefferies says.

Other bystanders also got involved too, he adds.

"They didn’t even check for danger, they just ran to help," he says. "The driver was still in the car, the car was still on and they sat in front of a rolling car, that's not an exaggeration.

"There is a man who sat in front of a rolling car to help someone, that really happened."

• See Jefferies describe the incident in our video rail at the top of the page

Katy Watson
Australia correspondent reporting from Wangaratta

At the vigil earlier today, locals queued patiently in the cathedral aisle, waiting their turn to light a candle for Helen Haines.

People there were emotional – the priests hugging some of those who’d come to pay their respects.

There were Wangaratta residents, as well as people who’d travelled from other electorates to show their solidarity after what happened.

Clearly there’s a lot of affection for Dr Haines. Sitting in the pews, are people wearing orange T-shirts – campaign merchandise emblazoned with "team Helen Haines".

Haines won this seat as an independent back in 2019, and in the years since has become a prominent member of the crossbench, building rapport across Australia's increasingly divided political spectrum.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Helen Haines, the independent MP for the Indi division in Victoria, is well regarded by her colleagues and seen by many as a unifying force in an age of increasingly divisive politics.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called her a "beacon of light" while fellow MP Allegra Spender says she's the person she turns to "when I have an ethical dilemma".

The independent MP has only been a federal parliamentarian for a relatively short time - having been elected in 2019. However, in that time she has become an influential advocate for integrity in politics.

Haines proposed legislation for a national anti-corruption watchdog in 2021, and has been credited for driving the creation of the National Anti-Corruption Commission under Labor in the previous parliamentary term.

Before entering politics, she worked as a nurse, midwife, and public health researcher and she has published several research papers on maternal health.

MPs say the apparent attack is their 'worst nightmare' come truepublished at 06:04 BST

06:04 BST

Tiffanie Turnbull
BBC News, Sydney

As increasingly frequent acts of violence against politicians have shocked the globe in recent years, Australia has watched on with a contradictory feeling: that attacks like that could not happen here, and that it was only a matter of time until they did.

But MPs and public figures – backed by experts – have been warning of a volcano of threats against them as social cohesion cracks, polarisation intensifies and the tone of debate grows hotter.

Coalition Senator James Paterson told News24 on Tuesday: "I'd like to say that I was surprised… but I'm not at all surprised."

MPs from across the spectrum have been describing a political climate in which they've found themselves wearing disguises in public, locking their office doors, and scanning every crowd for potential threats.

Women in politics are particularly scared, said Victorian state MP Georgie Purcell, who shares part of her electorate with Haines: "For many of us, the news... is our worst nightmare."

There have been frustrated rumblings in Canberra from some MPs who say security arrangements have not changed to match the threat and – if a political motivation for this incident is confirmed – one of the greatest tenets of the nation's political culture could now be at risk.

Read the analysis here.

Helen Haines, the independent federal MP for Indi, is in a "critical but stable condition", Australia's prime minister has confirmed.

"All of our thoughts are with Helen Haines today, with her family, her team, her many many friends and indeed her community as well," Anthony Albanese told the audience at an event in Melbourne this afternoon.

He also got a chance to chat to Ricky Jefferies, the local barber who pulled the driver out of the car that hit Haines and detained him until police arrived.

"It’s a reminder that at the worst of times we see the best of the Australian character," Albanese says, adding Jefferies ran into danger "not knowing what the consequences could potentially be for him".

Image source, Getty Images

An outpouring of thoughts and well wishes, in the form of flowers, has built up in the street outside Helen Haines' MP office in Wangaratta this morning.

The tributes illustrate Haines' popularity among members of her electorate.

Image source, Simon Atkinson/BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Simon Atkinson/BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he spoke with Anthony Albanese in the aftermath of the alleged attack on Helen Haines, and passed on "thoughts and prayers from New Zealand".

Speaking to journalists this morning, Luxon described the incident as a “terrible set of circumstances”.

"The facts haven't still come out as to what the motivation has been or was, but you know, a concerning development in Australia for sure," he said.

New Zealand's foreign minister Winston Peters said in an X post that "New Zealand is shocked by the attack on Australian MP Helen Haines".

"Violence has absolutely no place in politics," he wrote.

Katy Watson
Australia correspondent reporting from Wangaratta

At the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral here in Wangaratta, there’s a vigil taking place - several hundred people who’ve come to pay their respects and light a candle for Helen Haines who remains in hospital.

“It’s just something that you wouldn't expect in our community,” says Austin Longfild.

“You see it in other countries and it's just something that I didn't comprehend could happen here, and then it's just happened down the street.”

He’s full of praise for Helen Haines: “Seeing how she advocates for the community, she seems pretty authentic,” he says.

“Whether you vote for her or not, she seems to have the community actually at heart so that’s all you can really ask for, for a politician that represents your community.”

Image source, BBC: Katy Watson

"I was just trying to not get injured and trying to not let anyone else be injured after the initial incident," Ricky Jefferies told local media.

He said he had "no choice" but to pull the alleged attacked out of his car. "It was the right and safest thing to do."

Helen Haines, the independent federal MP for Indi, remains in a critical condition in hospital after she was hit by a car outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, Victoria, yesterday afternoon.

Here's the latest:

• Haines, 65, was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne where she underwent surgery last night. Some local media outlets are reporting she has lost one of her legs
• A 43-year-old man from nearby Tarrawingee was arrested at the scene after he was detained by bystanders. He has now been named by local media as Brendan Nugent, who was previously well known in the local area as an environmental campaigner
• Police are questioning the suspect and weighing up charges, which could include causing harm to a public official, an offence which carries a ten-year jail term
• The driver reportedly did a U-turn to get into position before hitting Haines, then reversed and hit her again, the home affairs minister has told reporters
• Politicians from across the political spectrum, including PM Anthony Albanese, say the incident has left them shaken

• The country is in shock as political violence is rare in Australia, though fears of such attacks have been growing

Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates.

Image source, Getty Images

Local media are reporting the name of the 43-year-old man arrested yesterday as Brendan Nugent.

It's understood Nugent, from nearby Tarrawingee, was an environmental campaigner with an interest in anti-logging issues.

Nugent was detained by bystanders in the moments after he allegedly drove into Helen Haines outside her electorate office on Monday afternoon.

Haines remains in critical condition in a Melbourne hospital.

Katy Watson
Australia correspondent reporting from Wangaratta

Helen Haines’ office is on Wangaratta’s main street, which has now reopened to traffic and cars are slowly filing past.

On the window is a large decal of Dr Haines, smiling at her electorate.

This apparent attack has shocked this small community, and of course the country more broadly.

On the pavement outside her office, there’s a growing number of bouquets being left for her.

Every so often, another member of the community walks by, stops, and lays another one down.

One card reads "may you recover quickly and continue to be a light in this world". Another thanks her for all the "wonderful" work she has done.

Image source, EPA

We know Helen Haines was taken to hospital with severe injuries to her lower body yesterday, and that she underwent surgery overnight after being airlifted to a Melbourne hospital.

This morning the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has reported that the MP has lost one of her legs.

Nine News has also reported this.

The last we've heard from officials is that Haines is in a critical condition.