MELBOURNE – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday that federal lawmaker Helen Haines remained in hospital in critical but stable condition, while praising a barber who helped members of the public restrain the driver accused of deliberately striking her twice.
Haines, a 65-year-old independent politician, was hit Monday by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, Victoria. Police continued to hold the 43-year-old driver on Tuesday.
The attack stunned Australia, where political violence is uncommon and elected representatives have traditionally remained accessible to the public. Most lawmakers do not have security officers with them and generally move through their professional and private lives without protection.
The suspect’s father issued a statement Tuesday calling Haines a “deeply respected, valued and much loved member of our local community.”
“Helen has been our friend for more than 20 years and what happened to her yesterday is devastating and unfathomable,” he said.
The prime minister thanks a bystander for intervening
Albanese said he called local barber Ricky Jefferies on Tuesday to thank him for rushing from his shop and helping members of the public detain the suspect.
“It’s a reminder that at the worst of times, we see the best of the Australian character,” Albanese said in Melbourne.
Jefferies previously told reporters that he searched the driver’s pockets and removed a knife. Police confirmed that a knife had been recovered. Jefferies, however, said he did not view himself as a hero.
“It was crazy,” he said. “A lot of people got involved immediately and they didn’t even check for danger. They just ran to help.”
The lawmaker’s family says it’s grateful for the ‘swift assistance of bystanders’
Haines’s family thanked the “swift assistance of bystanders,” along with the health workers and police who responded after the attack.
Haines was first elected to Parliament in 2019 and has since won reelection twice. She was initially taken to a hospital in Wangaratta, a city of about 30,000 people, before being airlifted later Monday to a hospital in Melbourne, the state capital, 236 kilometers (147 miles) away.
The Alfred Hospital did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment on media reports that Haines had undergone a leg amputation.
Recent figures indicate that threats of political violence are increasing in Australia. Mike Burgess, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, reiterated Tuesday that politically motivated violence remained a leading security concern, alongside espionage and foreign interference.
Police reported in 2025 that threats against parliamentarians had doubled over the previous three years. Official figures recorded more than 1,000 threats against politicians during the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Politicians from across the political spectrum, along with Albanese, appealed Tuesday to lawmakers, journalists and the public to lower the temperature in increasingly bitter political debates. Many also expressed hope that Australia’s tradition of approachable, accessible politicians would survive the attack.
The injured lawmaker was not considered controversial or polarizing
Haines was not known for divisive views. The daughter of dairy farmers and a mother of three, she worked as a nurse, midwife and academic before entering politics. Her advocacy focused on rural health, and she was first elected in 2019 after campaigning on health equity, rural prosperity and climate action.
Albanese said witnesses reported that the suspect initially drove past Haines as she stood beside the trunk of her parked car. The SUV then turned around and returned before the man allegedly drove into the politician, the prime minister said.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told Australian Broadcasting Corp., citing witness accounts, that the driver allegedly reversed and struck Haines a second time, pinning her against her car, after initially hitting her.
Australia has a low rate of political violence
Elsewhere in the world, authorities have warned of growing threats to lawmakers. The United States has seen a rise in political violence over the past decade.
That includes the 2022 hammer assault on the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, in California; the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally during his presidential campaign as well as another on the president at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April; and the assassinations in 2025 of a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband, and of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in Utah.
In Britain, killings of politicians have also prompted bolstered security. Labour lawmaker Jo Cox was shot and stabbed in 2016 by a far-right extremist, while Conservative David Amess was stabbed in 2021 by an attacker inspired by the militant Islamic State group.
In July, the former British politician and reality TV contestant Ann Widdecombe was found beaten to death with a hammer at her home. A man has been charged with murder and terrorism-related offenses.
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Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.
