Police have named Brendan Nugent, a 43-year-old local activist from Tarrawingee, as the suspect in the alleged deliberate attack on independent MP Helen Haines in rural Victoria. Haines, 65, remains in a critical but stable condition in a Melbourne hospital following emergency overnight surgery.
Attack Details and Arrest
Nugent was arrested on Monday afternoon after Haines was reportedly hit by a Toyota LandCruiser 4x4 in Wangaratta. Officials said the incident was 'not an accident'. Home affairs minister Tony Burke described witness accounts: "What witnesses have described is the driver doing a U-turn to get into the car park and to ram Helen against a vehicle, then to reverse and do it a second time."
Police were thought to be interviewing the suspect on Tuesday morning. Multiple news outlets named Nugent, whose biography on social media platform X reads: "Plant person. The world should be run by children and dogs." Melbourne news title The Age reported that Nugent 'strayed into "darker" things since his days protesting logging in the local forest', according to police sources.
Hero Barber and Witness Appeal
The incident has put the spotlight on Ricky Jefferies, a barber next door to Haines' office. Jefferies has been called a 'hero' by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and local police chiefs have 'personally thanked' him for wrestling the driver from behind the wheel.
Jefferies told reporters: "I heard a loud bang, it was crazy, I just ran out the front to see what was happening. I did what I could and did what others were trying to do." He added: "The driver was still in the car, the car was still on, and… a man sat in front of the moving car. I had no choice but to take him out of the car because it was the right and safest thing to do." Jefferies also said he 'took [a knife] out of his pocket and threw it away'.
Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Ashley Mason has called for any witnesses to come forward to police or contact Crimestoppers anonymously.
