Australian MP in critical but stable condition after being hit by car

An Australian MP remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital, as the country’s prime minister praised a barber who helped restrain a driver accused of deliberately hitting her.

Helen Haines, a 65-year-old independent politician, was struck by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV on Monday outside her office in her electorate in the city of Wangaratta in Victoria state.

The 43-year-old driver of the vehicle remains in police custody.

Australian leader Anthony Albanese said he had phoned local barber Ricky Jefferies, who had run from his store to help members of the public detain the suspect, to thank him for intervening.

“It’s a reminder that at the worst of times, we see the best of the Australian character,” Mr Albanese said in Melbourne.

Mr Jefferies had earlier told reporters he searched the driver’s pockets and removed a knife. Police confirmed a knife had been found. Mr Jefferies also said he did not consider himself a hero.

“It was crazy,” he said. “I just ran out the front to see what was happening and … amazing members of the Wangaratta community who I know, or know most of them, and they were helping.”

Ms Haines’s family released a statement expressing thanks for the “swift assistance of bystanders” as well as health workers and police.

The MP, who was first elected to Parliament in 2019 and had been re-elected twice since, was initially taken to a hospital in Wangaratta, a city of 30,000 people. She was airlifted later on Monday to a hospital in the state capital, Melbourne, 147 miles away.

The Alfred Hospital did not respond to a request for comment on media reports that Ms Haines had had a leg amputated.

The episode has shocked Australians, in part because political violence is rare there and politicians have always been accessible to the public.

Most legislators are not accompanied by security officers and go about their work and personal lives on their own.

However, recent data has shown that threats of political violence have grown in Australia. The head of Australian Security Intelligence Organisation spy agency, Mike Burgess, reiterated an earlier warning that politically motivated violence was a top security concern, along with espionage and foreign interference.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the incident appeared to be isolated. She said possible charges in the case could include harming a federal official, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Police reported in 2025 that threats against parliamentarians had doubled over the past three years. Official data showed more than 1,000 such threats against politicians in the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

Legislators from across the political spectrum joined Mr Albanese in urging their colleagues, reporters and the public to turn down the heat in increasingly fractious political debates.

Many also said they hoped Australia’s easygoing culture of approachable politicians would not change.

Ms Haines was not known for polarising views. The daughter of dairy farmers and mother of three was a nurse, midwife and academic before entering politics, and advocated for rural health matters. She was initially elected in 2019 with a campaign focused on health equity, rural prosperity and climate action.

Mr Albanese said eyewitnesses had reported the suspect passed Ms Haines in his SUV as she stood by the boot of her parked car. The SUV then turned and came back before the man allegedly drove into the politician, the prime minister said.

Citing witness accounts, home affairs minister Tony Burke told Australian Broadcasting Corp that the driver allegedly reversed and struck Ms Haines a second time, pinning her against her car, after initially hitting her.