Australian lawmaker has both legs amputated after alleged deliberate attack by car rammer

The Australian lawmaker hit by a car in an allegedly deliberate attack has now had both legs amputated, her husband announced Wednesday.

Helen Haines, an independent federal MP, remains in critical condition in the hospital after being hit on a main road outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, northeastern Victoria, mid-afternoon Monday.


 Helen's left leg was amputated on Monday. We had been hoping that her right leg would be saved, but… the surgeons had to also remove her right leg,  Phil Haines, the MP's husband of nearly 40 years, told a press conference at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne.

 But the good news in all this is Helen is alive and she's stable,  he added.

On Monday, Haines, 65, was standing at the rear of her parked car, unpacking items from the trunk, when a man driving a Toyota Land Cruiser drove past her before allegedly turning around and ramming her into her vehicle. It's not clear why.

As bystanders rushed to her aid, a local barber pulled the driver from the car, detaining him until police arrived. Haines was immediately airlifted to Melbourne for surgery.

Haines, a popular and respected politician in Canberra, has represented her community as an independent MP since 2019.

The alleged attacker, 43-year-old Brendan Nugent, appeared in court on Wednesday and has since been charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury and causing harm to a Commonwealth public official.

Speaking after Phil Haines at the same news conference, Governor-General Sam Mostyn said she was keeping King Charles III updated on developments.

The governor-general is appointed by the king as Australia's formal head of state, though the country is led by a prime minister under a parliamentary system.

 Australia is still reeling with the shock and distress of this terrible attack,  Mostyn said.  I know that here in Victoria, in particular, people are simply dumbfounded and finding it very hard to fathom the scale of this tragedy. 

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