'Targeted' attack on much-loved MP leaves Australian town heartbroken

ByKaty Watson Australia correspondent, Reporting fromWangaratta, north-east Victoria.

Key points

• Instead, locals are fielding endless questions regarding their MP – and having to explain to strangers what it all means for the town's almost 30, 000 individuals.
• "People are simply dumbfounded and finding it very hard to fathom the scale of this tragedy, " Australia's Governor-General Sam Mostyn.
• First elected to parliament in 2019, Haines is best known for her years-long efforts to establish a national anti-corruption commission.
• The commission finally opened in 2023 under Anthony Albanese's Labor administration.
• "Everyone knows Helen, " notes Jane Hill, who owns a party supply shop a few hundred metres down the town's main street from where Haines was hit.

Wangaratta has been thrust into an unwelcome spotlight this week. Residents in this rural Victorian town are applied to catering to tourists passing through on their way to regional wineries, or music lovers visiting its annual jazz and blues festival.

When she was struck by a car just outside her office, they are clearly in shock regarding what police say was a targeted and deliberate attack on Helen Haines on Monday afternoon.

"People are simply dumbfounded and finding it very hard to fathom the scale of this tragedy, " Australia's Governor-General Sam Mostyn. This person represents King Charles, remarked at a press conference on Wednesday.

Notably, the independent federal MP had to have both legs amputated after she was airlifted to Melbourne. But the "two most important parts of Helen", her heart and her mind, were in "good shape", her husband Phil Haines remarked.

For context, the MP isn't a divisive figure, locals tell the BBC, and no one can understand why she was allegedly targeted.

"She is a such a good person in our community. She'd go to everything – celebrations, funerals, she's one of those genuinely kind individuals – and so are her family."

Local man Brendan Nugent, whose father has been good friends with Haines for decades, faces at least three charges over the alleged attack including intentionally causing harm and appeared in court on Wednesday. Police say they are considering further charges, including attempted murder. MP 'thanked everyone' as she lay injured.

She was spurred by on a series of major political scandals which, in her words, saw "public money spent for political gain", disproportionate spending on "shiny infrastructure projects" in marginal seats and decisions benefitting major donors over ordinary residents. The commission finally opened in 2023 under Anthony Albanese's Labor administration.

Haines has additionally assisted to secure funds for housebuilding, railway improvements and health infrastructure in her region. It she argues has long been sidelined by policies favouring cities.

On a spring afternoon in Wangaratta, nobody seemed to have a bad word to say regarding the former nurse and midwife turned politician.

Local Mayor Irene Grant described her as "warm", "cheerful" and "committed", and pointed to her record on climate action and Indigenous rights.

In a police update on Wednesday, Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush remarked she'd given "wonderful support" to local police when two officers were shot dead in the nearby town of Porepunkah last year.

Bystanders who came to Haines' aid recalled how she thanked them even as she lay severely injured.

"It was incredible, " Jacklyn Black informed Nine Network's Today show. "We were having conversations, she was telling me about her grandkids."

"To be in that situation and be as calm as she could be in the moment, but additionally thankful to the aid that the community had given her. I could speak any more highly of her in a moment like that, " Cody Lepoidevin continued. "She just thanked everyone."

There's a sizeable print-out of Helen Haines plastered onto the window of her office – anyone delivering flowers for her gets a sizeable smile back as they look up and walk away.

Throughout the road on Tuesday, a man waved an Australian flag. On his T-shirt were the words "Wangaratta – this is not us!"

It's clear that plenty of feel that way in this friendly community where residents look out for each other.

Next door to Haines' office is RickyChops barbershop, owned by Ricky Jefferies. When he heard the chaos unfolding outside, he rushed to support, pinning down the suspect.

"I just leant over him and once he was on the ground and he was no longer a threat, I just stood with him, and I told him that he can't leave, " he explained after the incident.

"I don't think I'm a hero. I think that I just was a person who had an opportunity to intervene in a safe-ish sort of way."

Some clearly disagree with Ricky. By Tuesday afternoon, he too had received a bouquet of flowers tied to his shop's door, and a small balloon with the words "thank you".

Down the road at the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, a vigil was held, attended by a couple of hundred individuals lining up to light a candle for Haines.

While others wore campaign T-shirts carrying the words "Team Helen Haines", some hugged the clergy.

Her husband Phil remarked he had received "thousands upon thousands" of messages of love and backing.

"I can only say how much of a difference that makes to all of us, " he remarked. "Helen's road to recovery will be long and difficult, but we know she is a fighter."

"Whether you vote for her or not, she seems to have the community at heart so that's all you can really ask for; a politician that represents your community, " remarked Austin Longfield who lives in nearby Albury.

"It's just something that you wouldn't expect in our community, " he continued. "You see it in other countries and it's just something that I didn't comprehend could happen here." With extra reporting by Simon Atkinson.

Taken together, the developments around ' Targeted' attack on much-loved MP leaves Australian town heartbroken point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.