Australian prime minister says car collision that critically injured lawmaker was “no accident”

MELBOURNE, Australia — Federal independent MP Helen Haines, 65, was critically injured after a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV struck her outside her district office in Wangaratta, Victoria, mid-afternoon Monday, police said. She was taken to hospital. Haines was first elected to Parliament in 2019. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the incident appeared to be a deliberate attack, and the driver was arrested.

Albanese said a national counterterrorism team incorporating police and intelligence agencies was investigating. “This wasn’t an accident. There was a deliberate act, it would appear. We don’t know what the motivation is,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. A passerby arrested the 43-year-old driver at the scene, police said. He will be interviewed in relation to the incident. Police said a knife was found and seized inside the Toyota. They added that they were investigating whether the act was intentional.

The incident has renewed concern about the safety of Australian lawmakers. Politicians in the country have historically been highly accessible and have generally gone about their work without security officers, but public incitement against officials is growing. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said in 2025 that threats against parliamentarians had doubled over the previous three years. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Monday that police data showed more than 1,000 threats against politicians in the 2025–26 financial year.

In Britain, murders of politicians have led to increased security. Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed in 2016 by a far-right extremist, and Conservative MP David Amess was stabbed in 2021 by an attacker inspired by the Islamic State group. In July, former politician and reality TV contestant Ann Widdecombe was found slain with a hammer at her home. A man has been charged with murder and terrorism-related offences.