By Alasdair Pal
SYDNEY, Oct 19 (Reuters) – Australian lawmaker Helen Haines was in a critical condition on Monday after being deliberately struck by a car outside her office, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying a terrorism taskforce would be investigating the suspect arrested.
Albanese said it was too early to determine the motive for the attack but pointed to the changing face of social media having raised the temperature around politics in a country where such violence is extremely rare.
Victoria Police said a 43-year-old man had been arrested after the attack on independent MP Haines in Wangaratta, around three hours’ drive northeast of Melbourne.
Haines, 65, was airlifted to hospital, Albanese said.
When asked by public broadcaster ABC whether the increased anger around politics had led to worries about attacks on politicians, the prime minister pointed to the anonymity of online content.
“The concern, if you look at anyone’s social media feeds and look at the comments, people will say things that they would never say face to face. But the temperature has undoubtedly been increased. Not just here in Australia, of course. We’ve seen incidents internationally as well,” he said.
“Here in Australia, it is a good thing that politicians are able to go about their community and engage with people. I don’t want to see a political system in which you can’t have conversations with people at the supermarket, in the street, at street meetings, public forums. That’s an important part of our democracy.”
NO THREAT TO PUBLIC
Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Ashley Mason told a press conference there was no further threat to the public from the incident.
“All of our thoughts are with Helen, her family, her friends, her team, and her community at this extremely difficult time. We are praying for her full recovery,” Albanese earlier told a press conference.
Haines’ family posted on her Facebook page, saying: “We thank the swift assistance of bystanders and the dedicated health workers who assisted her, and police for their response.”
Haines worked in nursing and midwifery and as an academic before being elected to parliament as an independent in 2019 in the seat of Indi.
Her website says she has opposed proposals including making political donations to the major parties more secretive, banning mobile phones in immigration detention and spending billions on fossil fuel subsidies.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney and Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Saad Sayeed)
