1 hour ago
Helen Haines has had second leg amputated but is alive and stable
Phil Haines, the husband of Helen Haines, says the independent MP has now lost both pf her legs after the alleged attack on Monday.
He said surgeons amputated her left leg on Monday and were hoping to save the right leg but could not.
The good news in all this is Helen is alive and she’s stable. That is the most important thing for our family. And I think when we reflect and talk about and think about Helen, the two most important parts of Helen for us as a family are her heart and her mind.
Her heart is huge. She is a very compassionate, caring, loving person. Incredibly supportive of all around her, her family, her community, anybody she comes across. And her mind. She has the sharpest intellect.
Phil Haines is providing an update to the media on behalf of the family. He says next month he and Helen are due to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
Key events
‘Take things day by day’: Haines
Phil Haines is emotional as he ends his address to the media:
One thing I’ve learned in the last two days, reinforced by many people, is to take things day by day. I know it’s a cliche, but it’s a cliche for a very good reason. So I thank you all for being here. I thank you for listening. And please keep sending Helen your love and our family as well.
He then thanks the governor-general, Sam Mostyn for travelling to Melbourne upon his request, and speaking to the media with him this evening.
He says he invited her at short notice and she came right away.
I invited her to come today at very short notice and she warmly and gladly straight away said yes. And it’s wonderful to have you here. Helen has the most incredible affection and respect for our Governor–General.
‘Helen’s road to recovery will be long and difficult but ... she is a fighter’: husband Phil Haines
Phil Haines pays tribute to all the first responders, police, paramedics and the community who have supported her since the alleged attack.
He asks for anyone who wants to support Haines, to donate to the Save the Children fund. He says Helen’s last official engagement on the day of the alleged attack was to speak at a legacy lecture for the charity.
He tells the media:
It’s amazing to think it’s only been two days since this horrendous accident or this horrendous incident took place.
Helen’s road to recovery will be long and difficult, but we know she is a fighter. She is a determined person who will do her best with our support and love to recover. And that is what we hope for.
Helen Haines has had second leg amputated but is alive and stable
Phil Haines, the husband of Helen Haines, says the independent MP has now lost both pf her legs after the alleged attack on Monday.
He said surgeons amputated her left leg on Monday and were hoping to save the right leg but could not.
The good news in all this is Helen is alive and she’s stable. That is the most important thing for our family. And I think when we reflect and talk about and think about Helen, the two most important parts of Helen for us as a family are her heart and her mind.
Her heart is huge. She is a very compassionate, caring, loving person. Incredibly supportive of all around her, her family, her community, anybody she comes across. And her mind. She has the sharpest intellect.
Phil Haines is providing an update to the media on behalf of the family. He says next month he and Helen are due to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
Sam Mostyn and Phil Haines will be speaking shortly from Melbourne.
Here’s everything we know about her situation:
Helen Haines’s husband and governor general due to speak as MP remains in critical condition
Krishani Dhanji
Good evening, Krishani Dhanji here with you on the Guardian’s live blog.
The husband of Helen Haines, Phil Haines, and the governor general, Sam Mostyn, will be speaking to the media shortly to provide an update on the condition of the independent MP who was allegedly struck by a car on Monday and remains in hospital.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said earlier today Haines was still in a critical condition.
We’ll bring you that shortly.
What we learned so far
Thank you for joining us today. We are going to pause our coverage of the attack on Helen Haines for now. Here’s what has happened so far today:
The independent MP for Indi remains in a critical condition at the Alfred hospital in Melbourne. Haines has lost one leg, and surgeons operated on Tuesday in an effort to save the other.
Alleged attacker Brendan Nugent has been charged and appeared at a Wangaratta magistrates court this morning. The chief commissioner of Victoria police, Mike Bush, said police were considering further charges. Nugent has not requested bail and remains in custody.
Many in the Wangaratta community are still grappling with the events.
Wangaratta mayor says community is in ‘collective shock and sadness’
Caitlin Cassidy
The mayor of Wangaratta, Irene Grant, says the community is in “collective shock and sadness” after the alleged attack on Helen Haines.
Wangaratta council is holding a special meeting this afternoon to pass a resolution condemning violence against the independent MP, and maintaining “threats and intimidation have absolutely no place in our communities or our democracy”.
Grant told the meeting she was in “absolute disbelief that this should happen”:
This is a deeply distressing time for Helen, her family, her staff, and our entire community.
She said she had spoken to the governor general, Sam Mostyn, who expressed her support during what had been a “very difficult and emotional time”.
Grant said Mostyn had told her:
“Moments like this do not define us – what defines us is how we respond.”
The local state member, Tim McCurdy, is in attendance at the meeting, as our councillors and mayors from nearby regions.
Liberal MP says comments made in parliament last week were ‘regrettable’
The Liberal frontbencher Angie Bell has released a statement about the alleged attack on the independent MP Helen Haines.
Bell’s statement expresses regret about the comments she made last week, when she said the the small business minister, Anne Aly, and the prime minister should be “shamed and stoned in the square” over a decision made by the tax office. Aly condemned the comments as “racist” and “misogynistic”.
Bell said:
My thoughts are first and foremost with my friend Helen Haines and her family. This is a shocking attack on an outstanding MP who works diligently for her community.
She added:
My regrettable comment last week was a poor choice of words in the context of the challenges facing small businesses. It was not helpful or planned, which is why I immediately withdrew it and attempted to rectify this with Dr Aly.
While the motive for this horrific attack on Helen is not yet clear, there is absolutely no place for political violence in Australia. Australians must be free to disagree passionately, but there is no justification for threats or violence.
Helen Haines is the ‘MP we all wish we had’, David Pocock says
The independent ACT senator David Pocock says Helen Haines is “the MP we all wish we had”, telling the Press Club in Canberra that working with her was one of “the great privileges of serving in our parliament”.
Pocock has also called out what he claimed was political actors using anger and hate “for political advantage”, including spreading misinformation.
“You [Haines] make our politics in this country better. That someone would deliberately hurt you, I find unfathomable,” Pocock told the Press Club in a speech.
He added:
We must meet this attack on you by doubling down on the values you represent, that you champion so hard in our parliament every day … now is the time to think about what brings us together. To defend our shared values, our democracy, and our freedom to live as Australians.
Pocock said he was concerned about increasing threats against politicians, an issue he spoke about with his wife, and the safety risks for people in public life.
Krishani Dhanji
Prime minister repeats calls to quell the anger in public discourse, citing protest at his office
Anthony Albanese has repeated calls to turn the political temperature down, telling News24 that his electoral office in Sydney has faced multiple protests.
He says the electorate office is largely for constituents to get help from staff with issues like Centrelink, migration, Medicare and healthcare.
He says he was forced to move offices, but protesters still demonstrate outside the old location.
He tells News24:
And the fact that tactics were used, such as regularly opening the door of my elector office, shoving in balloons full of what essentially were stink bombs, to make it uninhabitable for either staff or constituents, meant that it simply wasn’t tolerable, as well as the abuse that was suffered.
My old electorate office was in the grounds of the Anglican church St Clement’s there in Marrickville Road, and people going to church, it shared a car park as well. People going to church were being abused and it became such that the church ... wanted us to to move. So that has occurred. Bizarrely, the demonstration is still outside my former office.
Krishani Dhanji
Helen Haines remains in critical condition in Melbourne hospital, PM says
Anthony Albanese tells News24 he has spoken to Helen Haines’s husband this morning and that she remains in critical condition in hospital:
Helen remains in a critical condition ... It’s up to the family to make further statements when and and if they think that’s appropriate.
Krishani Dhanji
Parliamentarians are receiving briefings all day today from the Asio boss, the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian federal police, after the alleged attack on Helen Haines.
Anthony Albanese, who just attended a briefing for Labor MPs, said it was an opportunity for them to ask questions or raise concerns with the security bosses.
The crossbench and Coalition will get separate briefings today.
Albanese tells News24:
There’s been an increase in funding for security for members of parliament in the last couple of years, and this is an opportunity for people who feel anxious to be able to ask questions as well of the security agencies as well as the Department of Home Affairs.
Albanese is asked whether all parliamentarians could get individual security personnel. He says:
I think that risk assessments are made, and those risk assessments are done as best as possible. But here in this tragic circumstance with Helen Haines, she was getting something out of the boot of her car. Now people do need to go about their business.
