Lawmaker reportedly loses leg as car ramming stuns Australia - NBC News
Australian lawmaker Helen Haines was critically injured after being intentionally struck by a car in Wangaratta. Police have charged a local man in connection with the attack, which has shocked the nation due to the extreme rarity of political violence there.
Why it matters
Political violence is exceedingly rare in Australia, making this targeted attack against a federal lawmaker a major national shock and security concern.
An Australian lawmaker was in critical but stable condition Tuesday after being hit by a car in what authorities said was a deliberate attack, shocking a nation where political violence is extremely rare. Helen Haines, a 65-year-old independent member of Parliament, was struck Monday by a white Toyota Land Cruiser outside her electoral district office in Wangaratta, a town of about 30,000 people in the southern Australian state of Victoria. She underwent surgery overnight after being airlifted to a hospital in the state capital of Melbourne, about 150 miles away. Local media reported that one of Haines’ legs had been amputated and that she was fighting to keep her other leg. The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne did not respond to an NBC News request for comment on the reports.
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