Warning signs over threats to Australian politicians were rising before MP hit by car
Australian MP Helen Haines was severely injured after being struck by a car in what the Prime Minister described as a deliberate attack. The incident follows rising concerns about the safety of politicians amid increasing political polarization in Australia.
Why it matters
The event highlights a global trend of rising hostility toward public officials and the potential for political violence in traditionally stable democracies.
Image source, AFP via Getty Images Image caption, Police have been guarding the hospital in Melbourne where independent MP Helen Haines is being treated
As increasingly frequent acts of violence against politicians have shocked the globe in recent years, Australia has watched on with a contradictory feeling: that attacks like that could not happen here, and that it was only a matter of time until they did.
Australians will tell you this is a largely peaceful society with a comparatively civil public discourse. Violence targeting politicians has been rare, the bungled assassination of Labor leader Arthur Calwell in 1966 now a distant and fleeting memory.
But MPs and public figures – backed by experts – have been warning of a volcano of threats against them as social cohesion cracks, polarisation intensifies and the tone of debate grows hotter.
And on Monday, their worst fears appear to have been realised.
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