Brendan Nugent Charged Over Alleged Attack on Helen Haines

Conceptual illustration of a court document folder outside a regional Australian courthouse

Updated: 20 October 2026, 23:27 AEDT (Sydney)

Victoria Police charged a 43-year-old Tarrawingee man on Tuesday evening over the alleged vehicle attack that critically injured independent MP Helen Haines outside her Wangaratta office on Monday.

The man, identified by ABC News as Brendan Nugent, faces dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury and the Commonwealth offence of causing harm to a Commonwealth public official.

In a statement published at 7:39pm on Tuesday, police said he would be held overnight to appear at Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 21 October. The charges are allegations and have not been determined by a court.

Police allege a white Toyota LandCruiser struck Haines, 65, outside an office on Murphy Street at about 3:35pm on Monday, 19 October. They said the incident was targeted. A member of the public initially restrained the man before he was taken into custody at about 3:40pm.

Detectives searched a property on Great Alpine Road in Tarrawingee on Tuesday morning. Haines remained in hospital in a critical but stable condition, according to the police statement.

Victoria Police said an enhanced presence would continue in Wangaratta, including Public Order Response Team officers. Investigators said the incident appeared isolated and there were no other known connected threats at that stage.

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