Source : the age
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says she is horrified and saddened by the attack on Indi MP Helen Haines.
“I wish her a full and speedy recovery, and I know Australians everywhere are wishing the same,” Hanson said on X.
“Violence against any elected representative, whoever they are and whatever they stand for, is never acceptable in Australia,” Hanson said.
“Members of parliament and their staff must be able to serve their communities without fearing for their safety.”
Counter-terror investigators will examine the history of the suspect in custody as they search for the motivation behind an attack now subject to a major police investigation.
“It is too early though, to speculate on motivation and we won’t be doing so,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said following the attack on Indi MP Helen Haines near her Victorian electorate office.
Victoria Police, Australian Federal Police and domestic spy agency ASIO are engaged in the investigation through the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, but with a motive for the attack still unknown, it has not yet been declared a terrorist incident.
“But importantly, someone is in custody,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said.
Political fundraising body Climate 200, which supported Helen Haines’ political campaign when she ran for the electorate of Indi in 2019, said it was “deeply disturbed and devastated” by the incident.
The climate-focused group said Haines was an “incredible MP for the electorate of Indi and an outstanding community leader”.
“The Climate 200 community is deeply disturbed and devastated to hear of the attack on Dr Helen Haines,” it said in a statement.
“Our thoughts are with Helen and her family at this difficult time.”
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has released a statement:
I am deeply saddened and distressed by the news out of Wangaratta tonight involving Dr Helen Haines MP.
I’m praying for Helen and thinking of her family and loved ones. This is a shocking day for our nation. No one should be targeted in this way.
Australians will be angry and appalled by the attack on Helen outside her electorate office in Wangaratta.
Our nation cannot become a place where violent attacks are normalised.
I’ve spoken with the Prime Minister, and we are united in our view that political violence must never be accepted as part of public life.
I hope Helen, her family and her community across north-east Victoria know that Australians right across the country are thinking of them and holding them in their thoughts during this incredibly difficult time.
Mason said he was not aware of any prior concerns or incidents related to Helen Haines before she was injured.
He told reporters there was “nothing to indicate at this stage” that the two parties are known to each other, but police are still investigating.
He said there was no ongoing or further threat to the community at this stage.
“I can provide some assurance to the community that we certainly do not have any intelligence that there is any further or ongoing threat to any other person or the broader community,” he said. “We are treating this as an isolated incident at this point in time.”
Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Ashley Mason said it was too early to say whether it was a targeted attack, but that would be a focus of the investigation.
“We’ve got our investigators from the Major Collision Investigation Unit who are currently en-route to Wangaratta from Melbourne,” he told reporters at the scene.
“They’ve got significant travel time as well as the time it will take for them to thoroughly process the crime scene once they arrive.”
He said he believed specialist terrorist-related police would be involved in the investigation.
“We’ve notified our crime and counter-terrorism command and they’re currently liaising and assisting our investigators,” he said.
Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Ashley Mason gave a short media conference not long ago and confirmed Haines suffered critical injuries and would likely be airlifted to Melbourne to receive medical treatment.
He said a 43-year-old man was detained by witnesses and arrested by police, who found a knife in his car.
The man remains at the Wangaratta police station where he will be interviewed by investigators.
In his ABC interview the Prime Minister said debate could be handled in a respectful way.
“We can have differences. They should be debated out in a democracy, but they shouldn’t be the subject of personal rancour and the calling into question people’s motivation where it’s not appropriate to do so.
Asked if he could see a connection between the Wangaratta attack and incidents such as the defacing of electoral offices, Albanese said: “There has been too much shouting, not enough discourse, not enough polite conversation and disagreement, and in a democracy, we should be able to have discussion, political debate, put different views, but do it in a way that is respectful.
“It has changed, and there’s no question that social media is part of that. But so is the contest for clicks, the fact that things need to be reduced down to dramatic all caps, if you like, rather than any nuance. One of the things that we need to do as a society is have a debate about that, and to have more nuance and more debate and less shouting would be a good thing.”
Victorian Premier Ben Carroll has just released this statement:
I am deeply appalled by this violent attack on Helen Haines.
My thoughts – and the thoughts of all Victorians – are with Helen, her family, her friends, her colleagues and her community.
I know how devastating this will be for the Wangaratta community and all those who Helen represents.
Thank you to police, paramedics, firefighters and witnesses for their immediate response.
An individual has been apprehended, and I thank Police for their swift action.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken to the ABC about the incident and, while stressing the motivation for the attack on Haines was not yet known, has made a number of comments about political discourse.
Asked if he had been worried that the elevated “temperature” could lead to physical harm, he said he’d expressed that concern publicly.
“I’ve expressed that concern to people in the media. 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.”
Albanese said that resources to counter politically motivated violence had been increased as agencies, including ASIO, had warned about the increasing risk.
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.
And someone like Helen Haines, of course, coming from that community, was someone who was out and about. I had the pleasure of spending time with Helen Haines in her local electorate, and I know that she’s very well regarded across the board.
She treats people with respect. She’s well regarded in the parliament as well, right across the political spectrum. And certainly, there’s no place for political violence in a democracy.
