Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush has said there were no “intelligence holdings” against the man accused of ramming independent MP Helen Haines with his vehicle.
Brendan Nugent, 43, has been charged with causing harm to a Commonwealth public official, intentionally causing serious harm, and dangerous driving causing serious harm.
Police have described the incident outside Haines’s Wangaratta office on Oct. 19 as a deliberate attack.
Nugent appeared in Wangaratta Magistrates Court on Oct. 21, where his case was briefly mentioned ahead of a committal mention scheduled for Feb. 4, 2027. He did not apply for bail.
Haines, 65, has lost one leg and remains in a critical but stable condition at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital.
Bush said police were increasing their presence, but did not have any intelligence to suggest beforehand that Nugent may have posed a threat.
“We are … leveraging our state commanding co-ordination centre to ensure that we are right across any potential threats— especially leading up to the election—against any politicians in this state, to make sure there is a centralised place of reporting, a place where we can proactively search for any threats and ensure that we act quickly and we act proactively,” he told a media conference on Oct. 21.
“I'll further add to that that we had no intelligence holdings against this 43-year-old individual and there was nothing known to us that would have arisen or piqued our interest or given any indication that he was an immediate threat.”
Bush praised the quick actions of first responders who arrived on scene shortly after the attack, and said that a special investigation unit was working with the major collision investigation unit and a join counter-terrorism taskforce on the case.
“While this investigation is far from complete we are not ruling out further serious charges,” he said.
“We do believe this was a deliberate but isolated act.”
Nugent’s X account contains posts condemning politicians, Western nations and Israel, alongside a broader focus on environmental activism. In one post, Nugent defends the Houthis, who are listed as a terror group by the Australian government.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Krissy Barrett said police were concerned by increased political polarisation, anti-government sentiment and ideololgy leading to potential violence with little or no forewarning.
“The charges laid by the AFP ... shows the AFP will not hesitate to bring offenders before the courts,” she said.
Conversations have already started to emerge around whether Australian MPs need to have more protection as they go about their jobs.
Fellow Teal independent Monique Ryan told ABC Radio she had received two threats since the attack on Haines.
Ryan said she believed there should be discussion around increasing security for politicians.
Liberal Senator James Paterson also told the ABC that Australia’s politicians were “uniquely accessible” to the public.
“We go down to the shops and the supermarket like anyone else. You can bail us up in the street and give us feedback, positive or negative,” he told News24.
“In other democracies, there are a lot more layers of protection between their officeholders and the public. Some countries they have all around the clock security, they don’t go to the supermarket because of the threats to them.
“And I think that is not the kind of democracy that we should want to have in this country.”
According to the Australian government, the nation’s terrorism threat level is currently “probable,” meaning there is a greater than 50 percent chance of an onshore attack or attack planning in the next 12 months.
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