The Australian Federal Police says determining the motive behind the alleged attack on independent MP Helen Haines remains the central focus of an extensive investigation, adding that detectives still face months of work.
Appearing on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday, AFP Commissioner Chrissy Barrett told host David Speers that investigators are examining a range of factors, including the accused man’s mental health and social media activity.
Haines’ condition improved from critical to serious but stable on Saturday after more than four days in hospital.
The independent MP suffered severe injuries, including the loss of both legs, when she was struck by a vehicle outside her electorate office on Monday.
Victoria Police allege the incident was a deliberate attack.
Tarrawingee man Brendan Nugent, 43, has been charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury, and the Commonwealth offence of causing harm to a Commonwealth public official.
Barrett stressed the investigation remains active despite the charges.
‘Just because he’s now before the court, it doesn’t mean that there is not still a lot of investigative work that needs to be undertaken,’ she said.
Barrett (pictured) said political views and mental health were being examined as motivations
‘There are devices to be analysed, evidence to be analysed and assessed, so that will remain the case for a number of weeks and months.’
Barrett said detectives from Victoria Police, the AFP and ASIO are working to establish exactly what motivated the alleged attack.
‘At this point in time, the primary focus of that investigation is determining what the motive is for this atrocious attack, so that is obviously front and centre in terms of what our investigators are focused on,’ she said.
‘There has been media reporting around his mental health, around some of the causes or issues that he has aligned himself with. That all remains part of the ongoing investigation.’
Pressed by Speers on whether Haines was targeted because she was a politician, Barrett declined to draw conclusions.
‘Whether it was directly linked to her role as a federal parliamentarian remains front and centre for our investigators,’ she said.
Barrett revealed authorities had no intelligence indicating Haines faced any imminent threat before the alleged attack.
‘Between ASIO, the AFP and Victoria Police, we had no information that would have suggested that she was the target of something as horrific as what has occurred last week,’ she said.
Haines’ (pictured) condition improved from critical to serious but stable on Saturday
Speers noted the incident had ‘an absolutely chilling effect, not just on federal parliamentarians, but indeed on Australia as a country’ before asking whether establishing a motive was proving difficult.
Barrett said investigators are dealing with a complex set of circumstances.
‘Sometimes it is difficult to determine a clear motive,’ she said.
‘We’ve spoken about the environment, the febrile environment, we’ve spoken about the complexity of the environment, and individuals are complex as well.’
The commissioner also discussed a broader rise in threats directed at elected representatives, saying abuse against politicians had increased significantly in recent years.
Barrett said she reviews AFP threat reports every morning and warned that some days the reports of threats against federal MPs run to ‘pages and pages’.
‘I would challenge anybody to read some of these threats and some of the abuse that is reported to us from federal parliamentarians, and for anyone to argue that that is free speech or political discourse,’ she said.
