Australian member of parliament Helen Haines has been critically injured after being hit by a car. Police said she was taken to hospital in a critical condition, and they are investigating whether it was deliberate.
According to reports, Haines was in a car park near her electorate office in Wangaratta, Victoria, when a four-wheel drive hit her. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it a “deliberate act”, the BBC reported online.
Albanese said it was not an accident and appeared to be a deliberate act. Opposition leader Angus Taylor expressed deep sorrow and concern. “I am praying for Helen and thinking of her family and loved ones,” he said. “This is a sad day for our nation. No one should be targeted like this.”
He said Australians were angry and shocked by the attack on Helen outside her electorate office in Wangaratta. “Our country cannot become a place where violent attacks are accepted as normal,” Taylor said.
Taylor said he had spoken to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and they agreed that political violence can never be accepted as part of public life. He said he hoped Helen, her family and the people of her electorate in north-east Victoria would know that people across Australia stand with them at this difficult time. Victorian Premier Ben Carroll expressed deep anger and concern at the “violent attack”.
He said he could understand how devastating it must be for the people of Wangaratta and those Helen represents, and thanked police for acting quickly to detain a suspect.
Victoria Police said a 43-year-old man had been arrested over the incident near Helen Haines’s office. A bystander at the scene first held the man, and police then took him into custody.
The suspect lives in Tarrawingee, near Wangaratta, and was driving a white Toyota Land Cruiser. A knife was found inside the vehicle. The motive is not known, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said counter-terrorism police were also involved in the investigation.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report