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The man accused of attacking Independent MP Helen Haynes has briefly fronted court in Wangaratta charged with three offences.
43-year-old Brendan Nugent has been charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally cause serious injury, and the Commonwealth offence of causing harm to a Commonwealth public official.
Court documents released to the media reveal Nugent is facing two additional charges of cultivating and possessing cannabis.
His solicitor told the magistrate that no application for bail had been made, and that he had mental health concerns and lived with a neurological condition.
Nugent was remanded in custody to reappear at Wangaratta Magistrates' Court on 4 February 2027.
The Australian Federal Police Commissioner says the safety of parliamentarians is one of the highest priorities for the AFP, ahead of a planned security briefing at parliament house.
The AFP is set to hold the in-depth briefings for politicians in Canberra today, with plans to address threat assessments, security protocols, and reporting pathways for threats toward MPs.
Asked about possibility of affording all federal MPs a protection detail, AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said it would take an "incredible amount of resourcing".
She says politicians' security requirements are assessed on an individual basis and provided through multiple teams.
"We have extensive resources dedicated to the protection of parliamentarians. We have our NSI teams. We have close personal protection. We have protective service officers. We have our security protection diplomatic liaison teams. We have protection assessment teams. There is a whole machine that sits in the AFP that drives all of this work. We are constantly, with our partners and with, with government, assessing and reviewing, have we got what we need and is it focused where it needs to be."
Details continue to emerge about the heroic acts of bystanders in the moments after the attack on independent MP Helen Haines.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Dr Haines' family have praised the actions of local residents who helped detain the alleged attacker, and responded to Dr Haines' injuries.
Jacklyn Black and Jacob Evans were shopping on Wangaratta's main road while passing through the town at the time of the attack.
Speaking to SBS, they say they heard a loud crash and screeching tires, and rushed outside to see the aftermath of the crash.
Jackie: "Jacob had a tourniquet in his car, which is very lucky, which he quickly applied to her leg to help get some of her injuries under control. Um, yeah.
Jacob: "Yeah. initially, we, we ran down and started helping, and then, it was very chaotic, as I'm, I'm sure you can imagine. Luckily, Jackie took sort of control of the situation and gave everyone jobs to, to ensure they, they had what they needed to do, made sure Helen was conscious, which gave me the ability to run back across the road and grab my trauma kit."
Ms Black says Dr Haines was talking with them the whole time, thanking them and calling them beautiful people.
Politicians have been speaking out about their growing concerns for their safety, as the political environment becomes more heated, and police figures show the number of violent threats against politicians is growing.
Housing Minister Clare O'Neil told Channel Seven the political atmosphere has changed.
"What is so different now from when I first got involved in politics is that online environment, the level of vitriol, the absolute wall of abuse that you will experience every day as any woman in public life, that is what has changed, and over time I see more and more of that filtering into the interactions I have with people every day. And I mean literally, like now I will talk to people who are pulling crazy conspiracy theories about me offline and then raising them with me in public as fact. "
To sport now, and in cricket, Australia has retained the Rose Bowl with a comfortable 40-run victory in the Twenty20 International against New Zealand at North Sydney Oval.
Led by a blazing 84 from vice-captain Ash Gardner, Australia claimed a 2-0 lead in the three-match series, ahead of the final game on Thursday.
It was Australia's 12th T20 victory in a row, including an unbeaten run during the World Cup in the UK during June and July.
Gardner has credited surprise skipper Sophie Molineux [[Mol-ih-ner]] with enhancing a winning culture, saying she brought positivity and a sense of fun to the team.
