The Australian Federal Police says identifying the motive behind the alleged attack on independent MP Helen Haines remains the investigation’s primary focus, with detectives warning the inquiry could continue for months.
Speaking on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday, AFP Commissioner Chrissy Barrett told host David Speers that investigators were examining several possible factors, including the accused man’s mental health and social media activity.
Haines’ condition improved on Saturday from critical to serious but stable after she spent more than four days in hospital.
The independent MP sustained severe injuries, including the loss of both legs, after being struck by a vehicle outside her electorate office on Monday.
Victoria Police allege the collision was a deliberate attack.
Brendan Nugent, 43, from Tarrawingee, 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 said the investigation was continuing despite the charges being laid.
“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 investigators were examining political views and mental health as possible 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.”
Detectives from Victoria Police, the AFP and ASIO are working together to determine what prompted the alleged attack, Barrett said.
“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.”
DISCOVER MORE: Horror photos of scene where pit bull owner was mauled to death by pack of 13 dogs as neighbors watched unable to help – NewsFinale
When Speers asked whether Haines had been targeted because she was a politician, Barrett said it was too early to reach a conclusion.
“Whether it was directly linked to her role as a federal parliamentarian remains front and centre for our investigators,” she said.
Barrett also disclosed that authorities had received no intelligence suggesting Haines faced an 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) improved from critical to serious but stable on Saturday
Speers described the incident as having had “an absolutely chilling effect” on federal parliamentarians and Australia more broadly before asking whether investigators were struggling to establish a motive.
Barrett said authorities were confronting a complicated set of circumstances as the investigation continued.
‘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.