00:01All of our thoughts and actions remain with Dr Helen Haynes, her family and the wider
00:11community. She remains in very, very good care and in a critical but stable condition.
00:21I also want to acknowledge, as others have done, the quick and fearless actions by members
00:29of the local community, their actions prevented further serious harm to Helen.
00:41And I expand that acknowledgement to our officers in Wangaratta who arrived on that traumatic
00:50scene within seconds. In fact, I think it was eight seconds.
00:56But also the emergency services, health workers who arrived to give immediate medical triage
01:05and all of the medical staff that have been caring for Helen since this event. Last night,
01:16Victoria Police charged the 43-year-old man from Tarawingi that is at the centre of this.
01:28And he appears in the Wangaratta Court this morning. He will face three charges. The first is a Commonwealth
01:38charge of causing harm to a Commonwealth public official. The second two offences are state offences.
01:48The first, of intentionally causing serious harm. And the second, dangerous driving causing serious harm.
01:59The AFP, through the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, continues to assist Victoria Police and will continue
02:06to do so over the coming days and weeks.
02:09Whilst the full motivation of the alleged offender is subject to ongoing investigations, regardless,
02:15the shocking alleged attack yesterday is what many had been dreading for some time.
02:20Commonwealth parliamentarians have become increasingly worried about threats directed at them and at their staff.
02:29And agencies like the AFP, that not only protect and defend Commonwealth parliamentarians,
02:34but also our democracy, have been increasingly concerned about the number of individuals being warned
02:41and being charged about their behaviour, particularly their online threats and abuse.
02:47I hope that this terrible event, that will forever change the life of the member for Indi and her family,
02:53gives our country time to pause and reflect on the growing threats and unlawful behaviour
03:00against those who hold a Commonwealth office in Australia.
03:04Unfortunately, what we are seeing is, I guess, a growing sort of level of extremist views.
03:11And particularly in the online space, when you see how easy it is to sit behind a keyboard and to
03:18express those views,
03:19and to feel that there are no consequences for expressing those views.
03:23We need to be publicly demonstrating to people out there that there are serious consequences for you sitting there
03:31and thinking that you can make threats or, you know, the horrific abuse that gets directed at federal parliamentarians.
03:38We will come and find you and we will charge you and you will be prosecuted.
03:41We are constantly, with our partners and with government, assessing and reviewing,
03:46have we got what we need and is it focused where it needs to be?
03:50And that will always be the case because the threat environment will continue to evolve.
03:55And, of course, we will have to evolve with it.
