Video taking off 18x its usual first day

Charges, CCTV and a Canberra security briefing after the Helen Haines attack

A Today segment moves from the Wangaratta courthouse to Parliament House, where the threats facing elected officials are now part of the story.

Channel:

9 News Australia Story of October 21, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 287,366 views a day, 18 times a normal first day on this channel (15,602).

Man charged after MP Helen Haines hit | 9 News Australia

Things we can learn from the video

Press to jump

0:00Tom Steinfort and Sylvia Jeffreys report that a 43-year-old man has been charged over the attack on Helen Haines.
0:31Christina Hearn lists the charges, including dangerous driving causing serious injury and harming a Commonwealth official.
0:58CCTV shows Haines arriving at her Murphy Street office, followed by a white four-wheel-drive.
2:30Edward Godfrey reports on police searches, then reads the accused man's family's statement about their longtime friend.
3:55Connor McGoverne reports on urgent MP security briefings and over a thousand threat reports in a year.

A man has been charged after federal independent MP Helen Haines was struck by a car outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, Victoria. The Today segment on 9 News Australia follows the case in three places.

Outside Wangaratta Law Courts, reporter Christina Hearn lists the charges, among them dangerous driving causing serious injury and causing harm to a Commonwealth public official. Police allege the man drove into Haines repeatedly. On-screen captions say police describe the attack as targeted. CCTV shows Haines arriving in an orange vehicle at her Murphy Street office and a white four-wheel-drive following behind.

The segment also shows the local response: flowers left by residents outside her office, and independent MP Allegra Spender speaking of her devastation for Haines and her family. From the police station, Edward Godfrey reports on searches at a nearby property and reads a statement from members of the charged man's family. They describe Haines as a friend of more than 20 years and call what happened "devastating and unfathomable."

Connor McGoverne then reports from Canberra, where federal MPs are receiving urgent security briefings. He says federal police received more than a thousand reports of harassing and threatening behavior against office holders over the previous 12 months, and that ACT senator David Pocock and his young family have moved house because of threats.

The segment drew about 132,000 views in its first seven hours. Several other 9 News uploads have followed the case, including a bulletin that also covers Prince Harry and the channel's report from the court appearance. In a later report, 9 News says Haines has lost a leg.

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