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S omething changed a few years ago. Brendan Nugent had been a reasonably prominent conservationist when Helen Haines – a longtime friend of his family – became his federal MP in 2019. He would sometimes visit his state MP’s electoral office, raising issues about forest preservation.
Other locals in the north-east Victorian city of Wangaratta remember him back to his junior footy days, when he played alongside future stars of the AFL. But a few years later, according to those who knew him, he changed. His physical and mental health issues became more apparent.
By the time he allegedly ran down Haines in Wangaratta on Monday, he was living in a ramshackle farmhouse outside town, surrounded by long uncut grass and empty beer cans. Victoria police arrested the 43-year-old Tarrawingee man on Monday afternoon. He 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.
The police investigation is ongoing. At his first court appearance on Wednesday the magistrate noted Nugent had mental health and neurological concerns, and that it was his first time in custody. His lawyer, Chirag Patel, said Nugent suffered from idiopathic transverse myelitis – a rare neurological condition caused by inflammation of the spinal cord, which can result in muscle weakness, pain and bladder dysfunction.
He was also concussed, Patel said, not on any prescribed medication and not withdrawing from any substances. The magistrate asked a mental health professional to see Nugent immediately. He was estranged from his father, Rob.
A well-liked member of the community, Rob is the vet you call first, people say. They describe him as a well-built man who is kind and well loved. He owns the Tarrawingee house his son lived in, but rented it out to him through a real estate agent.
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Tarrawingee is a tiny town of just a few hundred people, a 10-minute drive from Wangaratta down a tree-lined road that passes farms, cattle and horses. In addition to the butcher, there’s a cafe van that closes at 11am and an upmarket bistro. Nugent’s property is off the beaten track and stands out against flower-lined lawns and houses with wraparound verandas.
Several of the locals say they have never met him. Others say they knew he lived there, but have not seen him in years. Nugent attended Wangaratta magistrates court earlier this week for a hearing.
Photograph: Mridula Amin/The Guardian At Nugent’s court hearing this week, the only local to attend was a neighbour who told Guardian Australia she wanted to “look him in the eye”. Afterwards, a woman rode past the court house on her bicycle and provided some detail into his background. Jacquie, who once taught Nugent, had hoped to come and support him.
She has campaigned for Haines in previous elections, and says she feels “sick to the core” for her, Nugent and their families. “I don’t condone what has happened to [Haines],” she says, while adding she hasn’t known Nugent to be an extreme or violent person. “I wanted to reach out.
He was a good kid. I could see there were possibly some issues with him. He was a bit withdrawn, sometimes, but he was a beautiful kid.
“He’s been reaching out for help for a long time.” The last time Jacquie, Nugent’s former art teacher, saw him was two-and-a-half years ago. Photograph: Mridula Amin/The Guardian The last time she says she saw Nugent was two-and-a-half years ago, when he was hanging out with mates on the Ovens River. He seemed distressed and was suffering from mental health issues, she says.
Since then, they have lost touch. In the days after his arrest, Nugent’s X profile has been trawled over by the media and internet sleuths. It provides little insight into any motives for the alleged attack on Haines, but does indicate a possible withdrawal from public life.
In the past year, he has posted just 13 times, mostly sharing links about international issues including the war in the Middle East, paedophilia and global conspiracies. Before January, he hadn’t posted anything since December 2024. Flowers and messages of support left outside Haines’s office.
Photograph: Mridula Amin/The Guardian Before that, his posts were longer and more coherent. He shared fundraising causes, pictures of local flora and fauna, his dog and nights at the MCG watching Geelong. He was passionate about the environment, regularly attending protests before the pandemic.
In 2018, he was at a conference in Melbourne, where he shared a paper he had written at the University of Melbourne’s School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences. Online, he was often critical of politicians from all sides, but he does not appear to have criticised Haines. In late 2019, he replied to her tweet about the ABC’s Q&A program, saying it “would’ve been nice to include a politician who takes climate change seriously, such as yourself”.
A hint of his struggles, though, came in mid-2022, when he professed that he had spent time living with a “significant disability” and was in “a lot of chronic pain”. “I’ve had plenty of time ... having to cook on a fire and wash my clothes in the river,” he wrote. “I have a proper house at the moment ...
I’m also on DSP unlike 1000s of other people with disabilities in Australia. But why keep ppl on disability support pensions when they want to work? I just want to work again.” Potted tomato and other seedlings sit on wire racks outside Nugent’s front door.
Photograph: Mridula Amin/The Guardian Nugent said he had a masters degree, but still couldn’t get the “basic assistance” needed for ongoing employment. “I’m constantly broke spending on health, NDIS is unavailable. We are left to sit in pain 24/7,” he wrote. skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion Before the alleged attack on Haines, some locals saw normality.
Others saw things they didn’t like. Speaking on background, they have described erratic behaviour. He often played loud music – heavy metal, rap and Bob Marley.
Sometimes, they say, they would hear him screaming. Nugent had started secondary school at Wangaratta high before transferring to Assumption College. He played footy for his school and a club league, with success.
In 1998, Wangaratta high’s intermediate team were state champions, defeating Belmont high school 73 to 56. A celebratory photo remains online with Nugent in the middle row, serious-faced. In the same picture are three future AFL players: Sean O’Keefe, Steve Johnson and Karl Norman.
Many locals remain close-lipped when asked about Nugent, but not all of them. The local butcher, Russell, says he often came into the shop; his storefront is just a few hundred metres from Nugent’s property. Russell says he never noticed anything out of the ordinary, describing Nugent as relatively normal and quiet, but says he didn’t know him in any depth.
Former independent MP Cathy McGowan (right) hugs a friend at a vigil for Haines. Photograph: Mridula Amin/The Guardian Across the electorate, people are questioning how something like this could happen. On Wednesday evening, a community vigil for Haines was held in Wodonga.
It took place less than an hour after it was revealed she had lost both her legs – but would survive. Her recovery could take at least 12 months. There were many tears and many hugs, but also moments of celebration – as when the former federal member for Indi, Cathy McGowan, repeated words of promise delivered to her by the governor general, Sam Mostyn: “We now know that Helen’s heart and head are good.
She is going to get better, and she is going to come back fighting.” The crowd, visibly moved and emotional, burst into cheers. McGowan says the community is grappling with “mixed emotions”. “The people here tonight don’t want violence ...
But that’s not to say when violence happens in their communities they know what to do about it,” she says. “Because there’s a lot of violence in our communities, there’s a lot of violence online ... There’s nothing new about this.
“It’s made it really visible. We can’t just pretend that everything’s OK in the regions and we’re doing fine ... We own it.” Hundreds gathered at Wodonga for a community vigil for Haines on Wednesday.
Photograph: Mridula Amin/The Guardian Many are pointing at a political climate, where discourse has increasingly become volatile. Others are talking about violence towards women. In between, some are questioning whether Nugent fell between the cracks of a stretched mental health system.
A police summary shows additional charges have been laid against Nugent, including possession and cultivation of cannabis. At this week’s vigil, the CEO of Regional Development Australia, Sarimah Hellyer, says it isn’t lost on her that one of the main issues Haines had fought for over the past seven years was better mental healthcare. ‘There’s whole cohorts who aren’t catered for from a mental health perspective,’ says Sarimah Hellyer, the CEO of Regional Development Australia.
Photograph: Mridula Amin/The Guardian “There’s just so many holes in [mental health] service delivery,” she says. “There’s actually whole cohorts who aren’t catered for from a mental health perspective ... We have one Headspace that basically supports the same catchment.” Dr Lachlan McKeeman was endorsed by Haines as an independent candidate in the upcoming Victorian election at a campaign launch she had attended with her husband on Saturday, just days before the alleged attack.
She was sharing photos of her grandchildren, who were only born weeks ago. They had spent the morning together. “The smile and energy she gets from her family makes it a really hard time at the moment,” he says.
“To think what they’re all going through.”
Source: The Guardian
