Brendan Nugent, 43, named as driver held over alleged attack on Helen Haines

Guardian Australia has confirmed the identity of the person held over the alleged attack on Helen Haines: Brendan Nugent, aged 43. He is described as the driver who was apprehended in connection with the incident. The source gives no further details of the circumstances of the alleged attack, and the report is to be updated.

Who Nugent is

Nugent has for years been a forestry campaigner in the north east of the state. He holds a masters of forest ecosystems science from the University of Melbourne and spent years researching the forestry industry in Victoria. He has also been a registered business owner in Wangaratta.

He served on the committee of the Save our Strathbogie Forest Group, which campaigns against logging in the region. He became inactive around 2019-20.

Reaction from former colleagues

The group's chairman, Bertrant Lobert, said he was shocked. According to Lobert, Nugent initially seemed a reasonable and thoughtful person but later drifted away. He said that, if it all turns out to be true, what has happened is completely shocking. Lobert added that many in the group knew Haines personally and were her friends, and he said the matter goes beyond the targeting of public figures to the community and the people it knows.

An earlier comment

In October 2019, while still actively campaigning on forestry issues, Nugent praised Haines on X for her stance on climate change. After she posted about an episode of the ABC program QandA, he wrote that it would have been nice to include a politician who takes climate change seriously, such as her.