Independent MP now serious but stable, according to update from Melbourne’s Alfred hospital

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Independent MP Helen Haines’s condition has been downgraded to serious but stable after she lost both legs following an alleged attack near her electorate office in north-east Victoria on Monday afternoon.

The Alfred hospital in Melbourne provided an update on Haines’s condition on Saturday morning.

Parts of Queensland, Victoria and South Australia can expect severe storms on Saturday, moving into NSW and Tasmania by Sunday

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Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain will sweep across most Australian states this weekend, adding to the deluge in an already drenched Queensland.

Flash flooding in south-east Queensland this week prompted hundreds of SES callouts and the closure of multiple schools. On Saturday morning, the Bureau of Meteorology had nine flood warnings in place for south Queensland.

Independent MP was struck by a car on Monday and her alleged attacker appeared in court on Wednesday

• ‘Deeply appalled’: politicians condemn alleged attack after Helen Haines critically injured

• Helen Haines, the principled MP respected across parliament

Anthony Albanese has described the police interview on Tuesday with Brendan Nugent as “extensive” but that the motivation of the alleged “violent” attack against Helen Haines is still unknown.

Certainly, it’s a reminder that the world is a more dangerous and divided place than it was a generation ago.

But I think that Australians do want to see their politicians be able to go about their business, to be able to get something from the back of their car, for goodness sake.

My side, every side included. We all have to recognise that politics has got more aggressive.

The particular impact on women in politics … [They] have got a different form of vilification and aggression towards them as well.