Hostility from constituents is not new for the state’s politicians, including its premiers. But the alleged attack on Helen Haines has sent a chill down the collective spine

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On Monday night, Georgie Purcell shared a statement on social media in support of Helen Haines, who earlier that day had been allegedly attacked by a constituent in her regional Victorian electorate.

Purcell, a Victorian upper house MP whose region partly overlaps with Haines’s federal electorate, wrote that the alleged attack had sent chills down her spine. Being a woman in politics, she said, had changed the way she moved through the world – where she parked her car, which route she took home, even whether she held public events at all.

Premier Ben Carroll says two-year limited cap will start on 1 January if re-elected, while Greens say there should be no fares

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Public transport fares in Victoria will be capped at $30 a week if the Labor government is re-elected next month – but commuters will need to dust off their Myki cards to benefit.

The premier, Ben Carroll, on Monday said the fare cap would begin on 1 January, the day after half-price fares end. The discounted fares were introduced after a period of free public transport in response to the fuel crisis sparked by the US-Iran war.