Anti-government violence is growing. The response needs to be more than just increased policing

Independent federal MP Helen Haines remains in critical condition after being struck by a vehicle outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, Victoria.

Forty-three-year-old Brendan Nugent from Tarrawingee, near Wangaratta, has reportedly been arrested in relation to the incident.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described what happened as a deliberate targeted act, and the joint counter-terrorism team has been activated.

But investigators have stressed the motive remains unknown.

However, the incident occurs against a troubling backdrop.

Australian authorities and researchers have been warning for several years about increasing anti-government and anti-authority sentiment, conspiracy beliefs and the potential for political grievances to spill over into violence.

Threats against politicians are also increasing.

The Australian Federal Police recorded 1,067 reports of violent threats against high-office holders in 2025-26, up from 951 in 2024-25.

Threats are not just restricted to politicians or the government of the day: they extend to anyone in a position of authority.

What is anti-government extremism and why should we be worried? Anti-government extremism is not one coherent ideology or organisation.

It can encompass sovereign citizens, conspiracy theorists and others who come to see government institutions as fundamentally corrupt, illegitimate or actively working against ordinary citizens.

It covers the entire political spectrum from the extreme left to the extreme right, as well as other movements that may reject the legitimacy or authority of the state.

It is a subcategory of political extremism, where anti-government extremists primarily or consistently focus on government as a source of perceived grievances and the perceived cause of crises.

This can then lead to threatened or actual violence against government targets, their representatives, or anyone else in a position of authority.