After Indi MP Helen Haines was allegedly attacked on Monday, people across the electorate are questioning how something like this could happen – and if anything could have been done to prevent it

At this week’s vigil, the chief executive 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 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.”