The LandCruiser driver who allegedly hit Independent MP Helen Haines has been charged over the “targeted” attack as details about the accused emerge.

Brendan Nugent, 43, will face Wangaratta Magistrates Court on Wednesday on charges of dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury and causing harm to a Commonwealth public official.

“Police will allege the incident was targeted,” Victoria Police said in a statement.

It comes as the Herald Sun reported the words Haines uttered as she was pinned between two vehicles during the shocking incident outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, Victoria, on Monday.

Haines reportedly thanked emergency workers and bystanders as they rushed to help.

“Thank you, you lovely people,” she said, according to the Herald Sun. “I appreciate your help.”

Brendan Nugent has been charged over the alleged attack on independent MP Helen Haines. Photo: AAP

Haines was hit by a Toyota LandCruiser outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, northern Victoria, on Monday afternoon.

She underwent emergency surgery at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne but one of her legs could not be saved.

The 65-year-old remains in a critical but stable condition.

The accused’s father, Rod Nugent, and Rod’s partner Christine Cunningham on Tuesday revealed they had been friends with Haines for more than 20 years.

“We will be assisting Victoria Police in any way we can,” Nugent and Cunningham said in a statement released on Tuesday.

“We would like to sincerely thank members of the local community and police who came to Helen’s aid yesterday after the shocking and horrific crime.

“Helen Haines is a deeply respected, valued and much loved member of our local community.

“Helen has been our friend for more than 20 years and what happened to her yesterday is devastating and unfathomable.”

Photos of the accused’s home were published by media on Wednesday, revealing an overgrown property crammed with rubbish.

The grass was waist-high, dishes were piled high in the kitchen sink and there were boxes of empty alcohol bottles.

Heightened rhetoric in the halls of parliament and online echo chambers have helped to create an environment where threats of violence have become commonplace for politicians.

A major concern facing regional MPs is whether access for remote voters will be hampered in the immediate future.

National Party MP Sam Birrell, whose electorate of Nicholls neighbours Haines’ seat of Indi, regularly attends community events.

“What we do is we go and set up a mobile office in a town a long way away from here and advertise that we’re going to be there,” Birrell told AAP.

“Whether that becomes problematic or not, I know that’s a discussion that some of my regional colleagues are having.

“I don’t want this to be the end of MPs … going out and engaging.”

In the face of hostile social media discourse, Mr Birrell said he had received support from his community.

“One lady dropped a plant off, just a small pot plant for me, and a note just to just to see if I was OK,” he said.

“There are people who see us as a group of people trying to do our best.

“I’m not really thinking too much about myself. I’m thinking about my friend Helen.”

-with AAP