Police allege 43-year-old Tarrawingee man who drove Toyota LandCruiser was arrested at the scene in Wangaratta

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Helen Haines’ alleged attacker has been named as 43-year-old Brendan Nugent, Guardian Australia has confirmed.

The independent MP remains in a critical condition after being airlifted from Wangaratta in northern Victoria to Melbourne’s Alfred hospital for emergency surgery on Monday night.

Police confirmed a 43-year-old Tarrawingee man alleged to have driven the Toyota Land Cruiser was arrested at the scene.

Nugent is a long-term forestry campaigner in the state’s north-east. Environment campaigners who worked with Nugent several years ago have expressed shock at his arrest.

Nugent has a masters of forest ecosystems science from the University of Melbourne and spent years researching the forestry industry in Victoria . He has also been a registered business owner in Wangaratta.

Nugent was a committee member for the Save our Strathbogie Forest Group, which campaigns against logging in the region. He became inactive around 2019-20.

His arrest has shocked the group’s chairman, Bertrant Lobert, who said he initially appeared to be “a reasonable and thoughtful person but then he drifted away”.

“He was engaging, he was thoughtful and to hear what has happened now, if it all turns out to be true, is just completely shocking,” Lobert said.

“This is quite personal as a lot of people in our group knew Helen personally and were friends.

“This is more than just a tragedy about the targeting of public figures, it’s about our community and the people we know.”

Helen McKernan, the president of the Strathbogie Ranges Conservation Management Network Inc, also worked with Nugent as an activist before 2020.

She says Nugent lost contact with her network of forestry campaigners around this date.

“He was a committed activist,” McKernan said. “He would sleep out if necessary and help behind the scenes. We could always rely on him to turn up and contribute.”

In October 2019, when Nugent was still actively campaigning on forestry issues, he praised Haines for her stance on climate change.

When Haines posted on X about an ABC QandA episode, Nugent wrote “Would’ve been nice to include a politician who takes climate change seriously, such as yourself”.