The sinister meme that appeared just hours before the attack on Helen Haines

October 20, 2026 — 11:30am

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“Not enough politicians are afraid for their lives right now & I think that’s a problem.”

The comment had been made into a meme, with the words in fancy font printed on an image of a man pointing a gun.

It was posted on the official page of Nichole Overall, a NSW Nationals MP, by an account with a full name and a shadowy profile pic of a man’s back.

“I’ve never had anything of this nature, this was quite shocking. I was taken aback,” says Overall of the post, which appeared on Monday, in the hours before the violent attack on federal Independent MP Helen Haines.

Helen Haines attack live updates: Brendan Nugent identified as alleged attacker; Indi MP remains in critical condition after being struck multiple times by car outside Wangaratta office

“It’s just not the way, in a civilised society, we should be addressing things,” Overall says, becoming agitated.

Such social media vitriol is a strange amalgam of public and personalised.

It is posted for all to see, but it is deeply silo-ed, which is to say that I don’t know what’s happening in your feed, and you don’t know what’s happening in mine.

You will only see the post on Overall’s Facebook page if it pops up in the online bubble that is perfectly tailored to you, courtesy of a tech company’s algorithm, breeding an isolation that is anything but........

© Brisbane Times