Paying tribute to Haines during a news conference, Albanese described her as “incredibly hard-working”.
“She is fiercely intelligent but most importantly she is just a thoroughly decent human being full of integrity and respected right across the Parliament and from everyone who comes into contact with her”, he added.
He said the attack will come as an “incredible shock” to her community.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong described the incident as a “shocking and deeply disturbing attack”.
The Premier of Victoria Ben Carroll said he was “deeply appalled” by the “violent attack”.
Meanwhile, Australia’s opposition leader Angus Taylor said he was “deeply saddened and distressed” by the attack.
“This is a shocking day for our nation,” he said. “No-one should be targeted in this way.”
