Tarrawingee tries to make sense of attack on local member Helen Haines

In a dark, overgrown home on the edge of a long, dirt driveway lived a man who nearby residents had grown to fear.

Empty beer bottles and slab cartons are strewn around the verandah and sheds, and the flyscreen door hangs perilously from its hinges, threatening to clatter from its fixings among broken glass.

Grass and weeds have grown tall around the property.

Through the windows, inside is dank and abandoned.

Brendan Nugent has been absent from the home since police arrested the 43-year-old on Monday afternoon, charging him with attacking federal MP Helen Haines, a long-time friend of the Nugent family.

Until then, few outside Tarrawingee had heard of the north-east Victorian hamlet.

By Tuesday, the media had arrived in force, and residents who say they had called for help with the man in the dark house had a new audience.

It's a spread-out township, a short drive from Wangaratta with flat, flood-prone paddocks split down the middle by the Great Alpine Road.

A slightly faded sign at the edge of town welcomes you to "Bulldog Country".

It's big enough for a football and netball club, a town hall, and a picturesque pub. The town noticeboard has just one flyer, a faded invite to social pickleball: $5 a player.

The population skews older. "People love it so much they don't leave," one resident said.

Mr Nugent's home, understood to be owned by his family, stands in stark contrast to the enviable homes and well-kept gardens surrounding it.

Neighbours told the ABC of the barrage of heavy metal that emerged from the property at all hours.

One person said that the night after his arrest was their first good sleep in seven years.

By most accounts, Mr Nugent wasn't a part of the Tarrawingee community.

Peta Donaldson, who runs the Plough Inn, the town's 165-year-old pub, said she didn't know him.

"The man involved is not someone we recognise, nor is he familiar to the locals who regularly gather at The Plough Inn," she said.

The ABC spoke to residents who were clearly rattled.

One property put a sign on the front gate pleading with media for some space.

It was handmade, laminated, with a pink background and bolded mauve font.

"We understand you want to hear our story, but we kindly ask you respect our privacy at this time," it read.

On Friday, the Plough Inn opened for morning tea, giving locals somewhere to gather.

Police have been taking statements from residents, though few will speak on the record.

Several say they worry Mr Nugent could come home to "Tarra".

One resident said she feared for her life. Another was cynical about how long Mr Nugent would remain in custody and said he feared he could come "smash my windows".

Many say they had no idea he existed. Some who knew him did so through his father, Rod Nugent, and Rod's partner, Christine Cunningham.

Authorities are probing a reported rift between the family.

Asked whether the alleged attack on Haines was being investigated as possibly being, in effect, an attack on that family "by proxy", Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush said: "Yes it is."

Every line of inquiry, he said, remained open.

Police say nothing suggests Nugent belongs to the sovereign citizen movement, a fear some residents raised, but they are looking into his friends and associates.

It's been hot in Tarrawingee this week, but a storm is forecast in the town for today.

The cameras have thinned out but police remain in the region in numbers.

Ms Donaldson and her husband have run the pub for only six months, so she's still getting to know the place. But she's confident the town will close ranks.

"The locals [here] are fiercely protective of their own," Ms Donaldson said.

That loyalty is extended to Helen Haines.

Ms Haines wasn't born here. She was raised on the opposite side of the state on a dairy farm near Colac.

Moving to the north-east was her husband's idea.

But she has long since earned her place, and her constituents are protective of her. For now they wait on the twice-daily updates from The Alfred in Melbourne.

Brendan Nugent's next court appearance is not until February. Unless his lawyers apply for bail before then, he will remain on remand in Melbourne.

In Tarrawingee, life will eventually drift back into something like normal. Pub meals. Preseason training for football and netball. Perhaps even a game of pickleball.

"In the past few days we've seen people reaching out, offering help and finding ways to come together," Ms Donaldson said.

"People might live kilometres apart, but when something happens, that distance disappears.