A 24-year-old woman has been charged with common assault after she egged the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, on Tuesday.
The PM was on the election campaign trail at an event in Albury when the woman approached him and attempted to crack an egg on the back of his head. However, television footage showed the egg bouncing off his head without breaking, before she was dragged away by security.
Morrison was struck by her hand and an elderly woman was knocked to the ground in the scuffle, but police said nobody was injured.
Reporters at the scene retrieved the egg, which had not broken.
A protester thrown an egg the Prime Minister Scott Morrison at an event in Albury (it didn’t break). #auspol #ausvotes @politicsabc pic.twitter.com/7KYWbKrrun
— Dan Conifer 🗳 (@DanConifer) May 7, 2019
Slow motion footage of the egg showed that it bounced off Morrison’s head.
WATCH: This is the moment a young protester attempted to egg the Prime Minister. #9News pic.twitter.com/K84U72KK6v
— Nine News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) May 7, 2019
In a statement, New South Wales police confirmed that they had arrested the woman.
“Officers from the Murray River police district placed the woman under arrest after she allegedly threw an egg at the prime minister during a Country Women’s Association event at Albury entertainment centre,” a spokesman said.
“The egg appears to have struck the prime minister on the head. The prime minister’s security team quickly restrained the woman. In the act of detaining her, another woman in attendance was knocked over. No injuries have been reported.”
The prime minister later tweeted that he condemned “thuggery” from “cowardly activists”. “My concern about today’s incident in Albury was for the older lady who was knocked off her feet,” he said.
We will stand up to thuggery whether it’s these cowardly activists who have no respect for anyone, or militant unionists standing over small businesses and their employees on work sites.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) May 7, 2019
While Morrison linked the protester to “idiots who are invading farms” and “militant unionists”, the woman said she was protesting against the government’s treatment of asylum seekers on Manus Island.
Carrying a six-pack of eggs, she told reporters outside the event that Morrison “deserved it” and she did not intend for the older woman to be knocked over.
Sally McManus, the secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, rejected Morrison’s reference to “militant unionists”.
How dare you accuse us of this & make the association. You seem to have no respect for the truth or any concern about running down your fellow Australians. We would never support such behaviour https://t.co/4N9BhKPa2E
— Sally McManus (@sallymcmanus) May 7, 2019
Opposition leader Bill Shorten also condemned the egging as “appalling and disgraceful behaviour”.
“In Australia we have violence-free elections. People are allowed to protest peacefully, but anything approaching violence is completely unacceptable. The prime minister has my complete sympathy, and of course the lady who got knocked down in the process.”
Morrison is the second politician to be egged in recent weeks, after far-right senator Fraser Anning was egged in March by a 17-year-old boy, who he then punched twice.
CWA, where the scones are leading and the leaders get sconed
— Rick Morton (@SquigglyRick) May 7, 2019
The 24-year-old woman is due to appear at Albury local court on 27 May.
