Woman charged with common assault for egging Australian PM

A 24-year-old woman has been charged with common assault after she egged the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, on Tuesday.

“The prime minister was attending an event at Albury Entertainment Centre, when a woman approached him from behind and allegedly struck him with an egg to the back of his head,” New South Wales police said in a statement.

Security guards dragged her away moments after the attack.

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.

Slow motion footage of the egg showed that it bounced off Morrison’s head.

New South Wales police confirmed that they had arrested the woman.

“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,” officials said.

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.

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.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten also condemned the egging as “appalling and disgraceful behavior”.

“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.

The 24-year-old woman is due to appear at Albury local court on 27 May.