Morrison was at a Country Women’s Association event in the New South Wales city of Albury when the egg struck his head without breaking and bounced off,
according to CNN affiliate Sky News.
Morrison — who has been prime minister for less than a year — was campaigning ahead of the May 18 national election. Video shows him flinching before looking around in surprise as the alleged egg tosser attempted to move away.
After the incident, Morrison took to Twitter, saying he had been concerned for an older woman who was knocked off her feet during the incident.
“I helped her up and gave her a hug. Our farmers have to put up with these same idiots who are invading their farms and their homes,” he
said in a tweet, seemingly referring to animal rights activists who stormed slaughterhouses and streets across Australia
last month. “We will stand up to thuggery.”
In a statement provided to CNN, New South Wales police confirmed a 25-year-old woman was in custody.
“The egg appears to have struck the Prime Minister on the head. The Prime Minister’s security team quickly restrained the woman,” the police statement said. “In the act of detaining her, another woman in attendance was knocked over. No injuries have been reported.”
The alleged attacker was spotted earlier in the day carrying a carton of six eggs outside the event, and mentioned Manus Island when pressed about her motivation, CNN affiliate SBS
reported.
Australia ran
controversial offshore processing facilities for asylum seekers on the island off Papua New Guinea until it was
closed in 2017. Several refugees and asylum seekers
remain in limbo on the island.
It’s not the first egging to take place in Australian politics.
In March, conservative politician Fraser Anning was left with raw egg dripping down his back and shirt after a teenager smashed an egg on his head.
Anning had
blamed the Christchurch mosque attacks on immigration policies that allowed “Muslim fanatics” to migrate to New Zealand.
