A sports scientist who refused to shake Scott Morrison’s hand after an NRL game has released a statement to shut down rumours she was asked to delete a viral tweet where she proudly defended her actions.
The prime minister crashed the Parramatta Eels’ dressing room on Saturday night shortly after the team’s victory over the Cronulla Sharks at Bankwest Stadium.
Camera crews captured Mr Morrison mingling with players as they celebrated the win, but club staffer Tahleya Eggers caught the media’s attention by defiantly crossing her arms and glaring at the prime minister from the corner of the room.
Ms Eggers took to Twitter on Sunday to reveal she was the woman in the viral clip.
Sport scientist Tahleya Eggers (top right) defiantly crossed her arms and refused to engage with Scott Morrison after he snubbed women’s equality marches earlier this month
‘Proud to claim this one!’ Ms Eggers, who is doing her PhD at Western Sydney University, wrote on Twitter alongside a photo of the encounter.
‘I will not respect a man who has the time to shake hands of men who have won a football match but is ‘too busy’ to attend the March for Justice.’
Ms Eggers was referring to the prime minister’s failure to join the thousands who protested in the women’s justice marches in Canberra earlier this month.
Just hours later – and after receiving praise from former Eels star Brad Takairangi and Federal Labor MP Peta Murphy – Ms Eggers deleted the Tweet and switched her profile to private.
Ms Eggers on Monday made a statement through the club to clear-up any remaining falsehoods and said she hadn’t expected the post to receive so much attention.
‘I wanted to make a brief statement regarding the last 24hrs,’ she wrote.
‘As the club stated yesterday, I was responding to a social media meme that was not of my making. These are my personal views and I didn’t expect that it would get the coverage that it has.
‘I want to make clear that I have had nothing but support from the club over this period. At no stage has anyone asked me to remove or change my post.
‘It was my decision to remove it and place my social media on private because of the level of attention I was receiving.
‘I love working for the Club and would now like the focus to return to the NRL season ahead.
‘I won’t be making any further comment on the matter.’
The Parramatta Eels staffer later took to Twitter (above) to reveal she snubbed the PM because he snubbed the women’s justice marches. She later deleted the Tweet after being spoken to by her club
Ms Eggers received praise from Eels star Brad Takairangi and Federal Labor MP Peta Murphy
The snub comes as the latest Newspoll numbers confirm Mr Morrison’s approval ratings have taken a hit as he struggles to deal with sexual assault and harassment allegations in parliament.
Just two weeks ago the Coalition’s approval rating plunged following former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation, while Mr Morrison remained fairly unscathed.
However voters have now turned their disapproval towards the prime minister.
Mr Morrison now has an approval rating of 55 per cent, although it’s nowhere near his lowest of 37 per cent during the 2019/20 bushfire crisis.
Mr Morrison crashed the Eels’ dressing room on Saturday night shortly after the team’s victory over the Cronulla Sharks at Bankwest Stadium
Ms Eggers (pictured) is doing her PhD at Western Sydney University and also works as a strength and conditioning trainer for the Blue Mountains Netball Association
Thousands of women protested in capital cities on March 15 as part of the ‘March 4 Justice’ campaign following a month of turmoil in parliament over the treatment of women and workplace culture.
Labor criticised Mr Morrison for not attending the Canberra rally – but he said he invited organisers to meet in his office and they refused.
Mr Morrison has been criticised for his tone-deaf response to a national debate about the treatment of women.
The conversation was sparked by Ms Higgins coming forward last month to allege she was raped by a colleague in 2019.
There have since been rape accusations levelled at Attorney-General Christian Porter, which he denies, and revelations of a toxic workplace culture in Parliament House.
The horrific allegations have engulfed the Morrison government and started a wider debate about sexual discrimination, harassment and abuse.
The prime minister has admitted repeatedly failing in his tin-eared response to the national movement and conceded he failed to grasp the depth of anger about violence against women.
He has also admitted people in his government failed Ms Higgins after she reported the alleged rape in parliament.
The criticism of the prime minister comes two days after he said he was happy to meet with former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins, who was allegedly raped in Parliament House
Thousands of women protested in capital cities on March 15 as part of the ‘March 4 Justice’ campaign following a month of turmoil in parliament over the treatment of women and workplace culture
