A sports scientist who refused to shake Scott Morrison’s hand after an NRL game has deleted a tweet that revealed she snubbed the PM because he failed to attend the women’s justice marches earlier this month.
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.
‘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.’
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
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
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.
The Eels insisted the club didn’t tell Ms Eggers to take the post down, saying she did so of her own volition.
‘Tahleya was responding to a social meme that was not of her making,’ an official statement from the Eels read.
‘The club is comfortable with her clarifying her personal position and we consider the matter closed.’
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.
Ms Eggers received praise from Eels star Brad Takairangi and Federal Labor MP Peta Murphy
Mr Morrison crashed the Eels’ dressing room on Saturday night shortly after the team’s victory over the Cronulla Sharks at Bankwest Stadium
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.
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 by a colleague.
‘We’ve always sought to respect her privacy and her wishes on this,’ he said on Friday.
‘I could also appreciate why she wouldn’t necessarily meet in Parliament House, that would be totally understandable.
‘We can arrange to meet in other cities.’
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
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
Mr Morrison has been criticised for his tone-deaf response to a national debate about the treatment of women
He said Ms Higgins had not expressed an interest in meeting with him but has since said she did not know that was on offer.
‘I was never made aware that the Prime Minister was willing to discuss my concerns about how my assault was handled,’ she said in a statement to Nine News.
‘I welcome the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister to discuss how the workplace culture in Parliament House can be improved.’
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.
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
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.
Mr Morrison will try to clear the air by reshuffling his frontbench line-up in coming days.
But shifting Mr Porter and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, who had to apologise for calling Ms Higgins a ‘lying cow’, to other portfolios is unlikely to satisfy those demanding accountability.
