One Nation staffer hospitalised after alleged assault at Brisbane Ekka festival
A One Nation staffer was taken to hospital with a broken rib after she was allegedly attacked while working at the Ekka festival in Brisbane.
A One Nation staffer was taken to hospital with a broken rib after she was allegedly attacked while working at the Ekka festival in Brisbane. The woman, who is in her 60s, was wearing One Nation-branded clothing when the confrontation unfolded at Brisbane Showgrounds on Thursday.
According to One Nation’s chief of staff, James Ashby, four people allegedly approached the stall and the woman was spat on and struck several times. He said the assault left her badly bruised and in enough pain to need medical treatment.
Alleged attack at the showgrounds
Ashby told 4BC Radio on Monday that the woman had since been discharged from hospital over the weekend. He said she had “one broken rib” and “enormous bruising”, and described the aftermath as distressing.
He also said police photographed her injuries after she was required to strip down for the examination. The woman, he added, had to endure the pain of the injury as well as the process of documenting it.
Ashby said she was also sworn at during the alleged confrontation. One Nation has not publicly provided further details about the people involved, and no charges were mentioned in the source material.
Political fallout
The incident comes as Queensland’s Ekka, one of the state’s biggest annual public events, drew crowds to Brisbane Showgrounds this week. Large festivals often mix politics, commerce and ordinary family outings, which can make staff on campaign stalls or party displays visible targets when tensions spill over.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce condemned the alleged attackers, while linking them negatively to thousands of students who skipped university and high school. The source material did not provide additional context for his remarks.
The alleged assault adds another flashpoint to an already confrontational political climate in Australia, where party workers on public-facing stalls can become exposed to abuse from passing crowds. For One Nation, the episode has quickly moved from a festival scuffle to a question of safety at a high-profile public event.
As of Monday, the staffer remained out of hospital after being discharged over the weekend, but the injury left her with a broken rib.
