Will Connolly reveals his motives in an exclusive interview on The Project Australia. Video / 10 Daily
"Egg Boy" Will Connolly has broken his silence, telling The Project Australia egging Fraser Anning was "not the right thing to do".
Connolly went viral after the Christchurch terror attack when the Melbourne teen egged Anning at a press conference.
Speaking to Hamish Macdonald in an "egg-clusive" interview on Mondaythe 17-year-old was contrite about his actions when the journalist asked if he deserved to be hit by the senator.
"I understand what I did was not the right thing to do and I can understand why some people react the way they did," the teenager said.
Connolly said there was "no reason to physically attack anyone" ever and his mother was "glad I stood up for what I believe in but she definitely disagrees with the way I did it".
Australian teen Will Connolly cracks an egg on the head of Queensland senator Fraser Anning.
"I understand what I did was not the right thing to do, however, this egg has united people, and money has been raised, tens of thousands of dollars has been raised for those victims," he added.
The teenager, who described himself as "pro-humanity" rather than political, said he had listened to the senator speak for an hour before deciding to egg him.
"I didn't expect him to react, I thought I was just going to walk out there. I didn't think this was going to blow up," he told Macdonald.
"In fact, it's blown up completely out of proportion to the point where it's kind of embarrassing because too much of the attention is brought away from the real victims suffering, we should be focusing on them.
"I was just going to show my mates, it was just meant to be a few laughs to mates."
During the press conference the senator had been responding to criticism of a press release he sent out after the mosque shootings in New Zealand that killed 50 people.
In his statement, which was widely condemned, Anning appeared to blame immigration for the attack.
"This kind of violent vigilantism can never be justified, what it highlights is the growing fear within our community, both in Australia and New Zealand, of the increasing Muslim presence," the senator had said.
After Connolly threw the egg at Anning the politician turned and struck him with an open hand.
Connolly told Macdonald that Anning's reaction happened "pretty fast" causing the teenager to just follow his instincts.
"Did it hurt?" Macdonald asked.
"Not really," Will replied.
The teenager was wrestled to the ground and held there by Anning's far-right wing supporters — which included convicted criminal Neil Erickson — despite pleas to let the boy go because he was not resisting.
"I just wanted to stay calm," Connolly said of the tense moment. "I knew not to resist, I knew police were not far [away]."
Despite being inundated with offers of concert tickets, holidays and other free stuff, Connolly said he "hadn't had time" to think about it and was "not too sure" how he would respond.
In one of the lighter moments of the interview, Connolly also revealed he had been known as Egg Boy before the Anning incident but the nickname was now "getting pretty annoying".
"I was always called Egg Boy," he said, revealing the name had stuck after he brought boiled eggs to school for lunch.
Connolly's Project interview was praised by viewers, who said the teen had acted wise beyond his years.
Egg Boy also shared a statement to his Instagram, thanking people for their "overwhelming support".
"I'm so proud to stand for what is right and I encourage everyone to stand up for what you all believe in," he wrote.
"I do not condone violence and I do not condone egging someone, and everyone has a right to an opinion, but as I listened to Senator Anning for over an hour, I realised a point had to be made and if no one was going to do anything, then I was."
He added: "The main focus here has to be the people who are suffering and the issue at hand, and I'm really happy it has united people the way it has."
Immediately after the egging Connolly had shared a Snapchat video in which he said: "Don't egg politicians, you get tackled by 30 bogans at the same time, I learnt the hard way. F**k."
Egg Boy was later questioned by Victoria police over the incident and released without charge.
Connolly's solicitor, Peter Gordon, said last week that the teen won't pursue legal action against Anning despite public outcry over the senator's reaction.
A GoFundMe campaign was started in support of Connolly and to date has raised more than $79,000 to pay for "legal fees" and "more eggs", but the teen has confirmed all money is going to the victims of the Christchurch attack.
Anning has said he had no regrets about his reaction to the egging because he had been defending himself.
"I don't regret anything I do," he said. "I defended myself, that's what Australians do usually, they defend themselves … he got a slap across the face which is what his mother should have given him a long time ago because he's been misbehaving badly."
On the same show, which screens at 6.30pm Australia time, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is also interviewed.
In a preview, Ardern said it took her a while to process that the alleged shooter of the Christchurch terror attacks was an Australian national living in New Zealand.
"That was news that did take some time for me to process that, but again New Zealanders are reflecting on the fact that it was not one of us because in part that helps them process what has happened here," she said.
"But they do not point it out in an attempt to blame, that is not the reason that it's raised."
When asked if it was an unusual attack for a lot of the public because the community that has been framed as perpetrators had been turned into victims, Ardern replied it was not a world first.
"We have to acknowledge that kind of targeting has happened before, this is not a world first, and so that is why our language is very deliberate. This is a terrorist attack."
