Gillard was visiting Marsden High School in the town of Logan, Queensland. Crowds gathered around the PM as she made her way through the crowds of teens trying to get photographs.
Many cheered to greet the Prime Minister, though there were reportedly shouts of ‘loser’ and boos from the more rebellious school kids. One held a handwritten sign reading ‘Kevin Rudd 2013’.
“I think out of hundreds and hundreds screaming over-excited kids, one kid thought they might be just a little bit naughty and had a little squealing sense of delight as they did it,” said Gillard following the visit.
“So there was half a sandwich, which was really on the ground, it wasn’t anywhere else. A bit of hijinks.”
“It was complete chaos,” said one onlooker, according to Australia’s Courier Mail.
16-year-old pupil Kyle Thomson has been suspended from school for 15 days. However, he denies that he was the culprit.
“I hit the sandwich out of the kids hand because he threw it. There was another one, so I hit it out of his hand.” Thomson told Channel 9 news.
Gillard announced plans to spend AU$2.4 million on cancer data collection research during the function.
The video below shows the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment an unruly student sent half a vegemite sandwich flying in the direction of the Aussie leader, which missed its target and landed on the ground.