Pastor 'spat at' in Brisbane Queen Street Mall, called 'no voter'

A Brisbane priest says he was spat at and called a “f---ing no-voter” while walking through Queen Street Mall on Wednesday. Father Morgan Batt, who works at the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, told followers on Facebook he was walking up the shopping strip during the day in his “priestly attire” when he was stopped.

“I was stopped - spat at - and called a "fu@#ing No voter" He said the best he could do was “smile and move on and asked everyone to 'pray for healing' ".

“Australia this is really not us,” he wrote. A police spokesman said no complaint had been made to police. On Thursday morning, Fr Batt wrote he would not be calling the police or talking to media regarding the event.

"I'm talking to God and praying hard," he wrote. "Thanks for all the love and support. I'm OK and all good."

Father Morgan was the young parish priest in Port Arthur in 1996; his entire first communion class was executed during the massacre there.

He worked with police at the site, and in the weeks and months following became a focal point for people trying to come to terms with what had happened.

Father Morgan spent some years with the Australian Army as a Chaplain and uses his army training in his current role, working with young men who are considering the priesthood.

And every chance he gets, Father Morgan climbs mountains. He has celebrated the highest mass in the world, on Mount Everest.