THE farmer behind the infamous raw, unpeeled onion of the Prime Minister's dreams has described witnessing our nation's leader eating one of his vegetables as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
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Charlton Farm Produce owner David Addison spoke yesterday following Tony Abbott's visit to his Moriarty farm on Friday.
Mr Abbott was in Tasmania to announce an additional $200 million to the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme - but the announcement was soon overshadowed by Mr Abbott's decision to chomp into an unpeeled onion.
"We walk in and next thing you know he's eating an onion," Mr Addison said.
"I mean, I'm an onion grower, so occasionally I see people eat them but you don't really expect the PM to walk in, bite on an onion and eat it, leaf and all.
"It put us off guard a bit."
News of Mr Abbott's onion-chomping habits reached news outlets as far-flung as India, Ireland and the US, with regular updates on the websites of national news websites including the Sydney Morning Herald.
Twitter lit up with continual references to Mr Abbott's onion-munching.
One Mr Abbott supporter wrote they would rather an onion eater than someone who ate earwax, in reference to former leader Kevin Rudd's alleged 2007 slip-up.
A spokesman for Braddon Liberal MHR Brett Whiteley explained the situation.
Mr Whiteley said "You might want to try that, Prime Minister", then the Prime Minister chomped it like an apple, so Mr Whiteley said "That wasn't a dare, Prime Minister".
Despite the fuss, Mr Addison said he was more than grateful for the freight subsidy announcement.
He said the $203 million expansion to the Freight Equalisation Scheme was a blessing for his business, which can fall prey to unbalanced markets and geographical isolation.
"It looks really good for our business," he said.
"I think the onion itself still exists - a fellow politician ran off with it with the view the Prime Minister's teeth marks were in it, probably as a fundraiser."
