The man who hit Qantas CEO Alan Joyce with a pie in his face has been charged with assault

A DEVOUT Christian who smashed a pie into Qantas chief Alan Joyce’s face to protest gay marriage has been charged by Australian police.

A DEVOUT Christian who smashed a pie into Qantas CEO Alan Joyce’s face to protest gay marriage was charged by Australian police with assault, trespassing and damage.

The 67-year-old — who local media identified as former farmer Tony Overheu — walked on stage at a business breakfast event in Perth on Tuesday and shoved a lemon meringue pie into the stunned Irishman’s face.

Mr Joyce, a vocal supporter of equal rights, said Wednesday he would continue to speak up on marriage equality despite the incident.

In March Mr Joyce, who is gay, was one of 20 chief executives of some of Australia’s largest companies to sign a joint letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in support of marriage equality.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has cream pie on his face after being attacked by a man who came from back stage while addressing a West Leadership Matters breakfast. Picture: The West Australian

Overheu told the ABC that Mr Joyce’s marriage stance meant “in that context he was appropriate (to target)”.

Australia is accused of lagging behind a growing number of countries on marriage reform.

Same-sex couples can have civil unions or register their relationships in most states across Australia, but the government does not consider them married under national law.

Overheu, already facing a charge of giving false details to officers, was slapped with three new charges of “common assault, trespass and damage”, Western Australia Police said in a statement.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce after the incident occurred. Picture: Supplied

The charges come after Joyce told the media he would be seeking to press charges against Overheu.

Mr Joyce was stunned when he came up behind him and smeared the pie into his face.

After excusing himself to “clean up” Mr Joyce returned to finish his speech at the West Business Leadership Matters breakfast, to the admiration of the 500-strong crowd.

Mr Overheu identified himself as the man responsible, and went on Perth’s 6PR breakfast show to explain himself.

Mr Joyce said: “I don’t know what the motivation was for this individual but it is part of my role, it’s part of every corporate leader’s role to have a view on social issues.”

“(Since speaking out about marriage equality) I’ve had massive support from shareholders saying they support our role and our view on this.”

Mr Overheu is detained by security after throwing a pie at Qantas CEO Alan Joyce during a speech. Picture: AAP

He said people should be allowed to say what they believe, in a democratic society.

“Certainly what happened yesterday has reinvigorated me and has encouraged me to be out there and express my views very strongly,” he added.

“The police are continuing their investigation and my intention is to send a message that this type of behaviour is unacceptable and I have every intention of pressing charges.”

Mr Overheu is due to appear in court on June 7.

Originally published as The man who hit Qantas CEO Alan Joyce with a pie in his face has been charged with assault