WARWICK will today mark the centenary of the moment a flying egg made national headlines and caused such outrage it instigated the formation of the Australian Federal Police.

For years after, family of egg-throwers Paddy and Bart Brosnan, dealt with what became known as the "stink of the egg".

Some families distanced themselves from the incident, with comments such as "we're not those Brosnans", while others at the time felt alienated as the Brosnan name made headlines across the country.

But some wore the badge with pride and today it is revered as an important moment in our country's history.

Direct descendant and Killarney resident Louise Brosnan said she had known the story of Paddy and Bart her whole life.

"We were taught to be proud of the story, and of the family," she said.

"There's always been that sense of pride in that cheekiness.

"And the fact that even an individual could stand up to authority and make a difference.

"A Killarney man up against the Prime Minister.

"And the police as well, who wouldn't be budged on what they believed was right at the time."

Ms Brosnan said her father Tim, who played the part of Paddy Brosnan at an 80th anniversary celebration in 1997, was proud of that quality.

"He embodied that and wanted us to not be afraid to speak up if we thought it was right to do so," she said.

"Be that one person that just might make a difference."

Ms Brosnan said it was one surprising point in the story that stood out for her.

"This area, this electorate is labelled as conservative today," she said.

"And it's been that way for a while, but in 1917, Prime Minister Billy Hughes viewed this area as a hotbed for dissent; rebellious; a radical area.

"So much so that when that first Commonwealth police force was formed, he made sure the very first officers were stationed right here in Warwick."

In reality, the region was polarised.

With the horrors of three years of the First World War filtering back to Australia, Hughes was a vocal proponent of conscription and travelled the country rallying citizens to his cause and the Australian war effort supporting the mother country, England.

However the strong local Irish population on the Darling Downs were sick of seeing their young men slaughtered and were also dead against helping the English, who only months earlier had crushed the Easter Rebellion in Dublin and killed or wounded over 3000 Irish.

Ms Brosnan said the 1916 conscription plebiscite, in which 51 per cent of Australians voted no, showed similar results in Warwick.

"Which shows that while there were the egg-throwers, there was still a lot of support for Hughes.

"Which is why when Paddy and Bart threw those rotten eggs, a fight broke out in the crowd, some people took great offence to what they saw as a lack of respect."

Ms Brosnan said she would always be proud of the events of November 1917.

"I'm proud that even 100 years ago, local residents were here protesting against something they didn't want or believe in," she said.

"And I'm proud the average person felt empowered enough to stand up and make a statement that we're still talking about today.

"Those people were part of politics, it wasn't something that just happened to them.

"They were building a new nation and were actively involved in it.

"I think it's of utmost importance that we all learn to guard against losing that power to stand up, make a statement or maybe even throw eggs."