Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned Bob Katter‘s bizarre outburst at a press conference in which he threatened to punch a journalist who mentioned his heritage, while Katter’s son, Robbie Katter, has defended his dad.
The outburst took place on Thursday, when the 80-year-old politician and noted croc hater hosted a press conference outside of Queensland Parliament.
While there, Bob ranted about migrants ahead of his attendance at this weekend’s planned March for Australia protests, prompting Channel 9 journalist Josh Bavas to reference Bob’s own Lebanese heritage.
What followed was an exchange about as snappy as a croc’s jaw, with Bob saying he “punch[es] blokes in the mouth for saying that” and labelling Bavas a “racist”.
The cherry on top of the fiasco was when, after yelling and waving his fist in Bavas’ face, Bob claimed he was “restraining myself today”. OK Bob!
Like many of Bob’s antics (“let there be a thousand blossoms bloom!”), the outburst took off on social media, to the point where the PM himself has now issued a response.
“Talk about wackadoo… what was with that comment? It was bizarre,” Albanese said during an appearance on the the Today show this morning.
The PM went on to criticise the sentiment behind Katter’s reaction, reminding the fellow politician that Australia was “built on migration” and calling to mind his own heritage and that of Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.
“Bob Katter needs to have a look at that footage, have a look at himself, frankly, and recognise that that’s just not what we expect of any Australian, let alone someone who’s in public office,” Albanese said.
While the PM was less than impressed with the press conference, Robbie remained firmly in his dad’s corner.
In a statement to the ABC, Robbie — who is also a Queensland MP — defended the blowup while saying he has a “level of indifference” about such antics because he’s been “attending press conferences with my dad since I was a little kid”.
“I’ve seen plenty more aggressive confrontations than that interview,” Robbie said.
The 48-year-old went on to say he didn’t understand why the snap was “such a big deal”, since his dad is “not entirely physically threatening”.
I think the nation’s entire croc population would agree, since they’ve continued doing their thing despite Bob’s years-long crusade.
As for the source of his rage, Robbie said Bavas “unwittingly” brought up a “deeply personal issue”, then proceeded to keep “pressing and provoking and generat[ing] a more aggressive response”.
In the wake of the press conference, Channel 9 backed Bavas and described Bob’s claims of racism as “baseless and offensive”.
The network also called for a public apology, but Robbie warned that no one should be holding their breath.
“I’d just say they’re not going to get it,” he said.
It’s not entirely clear why Katter’s heritage is such a contentious issue, but he did describe that line of questioning as “very un-Australian” during the press conference.
“My family has been in this country for 140 years… I don’t consider [Bavas] a proper Australian. He sees people as foreign because of their heritage and that is very un-Australian,” Katter said.
If that’s Bob Katter being “restrained” about questions of his heritage, I’d hate to see what happens when he’s presented with a bowl of tabbouleh.
Lead images: Channel 9
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