Australian politician and notorious croc hater, Bob Katter, has landed himself in hot water after he threatened to punch a journalist who asked about his Lebanese heritage.
On Thursday, the 80-year-old conservative politician held a press conference outside of Queensland Parliament with state members of Katter’s Australian Party, expressing his participation in this weekend’s March For Australia.
For folks who have no clue what the March For Australia protests are, in short, it’s been promoted as a rally for “ordinary Australians” seeking an end to “mass immigration”. While organisers have emphasised that it was a peaceful protest, the campaign has been linked with far-right online accounts and prominent nationalist and white advocacy groups.
Per ABC News, during the press conference, Katter said immigrants from “places with democracy, rule of law, Christianity or a similar religion, industrial awards and egalitarian traditions” should be welcomed in the country.
“If they don’t tick the boxes, they don’t come here,” Katter said before claiming that he hadn’t seen a migrant from his community for 20 years.
Following his spiel on migrants, Channel Nine journalist Josh Bavas went to ask the politican a question about his Lebanese heritage which then sent Katter into a full blown tanty.
“Oh, mate, don’t say that because that irritates me, and I punch blokes in the mouth for saying that,” Katter spouted to Bavas while pointing aggressively at him.
“Don’t you dare say that. My family have been in this country for 140 years, right?”, he continued.
“So you, and if you say anything like that, I have on many occasions, punch blokes in the mouth, right? So I’m restraining myself today. Don’t say it. I’m not listening to you. You’re out.”
When another journalist stepped in, questioning the politican on what was wrong with Bavas’ line of questioning, Katter said he was “not dealing with the subject”.
“I’m an Australian, my family has been here since the dawn of time, that’s the end of it,” Katter said, per ABC News.
“Even if my family had only been here 10 minutes, no one has the right to say what he just said.”
Unfortunately for the Channel Nine journo, his tiff with the croc hater didn’t end with the threat. When Bavas attempted to ask Katter another question, the politican labelled him a racist.
“There are people who have come from other countries, like yourselves, like your family, that have good values,” Bavas can be heard saying before Katter cut him off a second time.
“Don’t say that, because you’re a racist,” Katter said as he began to staunch Bavas, pointing his finger in his face.
“You’re a racist, you cannot say what you’ve just said without being identified as a racist.
“Gentlemen, ladies, this man is a racist. Don’t listen to him please.”
When another journalist asked if Bavas has the “freedom” to ask the question, Katter bluntly said “no”.
“He doesn’t if he asks a racist question, which implies racism. I’m not going to answer it and I don’t consider him a proper Australian,” Katter said.
“He sees people as foreign because of their heritage and that is very un-Australian.”
Following the second wave of anger against Bavas — in which he was branded a racist and un-Australian by Katter — another reporter chimed in saying it “wasn’t fair to threaten journalists with a fist”, which triggered another yell from the poltician.
“I have had to fight all of my life — my parents, my great grandparents — to be accepted as Australians and we’ve reacted with proper and appropriate [inaudible],” Katter said.
This isn’t the first time Katter has blown up at a journalist for asking about his Lebanese heritage. In 2018, Katter called another journo a racist for stating his grandfather was Lebanese.
The post Bob Katter Threatens Journo Who Asked About His Heritage: ‘I Punch Blokes In The Mouth’ appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
