Bob Katter has threatened to punch a journalist at a press conference where he threw his support behind anti-immigration March for Australia protests planned on the weekend.
The independent MP for Kennedy called the press conference outside Queensland state parliament in Brisbane on Thursday morning, speaking with members of Katter’s Australian Party.
Holding an Australian flag, Katter demanded the names of attenders at recent pro-Palestine protests, and said they should be deported.
It was put to him that more than 100,000 people attended a recent Sydney rally, and 50,000 in Brisbane.
“If you have anti-Australian sentiments, then get the hell out of my country, because we are taking the names down now of anyone who treats our flag badly. The gloves are coming right off now,” Katter said.
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“You’ve got Lebanese heritage yourself,” 9News Queensland reporter Josh Bavas said, before Katter cut him off.
“I punch blokes in the mouth for saying that, don’t you dare say that,” Katter said. “My family have been in this country for 140 years …
“I have, on many occasions, punched blokes in the mouth, right? So I’m restraining myself today. Don’t say it!”
Katter then said he refused to take any more questions from Bavas, who continued to ask about his views on migration.
“There are people who have come here from other countries, like yourselves, like your family, that have good values,” Bavas put to him.
Katter then walked up to the Channel Nine reporter and shook his first at him.
“Don’t say that, because you’re a racist. You’re a racist. You cannot say what you just said without being identified as a racist … This man is a racist,” Katter said.
Bavas answered that he had not finished his question.
“If he asks a racist question which implies racism, I’m not going to answer it,” Katter said. “And I don’t consider him a proper Australian, a fair-minded Australian. He sees people as foreign because of their heritage,” Katter said.
Katter’s grandfather, Carlyle Assad Khittar, migrated from Lebanon in 1898. Bavas later said to Katter that they had spoken about his Lebanese heritage before.
Katter has previously become angry when asked about his ancestry in the context of his anti-migration views. In 2018 he told Sky News reporter Tom Connell that he “need[ed] a big hiding” for raising the issue, saying it was “racist”.
Katter’s son, state MP Robbie Katter, stepped in front of him on Thursday morning and attempted to take further questions, before the press conference eventually came to an end.
The March for Australia website calls for “an end to mass migration”. “Australia is changing in ways most of us never agreed to,” reads the description for the Brisbane march. “Endless migration, weak leadership, and political cowardice have brought us here, and it’s time to put a stop to it.”
Katter told media he would be “front and centre” at the rally.
Earlier in the press conference he said: “We’re going to do everything humanly possible to ensure that if there are any migrants coming to this country, then they will … tick the boxes.
“Do they have democracy? Do they have rule of law? Do they have Christianity or some similar belief system? Do they have egalitarian traditions? Do they have industrial awards? And if they don’t tick the boxes, they don’t come.”
Asked if he wanted a ban on migration from Islamic countries, he replied: “You can read whatever you want into it, right?”
In a post on Telegram, neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell previously described the march as “our” public rally, calling for “White Australians” to assemble “against the traitors and foreigners”. Organisers have denied any connection with Nazis.
Bavas said he had never experienced such a reaction from an elected representative in nearly 20 years in journalism.
Channel Nine executive director of news and current affairs, Fiona Dear, backed Bavas, saying he was “just doing his job” and demanded a public apology from Katter.
“Mr Katter’s aggressive behaviour and threats were unacceptable,” she said.
“His baseless and offensive accusation of racism is an irresponsible attempt to shut down a legitimate line of questioning.”
Cassie Derrick, director of the media section of MEAA said: “Media representatives, like all workers, have a right to be safe in their places of work.”
“Journalists attending news conferences to conduct interviews of our elected politicians have an important job to do, and under no circumstances should they be subjected to violence or threats of violence.”
