Aus lawmaker Bob Katter threatens journalist with fist at press conference

28/8/2025 15:44

A veteran Australian lawmaker threatened a television journalist at a press conference on immigration on Thursday, shaking his fist and saying he had previously punched people for mentioning his Lebanese heritage.



Bob Katter, founder of Katter's Australian Party, a populist party advocating for farmers in rural areas, called the press conference to discuss his proposed attendance of the March For Australia, an anti-immigration rally due to be held in several cities on Sunday.



"You've got Lebanese heritage yourself," a journalist said at the event outside the parliament of Queensland state in Brisbane on Thursday, before Katter interrupted him.



"Don't say that! Because that irritates me, and I've punched blokes in the mouth for saying that," Katter shouted, pointing his finger at Josh Bavas, a reporter from Australian television network Channel Nine.



"My family has been here for 140 years."



Katter said he was "restraining myself today" by not punching Bavas.



He later branded the reporter a "racist", stepping towards him and shaking his fist, television footage showed.



"In my near 20 years in journalism, I've never experienced that kind of reaction from an elected representative," Bavas said in a statement following the incident.