Bob Katter confronts Channel 9 reporter Josh Bavas in racism row
The PM says Bob Katter’s threats to punch a journalist who mentioned his Lebanese heritage are “not what we expect of any Australian”, as the MP refuses to back down.
Bob Katter has refused to apologise for threatening to punch a journalist and labelling them a racist during an outburst at a Brisbane media conference.
Instead, Mr Katter and Katter’s Australian Party claim the aggressive response from the long-serving federal MP was justified, despite Nine calling for a formal apology for the attack on Nine News Queensland reporter Josh Bavas.
Mr Katter, speaking outside state parliament about his intention to attend a controversial anti-immigration march on Sunday, had argued that only migrants from places with democracy, the rule of law and Christianity should be welcome in Australia.
He also said he had not seen a migrant in his North Queensland electorate of Kennedy in 20 years, and that they largely came from places such as Finland and Croatia – a claim disputed by Census data.
Bavas began asking Mr Katter a question, noting the MP’s Lebanese heritage.
Then Mr Katter exploded, yelling: “Don’t say that because that irritates me, and I punch blokes in the mouth for saying that.”
Mr Katter, pressed for clarity on his response, then strode up to Bavas, pointed his finger at him and accused him of being a racist.
It’s understood Bavas’s question – had he not been cut off – was to ask Mr Katter if he believed the values that people brought to Australia were more important than where they came from.
Another journalist then asked Mr Katter what was wrong with the line of questioning, to which he said: “I’m 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,” Mr Katter said. “Even if my family had only been here 10 minutes, no one has the right to say what he just said.”
Mr Katter has previously taken issue with journalists referring to his Lebanese heritage – which comes via his paternal grandfather, Carl Robert Katter, who migrated to Australia in 1898.
But he has not previously waved a closed fist or strode up to confront a journalist in such a way in the past.
PRIME MINITER, MPS WEIGH IN
The Prime Minister on Friday said Mr Katter “needs to have a look at himself”.
Anthony Albanese said he likes the maverick Kennedy MP, but the way he acted was “not what we expect of any Australian, let alone someone who’s in public office”.
Mr Katter and Katter’s Australian Party claim the aggressive response from the so-called “father of the house” was justified, despite Nine calling for a formal apology.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud said Mr Katter should apologise to Mr Bavas for his behaviour.
“I’d like him to, but I don’t think I will,” he told ABC Radio.
The outburst occurred after Mr Bavas asked the federal parliamentarian a question, noting the MP’s Lebanese heritage.
Mr Katter yelled: “Don’t say that because that irritates me, and I punch blokes in the mouth for saying that”.
Mr Littleproud said Mr Bavas’ “did everything professionally”.
“We’ve been given a privileged place in Parliament to go and actually debate ideas with intellect. And the Parliament faces one of the most sacred buildings in this nation – the War Memorial,” he said.
“There have been over 100,000 Australians that have sacrificed their lives so that we don’t have violence in our democracy, and we’ve got to be better than that.”
Health Minister Mark Butler said Mr Katter might be a “bit of a character” but this behaviour was “completely unacceptable”
“The threat itself is unacceptable. And then the physical approach, frankly, to the journalist ... it’s just unacceptable in this day and age, particularly from a political leader,” he told morning television.
His panelmate, Victorian Liberal senator Jane Hume said while Mr Katter was an independent MP, there were processes in place to deal with his conduct.
“There has to be consequences for this, you should always be able to feel safe and respected at work, journalists and politicians, the idea of threatening violence is entirely unacceptable. There must be consequences,” she said.
“Bob Katter is an independent. That doesn’t necessarily mean we don’t have processes in place to deal with it. I would imagine that those new processes that have been set up, and the independent parliamentary standards commission, will be looking at this very seriously.”
Federal Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said there was no place for any type of hate in Australia.
“There is no place in our country for people who seek to divide and undermine our social cohesion,” he said. “We stand with modern Australia against these rallies – nothing could be less Australian.”
Multicultural Affairs Minister Anne Aly said: “This brand of far-right activism grounded in racism and ethnocentrism has no place in modern Australia.”
NETWORK CALLS FOR APOLOGY
Nine news and current affairs executive director Fiona Dear called for a public apology from Mr Katter and said his “aggressive behaviour and threats were unacceptable”.
“His baseless and offensive accusation of racism is an irresponsible attempt to shut down a legitimate line of questioning and warrants a public apology from Mr Katter,” she said. “We stand by Josh Bavas and will continue to report without fear or favour.”
Bavas described the confrontation as “extraordinary” and said he had never in his 20 years as a journalist experienced that reaction from an elected representative.
“In an extraordinary press conference where a federal parliamentarian was talking about taking names on lists and deportation of residents, I was trying to ask a question about the value migrant Australian families, including the Katters and my own family, bring to this nation through shared values,” he said.
Mr Katter, on social media, later demanded an apology from Bavas and said questions about his heritage questioned his loyalty to Australia.
KAP leader Robbie Katter accepted that his father’s response was aggressive but was surprised that this particular interaction, which “didn’t rate … on the Richter scale of aggressive responses” had become a national issue.
“I guess we all try and conduct ourselves with some integrity and decorum and then in a constructive manner with the media and at times in that cut and thrust, yeah, it gets aggressive,” he said.
KAP deputy leader Nick Dametto said Mr Katter’s style was justified, and that Bavas had “poked the bear”.
“I challenge any of you to change him,” he said.
Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom executive director Peter Greste said Mr Katter had been “unreasonable” in the press conference for shutting down a journalist’s legitimate questions.
“The journalists didn’t get a chance to say anything that could possibly be deemed as racist,” Mr Greste said.
The 2021 Census shows that, in Kennedy, 77 per cent of its 171,000 residents were born in Australia, while the rest listed New Zealand, England, Philippines, India and Italy as their country of birth.
Anti-immigration protests dubbed “March for Australia” – which has ties to white nationalist propaganda – are set to be held in capital cities across the country on Sunday.
The protest has been criticised by state and federal leaders for threatening social cohesion in the community.
Originally published as Bob Katter confronts Channel 9 reporter Josh Bavas in racism row
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