Australian lawmaker Bob Katter (L) threatening a journalist for mentioning his Lebanese heritage on Aug. 28, 2025. (Credit: SS from video published by 7NEWSAustralia on YouTube)
BEIRUT — 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, according to Reuters.
Bob Katter, founder of the Katter's Australian Party, a populist party advocating for farmers in rural areas, called a press conference to discuss his proposed attendance at the March For Australia, an anti-immigration rally scheduled for 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.
Katter added that he was restraining himself today by not punching Bavas, whom he describes as a “racist,” approaching him and shaking his fist, as shown in television footage.
'Unacceptable threats'
"In my nearly 20 years in journalism, I've never experienced that kind of reaction from an elected representative," the journalist said in a statement following the incident.
Fiona Dear, the director of news and current affairs at the channel's parent company, said Katter's threats were unacceptable and allegations of racism "baseless and offensive," calling for him to apologize.
"I think it's quite offensive to threaten a journalist," a reporter said, after Katter refused to answer any more questions on the issue at the press conference.
"Point taken," Katter's son, Robbie Katter, a state lawmaker also present at the press conference, said in response.
The elected official's office did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
The crocodiles of north Queensland
Katter, 80, is Australia's longest-serving federal lawmaker and is known for his eccentric views. In 2017, he went viral after abruptly saying he did not have time to discuss same-sex marriage as "every three months, a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in north Queensland."
The issue of Lebanese or Middle Eastern origins, this time involving a journalist of Lebanese origin, Antoinette Lattouf, was the subject of debate last year during a lawsuit against ABC, which had fired her because of her “political views opposing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza,” according to a court ruling last June.
According to the American channel CNN, the accusation that the presenter had been dismissed because of her origins was rejected. This issue was debated during the trial, with ABC's defense team initially arguing that “there is no such thing as a Lebanese, Middle Eastern or Arab race” before retracting this statement.
The population of Lebanese emigrants in Australia and their descendants is estimated at half a million people. This community is characterized by a strong attachment to their country of origin, as evidenced by frequent visits to Lebanon to see family, inter-Lebanese marriages, a high rate of language transmission (90 percent), and a certain degree of residential cohesion, according to the Immigration Museum in Victoria, which has studied the origins of communities from 85 countries.
Lebanese people live mainly in the most populous southeastern regions, starting with the state of Queensland and the city of Brisbane, bordered by New South Wales, which includes the city of Sydney and the capital Canberra, and finally the state of Victoria and Melbourne, the country's cultural and sporting capital.
