The federal MP Bob Katter has distanced himself from a neo-Nazi group that claimed ownership of a megaphone he used at a Townsville rally against mass immigration, with the veteran politician claiming he has been the victim of “bullying” in the media.

The Greens have separately called on Katter, the member for Kennedy, to “apologise or resign” over his verbal altercation with a Channel Nine reporter last week, asking the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission to investigate his conduct.

Photos and video of Katter circulated online after Sunday’s rally, where he is seen speaking briefly into a corded microphone attached to a black megaphone bullhorn held by another man who is standing near him. The bullhorn is covered in white runic markings.

A prominent member of the National Socialist Network, a well-known neo-Nazi group, posted on the messaging app Telegram that Katter was “on the NSN rune megaphone in Townsville”, with a laughing emoji, alongside a photo of the MP holding the microphone.

A similar megaphone, also painted black and bearing white runic markings, was seen in the possession of NSN members in Melbourne on Sunday following the anti-immigration march in that city. A similar megaphone was also seen in front of an NSN banner at the Perth rally.

Katter was one of a number of speakers who appeared to be called to speak impromptu using the megaphone.

Video of the event shared online shows Katter holding and speaking into the corded microphone for about a minute, while the man holding the megaphone attached to it stands near him. Katter listed immigration statistics in his brief address to the crowd.

Katter denied any sympathy for NSN or knowledge of their alleged link to the megaphone, saying, “I didn’t know [the megaphone] had any nasty connotations.

“I pushed it away because it was irritating me. The bloke kept pushing it in front of me, and it didn’t work. [It was] buggering up what I was saying,” he told Guardian Australia.

“I’m just at a rally, and someone kept on annoying me by pushing the bloody thing in front of me.

“I did not speak into it or use it, I pushed it away.”

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Local media reported about 400 people were at the Townsville rally. The ABC reported that Robbie Katter, Bob’s son and a Queensland state parliamentarian who also spoke at the event, also downplayed the relevance of the megaphone.

“There was a person there with a speakerphone, which we used because we didn’t have one ourselves – so that’s about the extent of the relationship,” Robbie Katter told the ABC.

Nick Dametto, the Katter’s Australian party MP for Hinchinbrook, said in a statement shared on social media on Monday that Katter’s Australian party “do not stand for neo-Nazi values, and do not have any relationship with the men alluded to”.

“The presence of the neo-Nazi group made myself, and the crowd, very uneasy. Those gentlemen dressed in black, I didn’t know too much about who they were, but people were very concerned about their presence,” Dametto said.

“The KAP marched to oppose unchecked mass immigration and support Australian values … While other politicians shy away from marches to defend Australian values, the KAP MPs led a peaceful declaration in Townsville.”

Speaking with Guardian Australia, Bob Katter described himself as “the most pro-Jewish person in the parliament” and “the leader of the anti-Gazan mob”.

“There’s a lot of other people, but I’m probably the most vociferous.

“That doesn’t ingratiate me to the modern lefties, or whatever you want to call them … they don’t like flag-waving Australians… [they] consider themselves the intelligentsia, and they want to cut down the gum trees.”

A staffer from Katter’s office, who was with him in the room during the interview, added to the MP that “antisemitism is something you’ve been ardently against”.

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Katter went on to describe himself as “the expert in libel actions”, warning numerous times during Guardian Australia’s phone interview of potential legal action over reporting about the megaphone used at the rally.

“Someone was pushing this thing in front of me, right, and it was not working, and it was irritating me no end, and I pushed it away.

“Now that’s the truth, and if you say I was speaking into it, well, you’re gone a million. It’s goodbye … for you. Defamation action.”

Scrutiny on Katter, parliament’s oldest MP, has increased in recent weeks after his outburst at a Channel Nine journalist, Josh Bavas, who said, “You’ve got Lebanese heritage yourself” at a press conference. Katter then threatened to punch him.

On Tuesday the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young sought to refer Katter to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission over the incident.

“Threats of violence have no place in Australian political discourse, especially coming from a member of parliament,” she said in a statement.

“Mr Katter has doubled down because he hasn’t received any sanction. He seems to think that the normal rules of respectful engagement don’t apply to him. This is not OK.

“Mr Katter should unreservedly apologise to Josh Bavas or resign from parliament.”

Katter was contacted for comment about the Greens’ action.

Katter was critical of the recent attention, and stood by his concerns about immigration figures.

He claimed the majority of voters wanted migration numbers reduced, adding: “Please excuse me if I’m the only voice in Australia that’s articulating the will of the Australian people.”

Nine Entertainment is considering legal action against Katter after he accused Bavas of being a “racist” in response to the journalist’s reference to his Lebanese heritage.

Katter several times accused the Channel Nine reporter of “libel”, but said he would not pursue legal action. Nine was contacted for comment.