{"id":112815,"date":"2025-09-02T09:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T09:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/112815\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T09:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T09:16:07","slug":"bob-katter-distances-himself-from-neo-nazi-group-associated-with-megaphone-at-anti-immigration-protest-bob-katter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/112815\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob Katter distances himself from neo-Nazi group associated with megaphone at anti-immigration protest | Bob Katter"},"content":{"rendered":"

The federal MP Bob Katter has distanced himself from a neo-Nazi group that claimed ownership of a megaphone he used at a Townsville<\/a> rally against mass immigration, with the veteran politician claiming he has been the victim of \u201cbullying\u201d in the media.<\/p>\n

The Greens have separately called on Katter, the member for Kennedy, to \u201capologise or resign\u201d over his verbal altercation with a Channel Nine reporter<\/a> last week, asking the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission to investigate his conduct.<\/p>\n

Photos and video of Katter circulated online after Sunday\u2019s rally<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

A prominent member of the National Socialist Network, a well-known neo-Nazi group, posted on the messaging app Telegram that Katter was \u201con the NSN rune megaphone in Townsville\u201d, with a laughing emoji, alongside a photo of the MP holding the microphone.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Katter was one of a number of speakers who appeared to be called to speak impromptu using the megaphone.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> in his brief address to the crowd.<\/p>\n

Katter denied any sympathy for NSN or knowledge of their alleged link to the megaphone, saying, \u201cI didn\u2019t know [the megaphone] had any nasty connotations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pushed it away because it was irritating me. The bloke kept pushing it in front of me, and it didn\u2019t work. [It was] buggering up what I was saying,\u201d he told Guardian Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just at a rally, and someone kept on annoying me by pushing the bloody thing in front of me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not speak into it or use it, I pushed it away.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Local media reported about 400 people were at the Townsville rally. The ABC reported that Robbie Katter, Bob\u2019s son and a Queensland<\/a> state parliamentarian who also spoke at the event, also downplayed the relevance of the megaphone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a person there with a speakerphone, which we used because we didn\u2019t have one ourselves \u2013 so that\u2019s about the extent of the relationship,\u201d Robbie Katter told the ABC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nick Dametto, the Katter\u2019s Australian party MP for Hinchinbrook, said in a statement shared on social media on Monday that Katter\u2019s Australian party \u201cdo not stand for neo-Nazi values, and do not have any relationship with the men alluded to\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe presence of the neo-Nazi group made myself, and the crowd, very uneasy. Those gentlemen dressed in black, I didn\u2019t know too much about who they were, but people were very concerned about their presence,\u201d Dametto said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe KAP marched to oppose unchecked mass immigration and support Australian values \u2026 While other politicians shy away from marches to defend Australian values, the KAP MPs led a peaceful declaration in Townsville.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking with Guardian Australia, Bob Katter<\/a> described himself as \u201cthe most pro-Jewish person in the parliament\u201d and \u201cthe leader of the anti-Gazan mob\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of other people, but I\u2019m probably the most vociferous.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t ingratiate me to the modern lefties, or whatever you want to call them \u2026 they don\u2019t like flag-waving Australians\u2026 [they] consider themselves the intelligentsia, and they want to cut down the gum trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

A staffer from Katter\u2019s office, who was with him in the room during the interview, added to the MP that \u201cantisemitism is something you\u2019ve been ardently against\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Katter went on to describe himself as \u201cthe expert in libel actions\u201d, warning numerous times during Guardian Australia\u2019s phone interview of potential legal action over reporting about the megaphone used at the rally.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that\u2019s the truth, and if you say I was speaking into it, well, you\u2019re gone a million. It\u2019s goodbye \u2026 for you. Defamation action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scrutiny on Katter, parliament\u2019s oldest MP, has increased in recent weeks after his outburst at a Channel Nine journalist, Josh Bavas, who said, \u201cYou\u2019ve got Lebanese heritage yourself\u201d at a press conference. Katter then threatened to punch him.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young sought to refer Katter to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission over the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cThreats of violence have no place in Australian political discourse, especially coming from a member of parliament,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr Katter has doubled down because he hasn\u2019t received any sanction. He seems to think that the normal rules of respectful engagement don\u2019t apply to him. This is not OK.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr Katter should unreservedly apologise to Josh Bavas or resign from parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katter was contacted for comment about the Greens\u2019 action.<\/p>\n

Katter was critical of the recent attention, and stood by his concerns about immigration figures.<\/p>\n

He claimed the majority of voters wanted migration numbers reduced, adding: \u201cPlease excuse me if I\u2019m the only voice in Australia that\u2019s articulating the will of the Australian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nine Entertainment is considering legal action<\/a> against Katter after he accused Bavas of being a \u201cracist\u201d in response to the journalist\u2019s reference to his Lebanese heritage.<\/p>\n

Katter several times accused the Channel Nine reporter of \u201clibel\u201d, but said he would not pursue legal action. Nine was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federal MP Bob Katter has distanced himself from a neo-Nazi group that claimed ownership of a megaphone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-112815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}