Peter Dutton left stunned by ABC reporter’s question during press conference

Peter Dutton was left stunned after a question from an ABC reporter during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

‘What determines the fact that Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation?’ the ABC reporter asked.

Taken aback, Mr Dutton sought clarification on which media organisation the reporter represented.

‘So, what’s the question from the ABC, just to be very clear?’ Mr Dutton asked.

After a brief back-and-forth, the reporter asked: ‘If you could just explain what determines something as a terrorist organisation.’

Dutton fired back, accusing the ABC of being ‘in greater trouble than he imagined’.

‘I had presumed up until this point, at least, that the ABC supported the government’s laws,’ he explained. 

‘The government has passed laws, supported on a bipartisan basis, but not by the ABC, it seems, in relation to the prescribing or the listing of a terrorist organisation.

‘Hezbollah, under Australian law, is a listed terrorist organisation.

‘Now, if the ABC doesn’t support that, they should be very clear about it because I think that’s quite a departure. But you asked me why our country has listed Hezbollah.

‘They’re a terrorist organisation, they organise terrorist attacks, and if that’s not clear to the ABC, then I think the ABC is in greater trouble than I first imagined.’

Dutton’s comments come as Australians are warned about importing conflict from the Middle East, with police investigations underway after fiery protests re-ignited community tensions sparked by the bombing of Lebanon by Israel. 

Thousands marched on the weekend to protest Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza and bombing of Lebanon but some have been condemned for carrying the Hezbollah flag and photos of its killed leader. 

Jewish Australians have called out the use of the listed terror group’s iconography and photos glorifying Hassan Nasrallah. 

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-leader Alex Ryvchin called it ‘sickening to see fellow Australians on our streets mourning the death of this terrorist kingpin’. 

The protests went beyond concerns about the loss of life and future of Lebanon and veered into ‘active, open, specific support for Hezbollah’ which police needed to take action against, Mr Ryvchin said on Monday. 

The Islamic Council of Victoria blamed a small number of people for the Hezbollah flags, saying the community’s focus was on the escalation of violence in Gaza and Lebanon. 

‘It has been made clear that Hezbollah flags are not welcome and should not be brought,’ the group’s president Adel Salman said. 

However fixating on flags served as a ‘convenient distraction’ from violence in the Middle East, Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni said. 

‘It’s a national disgrace that condemning a flag has become easier than confronting the brutal reality of a rogue state intent on annihilating an entire population.’ 

Political leaders have also expressed concern over the flames of social conflict being fanned by protest actions. 

‘We do not want people to bring radical ideologies and conflict here, our multiculturalism and social cohesion cannot be taken for granted,’ Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said ahead of a cabinet meeting in Canberra on Monday. 

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke warned visa holders and applicants who sought ‘to incite discord in Australia’ could have visas refused or revoked.