LOL
Dutton gave a good ol' smack-down to an ABC "Journalist" ...
PETER DUTTON AND ABC JOURNALIST'S STOUSH IN FULL
Reporter: With Hezbollah you're saying being responsible for the deaths of women and children, groups have commented on the hypocrisy of that situation because there are no bans currently on Israeli flags being raised, despite 45,000 people dying at the hands of the Israeli government.
Dutton: Israel is a democracy. It's not run by a terrorist organisation. Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation, they’re a listed terrorist organisation and if people are in favour of a terrorist organisation they should declare it and authorities can deal with them.
Reporter: And if not the number of deaths, what determines.... What determines the fact that Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation even though-?
Dutton: Where are you from, I'm sorry? Which organisation?
Reporter: Um, ABC.
Dutton: ABC. So what's the question from the ABC just to be very clear?
Reporter: I just wanted to find out because groups have commented...
Dutton: No, no. But you asked about the listing of the organisation. I just didn't understand that question I'm sorry.
Reporter: Ah, yep. So, ah.
Dutton: This is a question from Canberra is it? You're reading it from a phone?
Reporter: Ah, no. So ah. Just wanted to ask in terms of, ah, looking into that for the investigation, you've asked the Prime Minister and the minister (Tony Burke) to direct the AFP in its investigation.
Dutton: No. That wasn't the question you asked. What was the question you asked?
Reporter: I just wanted to understand.
Dutton: No, you asked a question about the listing so just ask that question again.
Reporter: So if you could sort of explain what determines something as a terrorist organisation?
Dutton: Well I had presumed up until this point at least the ABC supported the government's laws. And 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.
Reporter: That's not what I'm ...
Dutton: But you asked me why the country has listed Hezbollah. They're a terrorist organisation. They're organise terrorist attacks and if that is not clear to the ABC, then I think the ABC is in greater trouble than even I first imagined.
Reporter: That wasn’t my question
The scandal is set to engulf the public broadcaster in fresh controversy just days after ABC Chair Kim Williams warned young journalists against taking activist viewpoints on stories.
"Many of our younger journalists have a much more activist view of the role of journalism, and a much more policy-prosecutorial approach to their journalism," he said last week at the 2024 Lowy Institute Media Award Dinner.
"And I’m sure that any of the editors in the room would readily confirm what I am saying.
"In the case of the ABC, that is simply not available to those journalists. And not only is it to be discouraged, it is to be ardently opposed," Mr Williams said.
Hezbollah’s External Security Organisation was officially designated as a terrorist organisation by the Australian government during the Howard administration.
The United States and European Union have both also deemed the armed wing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.
Hezbollah has engaged in various terrorist activities, including abductions, suicide bombings, car bombings, political assassinations and rocket attacks.
Iran has been funded most of Hezbollah’s activities, while the group also receives funding from criminal enterprises and Lebanese diaspora.
Additionally, Hezbollah has been implicated in planning terrorist operations and providing support to other terror groups, including assistance to Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/opposition-leader-peter-dutto...