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. 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,’ Mr. Dutton said.
‘Hezbollah, under n 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.’