Nine Entertainment chairman Peter Costello has denied assaulting a journalist from The Australian at Canberra Airport this afternoon.
Footage posted on The Australian’s website appears to show reporter Liam Mendes approaching Mr Costello before asking him questions about a harassment scandal at Nine.
The footage appears to show Mr Costello walking towards Mr Mendes, before Mr Mendes falls backwards.
“You have just assaulted me,” Mr Mendes said immediately after hitting the ground.
“You have just pushed me, it is all on camera.”
The footage shows Mr Mendes continue to follow Mr Costello out of the airport and continue to ask questions.
‘I did not strike him’: Costello
Answering reporter questions at Parliament House on Thursday evening, Mr Costello denied assaulting Mr Mendes.
“There is no assault,” Mr Costello said.
“I did not lay a finger or a fist or anything else on him.”
Mr Costello said Mr Mendes was walking backwards while filming and tripped over an advertising placard.
“I have seen it happen a million times … reporters back into the bollards and fall over,” he said.
“I did not strike him.”
Mr Costello also denied people who see the footage would describe him as being aggressive.
“I think they would think, if they watch the whole of it and remember it is an edited transcript, it was a pretty aggressive journalist”.
Mr Costello said he was “sorry” that Mr Mendes hit the advertising bollard, that he wished that did not happen, and that he was not angry during the altercation.
He then labelled any claims that the incident put his chairmanship at risk as “rubbish”.
Canberra Airport has told the ABC it was unaware of the incident and did not have any comment.
ACT Policing has told the ABC it has not received any complaints about the incident.
The ABC has contacted Liam Mendes for comment.
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