Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has pushed for an investigation into Bob Katter that could result in a suspension or pay docking.

The maverick politician sparked outrage last week after threatening to punch a TV reporter when asked about his Lebanese heritage at a press conference.

Calling on Katter to apologise or resign, Hanson-Young revealed on Tuesday that she had referred the matter to the parliamentary standards tribunal.

“Last week, Mr Katter threatened a journalist with physical violence during a press conference,” she reportedly wrote in a letter to Speaker Milton Dick.

“This behaviour is completely unacceptable and has no place.

“On Monday 1st of September, Mr Katter was quoted telling another journalist that ‘my only regret was I wasn’t more aggressive with him. Far from apologising’.

“Mr Katter’s behaviour towards a journalist who was in their workplace clearly constitutes unreasonable behaviour towards another person that creates a risk to work health and safety.

“Mr Katter has doubled down on this behaviour because he hasn’t received any sanction for this unacceptable behaviour.

“I ask that you investigate this matter.”

Hanson-Young said in a statement that “the standard you walk past is the standard you accept.

“The parliament has an important role to play in setting the standards of behaviour and this is clearly unacceptable conduct.”

The parliamentary code of conduct states that politicians should treat those they come into contact with while carrying out duties with “dignity, courtesy, fairness and respect”.

If the commission believes a more serious sanction is warranted, Katter could be referred to parliament’s powerful privileges committee, which can impose a fine or a suspension from Parliament House.

Hanson-Young said Katter had since doubled down on his behaviour because he had not suffered any consequences.

“He seems to think that the normal rules of respectful engagement don’t apply to him,” she said.

“This is not okay.”

“Mr Katter should unreservedly apologise to Josh Bavas or resign from parliament.”

Nine has also demanded an apology from Katter.

Asked about a potential investigation into his behaviour, the Queensland MP said he hoped there would be one.

“My only regret was I wasn’t more aggressive with him. Far from apologising, I should have just kept going. I’ll leave to your imagination what that means,” he told the Nine newspapers.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday weighed in, telling the 80-year-old federal MP to take “a look at himself”.

But Queensland state MP Robbie Katter defended his father, saying the question about their family history had touched a nerve.

Katter junior was reluctant to go into detail about the matter that had apparently triggered his father.

“Knowing him and some of his personal background, I’m quite confident there are some very deep personal issues that the journalist in question has tapped into,” he said.

“He’s touched on a very deeply personal touch point with him, of which we tried to warn him to divert that line and he chose not to.”

Katter was flanked by his son and two other Katter’s Australian Party colleagues at the press conference in Brisbane on Thursday when he became irate.

His grandfather Carl Robert Katter immigrated from Lebanon to Australia in 1898.

But Katter — known as parliament’s Father of the House — lost his cool when asked about his Lebanese heritage by Nine Network journalist Josh Bavas.

“Don’t say that, because that irritates me, and I punch blokes in the mouth for saying that,” he yelled, cutting off Bavas’s question.

“I am Australian. My family have been here since the dawn of time.”

He then approached Bavas with a raised fist when the reporter tried to ask a follow-up question.

“You’re a racist,” the independent MP for the Queensland seat of Kennedy said, holding his fist close to Bavas’s face.

Bavas led calls for Katter to apologise for his “unacceptable” behaviour, with federal MPs weighing in on Friday.

Robbie Katter said he had not been in touch with his father since the press conference and was unsure whether an apology was forthcoming.

“I certainly don’t feel like I owe him any apology, but I do wish him well,” the third-generation politician said of Bavas.

“I think he’s a good journalist and I don’t think he necessarily had any malice intended.”

Albanese said Katter — federal parliament’s longest-serving MP after first winning his seat in 1993 — had to consider his actions.

“Look, Bob Katter I like. But Bob Katter needs to have a look at that footage,” he told Nine Network’s Today Show.

“Have a look at himself, frankly, and recognise that that’s just not what we expect of any Australian, let alone someone who’s in public office.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud said Katter’s behaviour was not becoming of a federal MP.

“It doesn’t matter who you are or how iconic you think you are,” he told ABC Radio National on Friday.

“Bob wears the big hat and it all seems all great … but I don’t think that sort of behaviour is appropriate for a federal member of parliament.”

Asked if Katter should apologise, Littleproud said: “I’d like him to but I doubt he will.”

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said Katter was known for his quirky behaviour but had crossed a line.

“That is completely unacceptable,” he told Seven Network’s Sunrise program.

The Nine Network has backed Bavas, demanding the MP apologise for his display.

“His baseless and offensive accusation of racism is an irresponsible attempt to shut down a legitimate line of questioning,” spokeswoman Fiona Dear said.

-with AAP