Tighter security due to fears that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak may be kidnapped may have resulted in the arrest of two Australian journalists in Sarawak on Saturday, said a minister.

Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Hamzah Zainuddin said this while dismissing that there was no press freedom in the country.

"You are all free to ask me questions. But when (you want to) ask the PM (questions), security is more important.

"When our deputy prime minister mentioned that there are a few attempts to (kidnap) a few leaders of this country [...] we have got to be very very sure security is taken care of," he told reporters outside the Parliament lobby today.

Hamzah said this when asked to comment on two Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) journalists, who were detained after trying to ask Najib about the RM2.6 billion donation scandal during a walkabout in Kuching on Saturday night.

Police said the duo had approached Najib aggressively. However a video released by ABC disputes that claim.

The duo have since been deported.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in the House that there had been an Islamic State plot last year to kidnap several top government leaders including Najib and himself.

Zahid said the plot last year was successfully foiled thanks to security laws such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota).