A fortnight in the life of Bob Katter, Federal Member for Kennedy
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Thursday September 1.
Federal Parliament – Canberra
- Meetings to progress ethanol production in rural Australia
- Meeting to support Australian Government procurement – ‘Buying Australian Made’ to support Australian jobs
- Federal Parliament Canberra – one vote away from passing another motion calling for a Royal Commission into the Banks/Financial Providers.
“There was a now very famous case of a bloke called Charlie Phillott. The state member for Mount Isa—Robbie Katter, my son—called a big meeting.
It was a Last Stand meeting at Winton. A bloke called David Pascoe wrote a letter about a bloke called Charlie Phillott.
He wrote, 'A letter to my fellow Australians,' and he concentrated on Charlie Phillott. If you want to see everything that is good about this country, meet Charlie Phillott, because he represents everything that is good about this country.
The spotlight was turned on this issue. Phillott had walked off. He owned nothing.
The farm had fallen to pieces. But when the spotlight of public attention was put on the bank, the chairman himself, God bless him—I think he is a good man—said, 'What's going on here?' Charlie Phillott had his $2 million station returned to him.
60 Minutes ran two segments on it. That is the power of the spotlight. You give us no spotlight and we have got no power, right?
What I am saying is that we want the spotlight and the power of public opinion which was so enormously effective in the now famous case of Charlie Phillott.”
Friday September 2.
Brisbane
- Meeting with leading Australian Company to progress Hell’s Gate Dam
- Meeting with Queensland taxi company to strategies the next steps in the fight against Foreign-owner Uber – threatening Australian small business owners who have invested their life savings buying a taxi licence and who pay tax in Australia.
- Meeting to progress Hughenden Irrigation Project
Monday September 5.
Townsville/Charters Towers
- Meeting with consultant to progress the Hell’s Gate Dam
Tuesday September 6.
Charters Towers
- Further work to progress the Hughenden Irrigation Project
Wednesday September 7.
Innisfail
- Interview with Craig Zonca ABC The Country Hour Qld
Agri-Foreign Ownership Register figures released
“The figure [percentage of foreign owned farming land] that would be acceptable to me would be nil to be quite frank”
- Meetings with constituents on various cases
- Phone meetings with cross bench senators on legislation
- Attended ‘Confidence in Building up Innisfail’ forum
Thursday September 8.
Innisfail/Cairns/Atherton Tablelands
- Further conversations with the lawyers and proponents for the Hughenden Irrigation Project
- Press Conference
Crocodiles being removed / Croc culling / population control
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with UK
“If the Croc culling involves hunting licenses, then that gives us another enrichment of our basket [of tourism in Nth Qld]… Croc numbers are out of control, nature is completely out of balance.”
FTA - “We are the weakest trading nation on earth and we should despise free trade deals. Free trade deals are the ceding of our sovereignty”
- Meeting with Transport and Main Roads to discuss key regional roads.
Friday September 9
Atherton Tablelands/Cairns/Charters Towers
- Presentation of Certificates to community organisations of the Stronger Communities Funding (Round 2)
- Press Conference
North Queensland Cowboys “Egging Scandal”
“In my younger days I was a naughty boy. We threw eggs at The Beatles…I just hate young people being picked on all the time for being stupid and irresponsible.
That’s what young people are like.
Of course, you should get a kick in the backside for it.
Should you have done it? No, you shouldn’t have. I just think the whole thing has been well and truly overdone.”
Monday September 12.
Federal Parliament – Canberra
Debate speech on the 2016/17 Budget
“That brings me to the unfairness of the tax system in Australia.
When we were young, my wife and I had five children. We paid virtually no tax because of the deductions for children in those days.
A family with three kids now pays, on average, $20,000 for accommodation, $25,000 for food—it is a bit low, but that is the figure for a family with three kids—and tax of $22,000.
If you take that $67,000 away from the average income of $75,000, it leaves you with $8,000 of disposable income for five people—$2,000 each.”
“You build Hells Gate, you get $2 billion a year.
You give us that little bit of on-farm irrigation that we need on each cattle station and give the First Australians title deeds, and we will give you $5 billion extra in cattle income.
You give us a tiny little canal to get our phosphate fertiliser out, we will give you $4 billion. With these things, and with title deeds for our First Australians, we will give you $5 billion in silicone and $2 billion or $3 billion in prawn and fish production.
But, no, the government of Australia thinks it is better to spend $25 billion a year to buy oil from the Middle East instead of producing that oil ourselves—oil called ethanol.
And who is going to pay the piper as the country goes broke? The elderly will, with extra tax on superannuation and reductions in their benefits!”
Tuesday September 13
Federal Parliament – Canberra
- Meeting with Cross Bench Senators and Lower House Members on legislation
Wednesday 14 September
Federal Parliament – Canberra
- Opposed the Federal Government’s Omnibus Bill
- Meetings with Federal Ministers on:
- Internet and mobile coverage in Kennedy
- Base load power for NQ
- Hell’s Gates Dam
- Ethanol
- Hydroelectricity
- Hann Highway Federal election funding commitment
- Sealing of Chillagoe to Almaden Road
- Water Development and Irrigation