KAP State Leader Robbie Katter says the redrawn electoral districts for Queensland reinforce the need for a separate state.
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Mr Katter made the call after hearing on Friday that the electorates of Mount Isa and Dalrymple – both represented by Katter’s Australian Party – have been hardest hit by the Queensland electoral boundary changes.
KAP’s Shane Knuth’s seat of Dalrymple will be abolished and merged with most of Robbie Katter’s seat of Mount Isa under the name of Traeger.
Mr Katter said it was bad news for the people of those electorates.
“Obviously the major parties have decided to abolish one of the KAP seats because they are sick of the competition in Parliament,” Mr Katter said.
Obviously the major parties have decided to abolish one of the KAP seats because they are sick of the competition in Parliament.
- Robbie Katter
“The fact they want us gone suggests we’re doing a decent job of standing up for the people we represent.”
Mr Katter said he and Mr Knuth fought hard for their electorates.
“We are worried that there’s a risk the boundary changes will mean a lot of people currently in our electorates could now end up being represented by a major party.
“That’s just not good for the bush. The most significant thing to come out of this change is that representation of rural and remote areas is further diluted”.
Mr Katter said rural and remote Queensland will go from having five out of 89 seats to four out of 93 seats in parliament.
“This just puts us even further away from from unlocking Queensland’s wealth,” he said.
“The real solution here is to create a separate state for North Queensland.”
Mr Katter said the commission had made these changes despite furious opposition.
“As frustrating as that is, it’s really important I stay focused on doing my job of representing the people of Mount Isa, and that’s exactly what I’m doing,” he said.