It's a seat which in one shape or another he's held for eight year and to no real surprise, Robbie Katter now wants four more years as state member in North West Queensland.
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Mr Katter was first elected to the seat of Mount Isa in 2012 and re-elected in 2015 before taking on and comfortably winning the rebadged seat of Traeger in 2017 with almost 65% of the vote.
Born in one end of the electorate in Charters Tower and living in the other end at Mount Isa, Mr Katter said he would bolster the local economy in the wake of COVID-19, with key investments in water, power, health and living affordability.
"The major parties have been heavily criticised for their lack of a COVID economic recovery plan, but the KAP is ahead of the game and has already mapped out a robust strategy to fuel huge growth in Traeger," he said.
The KAP is looking to add to its three seats it gained in 2017 and Mr Katter said if they win the balance of power they would establish a North Queensland Future Fund, financed by the State Government's $5 billion Queensland Future Fund, to identify and build major infrastructure projects in the North including water storage.
"Hell's Gates Dam and Big Rocks Weir (Stage One) is the most logical and viable water security solution for North Queensland. Hell's Gates offers a hell of a lot more than any other water storage scheme," he said.
He said CopperString 2.0 was a key election priority for Mr Katter to connect the North West Minerals Province to the National Electricity Market
"Following extensive lobbying, the State Government recently pledged $14.8 million to the project," he said.
On roads Mr Katter wants to complete the sealing of the Hann Highway, Georgetown-Forsayth and the Torrens Creek-Aramac Road and an access road to the Lawn Hill Gorge, Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park with more overtaking lanes on the Flinders Highway between Charters Towers and Townsville.
Mr Katter wants a relocation sentencing centre at Kajabbi, 120km north of Mount Isa, a move opposed by the state government.
"The establishment of this policy could facilitate a purpose-built, State Government-owned camp that would house children as they completed this alternative form of sentencing," he said.
"The centre would operate in close co-operation with Indigenous Elders and professional youth workers to ensure young offenders had the best shot possible at a productive and crime-free future."
Bettering the health and wellbeing of Queenslanders in the Traeger electorate is another central re-election commitment.
Mr Katter has identified resolving Traeger's hidden health emergency and addressing the chronic underfunding of dialysis services for rural patients as an urgent priority.
He also said he would work with the Charters Towers Regional and Mount Isa City Councils as they navigated their flying fox issues.
The State Government restricts handling of the animals through legislation and codes that are ultimately unworkable, but then shifts blame to under-resourced and inexperienced local governments," he said.
Access to fair and reliable fuel and airfare prices for rural and remote communities is another re-election priority for Mr Katter.
He also pledged to keep up the fight against high air travel costs and fuel prices in Traeger.
"Earlier this year, steps forward were taken in the fight against exorbitant airfares with the Queensland Transport Minister's announcement of a price-tracking tool to keep tabs on regional airfares and help monitor affordability," he said.
"And for far too long, regional, rural and remote Queenslanders have been paying substantially more for fuel than the rest of the state, a problem worsened due to the dive in oil prices as a result of the COVID-19 crisis."
Mr Katter is the second candidate to formally nominate following Mount Isa's James Bambrick for Labor.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
