The North West Star sat down with Bob Katter ahead of the election to discuss his priorities for the term ahead if re-elected.
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With polls narrowing, a hung parliament is possible so it's worth paying attention to what Bob has to say on a variety of topics ranging from retirement, the national electricity grid, net zero, water security, Australian manufacturing, the Bradfield Scheme, China, and his strategy with whoever wins government.
Here is the text of the full half hour interview conducted on Tuesday, April 19.
DB: I'm chatting with Bob Katter, is this the 11th time you are standing for election or have you lost count?
BK: No, no I was 29 in the parliament, I'm now nearly 76.
DB: Isn't it about time that you sat back, put your slippers on and retire?
BK: Em, (Pause) There might have been a different time in my life where it would have been a good time to move quietly and would be the last one. I mean, I've just done the affordable living - the cost of a motor car has gone up 700%, the cost of a house has gone up 600%, the cost of food has gone up 300%, your average wage has only gone up 130% right? This country is living in hardship. People are being kicked out of their houses, can't make ends meet. Now that's on that front -
DB: (Interrupts) So how does that affect you and how should you be the one to try and fix that?
BK: Because I can do something about it. No-one is even delineating the issue. No one is even talking about the issue. The cost of these things are going up. So resign and retire from the field of battle? Let everyone else fight the battle when I'm one of the warriors that probably is very effective because I'm very brutal. Yes I am very brutal. There's only one language people can understand. They (the government) don't care how many people die. I could go to a Mornington Island funeral every fortnight and they are people I know. Their life expectancy is 64, our life expectancy is 82. Farmers are suiciding every week. So the last thing I'll be doing is retiring, I'd make people happy if I did. But I can tell you, I'll be around. Our advertisement is "gloves off" and that is serious -
DB: (Interrupts) That's violence you're talking about.
BK: I'm not going to talk about what is the right thing. I will find a way of getting action. I'm not going to define what getting action means.
DB: Don't you have to define what getting action means?
BK: No, I don't have to define that at all because I don't want them to know where I'm coming from. All you know is you are not there anymore. You can ask Jackie Trad. I don't like doing those things. I don't enjoy it, but if you want a fight, you'll get a fight. And I'm not going to win them all, Derek (laughs). They'll get me in the end, but until they do (pause)... I'm holding a Glencore letter from 2018 which advises me they are closing down the (Mount Isa) copper smelter and all the accountrements, that means the closure of the fertiliser plant and the Townsville refinery - and we got a reprieve and we have to thank Robbie Katter, Milton Dick and Tony McGrady.- we're not friends but in this case he was instrumental. We got $45m a year gift from the state government before the state election.
DB: Obviously we bought some time -
BK: That is very accurate
DB: There could be another letter for all we know
BK: We got the money. People criticise me for bagging Rudd. Well he built the NBN, the only thing Australia owns thanks to the good people of Kennedy and the good people of Callare in NSW (editor's note: likely confusing the Callare seat of independent Tony Andren who retired in 2007, with Lyne, the seat of independent Rob Oakeshott or New England the seat of Tony Windsor)
DB: But you weren't in favour of Rudd, you went against him in that election (editor's note. my mistake this time, Gillard was PM by the time of the 2010 election not Rudd). For you to take credit for that when you went against him is a bit rich.
BK: No, no, no. I was against Gillard. Remember Gillard cut off the cattle to Indonesia. But there are other issues. But he (Rudd) dreamed up this idea of taking the electricity to the Pilbara iron ore, the Olympic Dam, and the North West Mineral Province. He made the announcements and they started work. They provided $350m to Copperstring (the original project to connect NW Qld to the national grid). Now he gets rolled and there is no $350m. All we heard is noise from the Liberal Party.
DB: Bob, I want to finish off on Copperstring 2 in Mount Isa before I move on to other matters. I know you'e been critical of the state government not putting enough money into it but surely the federal government haven't done enough either?
BK: They've done nothing (vehement). It's worse than that. And I shove it down the throat of the Liberal party. Kevin Rudd announced the start of the national energy grid. The money was there. Treasury had no difficulty with it. They'd figured out they'd get a lot more mines and a lot more taxes. But (sighs) all this mob have done is say "if only the state government would declare it as part of the national grid".
DB: So there has to be some legal change at the state level?
BK: There has to be legislation. But it's just six lines. You and I could sit down and draft it. (editor's note: the Qld law is the National Energy Retail Law (Qld) 2014 which has specific regulations for the Mount Isa area).
DB: The Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund has done nothing with its large pool of money -
BK: (interrupts) No, NAIF has made it quite clear they will make money available. But they've got to put the money up to a project - there's no project unless someone puts $350m in the till. And no-one's going to do that unless the government moves the legislation. It's a classic chicken and the egg. When I was mining and prospecting there was a huge ore body -
DB: (Interrupts) Where?
BK: I can't tell you - it's in the Mount Isa / Cloncurry region - but we can't get into the field. It's all locked up. When one lease comes down, there's automatically another application sitting behind. There's margins there but it's $50m a year extra for electricity, knocks you out of the ballpark and that's the sort of orebody -
DB: (Interrupts) I understand that issue but my question to you is what can you do to make this happen?
BK: Well, I get on well with both of the leaders (Morrison and Albanese)
DB: Well the polls are tightening, it is possible you could have the balance of power:
BK: This time I'll not ask for money, they are incapable of delivering. What they will do is overrule the state government, the electricity grid is a national grid. I want that legislation through the state or federal government within three months, I want $350-500m for the project.
DB: So you ARE looking for money?
BK: Yes.
DB: I want to move on now. You said you wanted to keep your powder dry so people don't know until it hits them. But that's not entirely true is it? In your "gloves off" press release, you said you were going to fight net zero (carbon emissions). Surely Bob, we need to get to net zero? Surely you understand that?
BK: No, I have never ever been a climate denialist.
DB: I didn't say that, Bob.
BK: We've probably the leading scientists in the world. I try and catch up with (them). You plan for the future. A 150 years time there isn't going to be any coal there. But let's make hay while the sun shines.
DB: But are you being totally honest with those people, not just the coal industry, the cattle industry, the cane industry, all three are exposed to climate risk. Politicians are not being honest enough to tell people these risks are happening, they are real and we need to prepare for them.
BK: No, I'm the one being honest. The people telling the lies are those who say 20 years. Our economy, we've closed down manufacturing, we don't make anything, everything is made from overseas. To buy it, you've got to sell something. We only sell two things, iron ore and coal. You take coal out, we're bankrupt immediately. So I'm not the one lying, they're the ones lying.
DB: Isn't the solution Bob, to be looking at other avenues not to keep hitching us to the horse that sooner or later is going to be a non-runner?
BK: The only legislation passed to lower CO2 is me by me. (editor's note, Bob is correct to say he's raised legislation but it has not been passed yet). Number 1 is to ban the export of oil though that doesn't lower CO2, number 2 is all waste, your rubbish is converted into fuel.number 3 all government cars should be electric. The fourth is renewables. All of the crossbench is behind it. That will be a huge reduction.
DB: Fair enough. Bob, the Bradfield Scheme. Every time anyone has looked at this seriously it has been knocked back as not worth the return on investment. Why are you still pushing this?
BK: The revised Bradfield Scheme is simple. Over here (the east coast) a minimum supply of 320 megalitres of water, over there (Hughenden) 180 megalites. So we gravitate the water out onto the western plains but we need to keep it. It's simple mathematics. Everyone can figure out how much the dams are going to cost -
DB: (Interrupts) your ultimate dream is have these towns (Cloncurry to Hughenden) grow, isn't the reality of the experience so far, particularly the cotton farms around Julia Creek are being snapped up by agribusiness not the little guys you'd like to see out there?
BK: The Labor (state) government should be spat upon. They allocated all of the water to absentee landholders.
DB: How we stop this?
BK: I serve notice that if and when I'm re-elected I'm going to after whoever is water minister in Queensland. I'm saying straight out, you are a traitor to this country and everything I believe in. You want to give the water to big absentee landholders. The big corporations are behind the Labor Party. They are the have class, the university and the union heavies. We need to go back to the time of the labour imperative and the (EG) Theodore (state) government. Now we've gone full circle. They are the have class. They live in cities and they bludge off the rest of us.
DB: Do you have anyone for the Senate in this election.
BK: It will be announced today or tomorrow. It's very difficult for us to win in the Senate.
DB: Why is that?
BK: We have no money. We had $2.5m in first campaign and we had 12.5 percent in that election and they took our name of us, if they hadn't done that we'd have polled 20 percent. So give us the money and we'll -
DB: (Interrupts) is it also because you are a north Queensland party?
BK: We have decided to be a North Qld party and we will take our culture and philosophy to the rest of the state. It's what Labor did. Every premier for 50 years was from north Qld. We (north Qld) ran the show. We (the KAP) want our own show. It's very simple. Either you are an economic rationalist ie a laissez faire capitalist or economic nationalist. China is bashing the hell out of America economically. So if you are looking for competing models, my argument is you guys are losing badly.
DB: Not that you want to be like China, there's no freedom?
BK: The price that people pay. Well, I suppose if you are starving it's a good trade.
DB: You would be willing to trade Australian freedoms?
BK: I'd be the other way around. You take that superannuation money., 60 percent is going into the development of this country, but if you gave it to government now, you'd have fireworks displays in Brisbane. You give me the money and I will give every young person that wants to get married a home for $150,000. You raise the speed limit to 125kph and you build a freeway and you develop all that once dairy country near Caboolture. So Derek, you ask me what I'd do after the election, it's not up to me, it's up to them. I couldn't care less if Labor get in or Liberal get in. I can't see any difference.
DB: Thank you for talking to the North West Star.