King Katter has long wanted a North Queensland state. Now he may get the chance
A hung parliament is increasingly likely, which would mean minority government and a powerful crossbench. Veteran independent MP Bob Katter tells Crikey he knows exactly what he’d push for in such a scenario.
“Immediately restore the market gardens to every community, immediately restore the right to take up private freehold title … and get rid of all those public servants in Brisbane and give us separate statehood,” Katter said.
Katter and his son, Queensland state MP Robbie Katter, have argued for North Queensland secession for years. According to the Australian constitution, federal Parliament can “admit to the Commonwealth or establish new states … as it thinks fit”, but territory belonging to a state can only break off and form its own state with the permission of the state Parliament.
“We will get the balance of power, and when we do, we’ll start to break away immediately,” Katter said. “I don’t know of a million people anywhere in the world who are ruled by a government 2,500 kilometers away, and I looked at all the state governments in Russia and Canada and very sparsely populated countries.”
Katter, federal Parliament’s longest-serving current member, recently marked 50 years as an elected politician. He was first elected to the Queensland Parliament in 1974, and became the federal member for Kennedy in 1993. But while Katter wouldn’t confirm to Crikey whether he’s running again in the next federal election, he said he had no plans of retiring either.
“We’ll make an official announcement shortly, but most people are betting that I’ll be running until the day I’m not breathing … we’re not denying speculation that I’m running again, and I can’t think of any reasons why I shouldn’t run again,” Katter said.
Katter is one of two independent MPs who were in Parliament last time Australia had a minority government, in 2010. The other is Clark MP Andrew Wilkie, who recently told ABC News he would seek action on gambling if reelected. Other priorities for Wilkie would include strengthening the National Anti-Corruption Commission and whistleblower laws.
Neither Wilkie nor Katter said they would seek to make a formal deal with the next government as a condition of their support.
“Because I do not intend to enter into any formal deal with the next government, whether that be Labor or Liberal, in my case at least there won’t be that heavy initial negotiation, because I won’t be negotiating with anyone or they won’t be negotiating with me for certainty of confidence and supply,” Wilkie told the ABC.
