Bob Katter
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Robert Carl "Bob" Katter (born 22 May 1945), is an Australian politician. He has served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993, representing the Division of Kennedy, Queensland. Until 2001 he represented the National Party of Australia, but left the party that year and continued to hold the seat as an independent. He was born in Cloncurry, Queensland, the son of Bob Katter, Sr., who was MP for Kennedy 1966-90. He was an investor in cattle and mining interests before entering politics.
Katter was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1974-92. He was Minister for Northern Development and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs 1983-87, Minister for Northern Development, Community Services and Ethnic Affairs 1987-89, Minister for Community Services and Ethnic Affairs 1989, Minister for Mines and Energy 1989 and Minister for Northern and Regional Development 1989.
Katter's father, Bob Katter, Sr., was a member of the Australian Labor Party until 1957, when he left during the Labor split of that year and joined the Queensland Labor Party, which later became part of the Democratic Labor Party. He later joined the Country Party, the forerunner of the National Party. Both Katter and his son retained certain elements of Labor political views from the 1950s, including opposition to privatisation and economic deregulation.
While in the Queensland Parliament, Katter junior was a strong supporter of the right-wing populist politics of the then-Premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen. When he transferred to federal politics, he found himself increasingly out of sympathy with the federal Liberal and National parties on economic and social issues. In some ways his views are similar to those espoused by Pauline Hanson and her party, One Nation, although he has always rejected suggestions that he would join One Nation. In 2001 he resigned from the National Party and easily retained his seat as an independent at the general elections of 2001 and 2004, each time ending up with almost 70 percent of the vote after preferences were distributed.
Katter is one of the most colourful characters in the Australian Parliament, known for his extravagant language and loud, hectoring speaking style. His hard-line protectionist views, which were once mainstream in Australian politics, now mark him as an eccentric, although he remains very popular in his own electorate.