As attention turns to the possibility of a very finely balanced election result, and thus to the possibility of neither major party getting over the magic 75 seats in the House of Representatives, the views of Independent MPs come into focus.
Cue, Bob Katter:
I loved the comment: “All? thats missing is the? VB music!”. I wonder if it’ll Gruen Nation.
Bob Katter’s a
dentistMember of Parliament. So we can’t show you his face.Juxtapose this with another potential king-maker in The Greens Adam Bandt.
I was in Mission beach three weeks ago. It was really nice.
Sounds like he doesn’t give much time to politics, then. Is everyone sure this isn’t an ALP attack ad?
I thought this was a spoof first time I saw it. Looks like I was wrong. Bloody hell.
frend of mine from up that way reckons he’s as mad as a cut snake.
Speaking of independents …. I’m very much hoping the Nationals take Wilson Tuckey’s seat. Not only are our W.A. Nationals better than your eastern states Nationals, they’re not inclined to automatically support the Liberals.
The Nationals candidate for O’Connor “has vowed to sit as an independent MP, meaning both Labor and the coalition would need to win his support and that of the three other independents in the event of a hung parliament” (West Australian, 2 August). The ALP is giving preferences to the Nats in O’Connor.
I’ll grant Katter this. At least he didn’t pose with his finger in a trigger guard.
Good old Bob. He’s nucking futs but at least he provides a bit of fun. I’ve got a piss take of this on my blog:
http://willtypeforfood.blogspot.com/2010/08/kitty-katter.html
Oh, the humanity.
Never realised that pineapples and bananas are grown in mines until now. Which ones taste better – the ones from deep underground or the ones from open cut mines?
Yeak, like most forces from the North there’s a lot of credibility when the storm is a blowin’ and the rain is a pourin’ but by the time it gets down South all it does is fill Lake Eyre for a season. Piss runs downhill, so what Bob?
I remember reading a long article on Katter in one of the weekend newspaper supplements years ago. He’s totally deranged.
He may be deranged – but he holds a seat in Parliament.
Good old Bob. He’s a real QLD character.
He never stops. Knows how to get attention. Works hard for his people. I respect that.
N’
The Deep North. It’s a worry.
Bandt made a mistake of situating his entire vid in inner Melbourne. The Greens already suffer from the stereotype of being inner urban. Should have strode through Doncaster and the outer West saying “Where’s *your* public transport?”
AS much as I dont like this guy Katter at least he woke up to the rot peddled by the major parties.
Don’t really care about this ratbag, but Dutton will lose in Dickson.
All humanity will rejoice.
I actually think that he is one pollie who has his electorate at heart. He may well be mad from an inner city point of view but he aint anywhere near as dangerous as the loonie liebral who believes it is his birthright to run this country.
He may be mad but if so you can’t tell from the advertisement. It just claims he is a politician that works hard for the interests of his constituents. Don’t they all claim that?
Helen @ 18, Adam is running for Melbourne. Doncaster voters are important for our Senate campaign to get Richard Di Natale elected, but they can’t vote for Adam.
Hurrah! I was beginning to worry about Bob, he’s been ever so quiet for a surprisingly long time. And having lived in the Deep North, I agree with robbo; people remember how hard he worked after Innisfail had the cyclone a few years back, his seat is rock solid.
I went to uni with one of Bob’s daughters. I’ve met him once or twice, fairly memorably in the Strangers Bar of Queensland Parliament House. He knows my uncle. Such is Quinceland!
There’s no way he’ll ever lose that seat, and if the family dynasty continues (his dad, Bob Katter Snr, once held it), I imagine the name will continue to work its particular brand of magic.
Interestingly, the ALP won it one time there wasn’t a Katter on the ballot. Katter Jnr used to be a State MP, and a Minister under Joh.
The one term Labor MP for Kennedy later went on to be Attorney-General in Steve Bracks’ government.
I agree Helen – for me that’s an astonishingly effective anti-Greens ad. There’s a sense of smug urban complacency, even class arrogance, that that video reeks of.
I wouldn’t go that far, Tim, Bandt is obviously a friendly and intelligent guy – if you want smug and class arrogance, look no further than Pyne, Bishop and Downer.
(What is it with this urban myth that Greens are “elitist” while the Big End of Town Liberals (and a fair whack of the Big End of Town Labor) are champions of the little guy?)
Unfortunately, in Australia we seem to have a widespread prejudice of guys with glasses who look like they’ve read the occasional book. Politicians are supposed to entertain us and be a circus, not be actual policy wonks who might come up with, you know, policy.
And as Alister pointed out @23, Bandt is running for an inner city seat. (Although that nuance is sure to be lost when someone who’s susceptible to the “inner city elites” mantra stumbles across the vid on Youtube months from now.)
Now all we need is footage of Bob riding a pony down a near-vertical descent with Harrison and Clancy looking on from the summit.
Spent some time in indigenous communities up north where I was surprised to find he is v popular. He is a very good example of someone loved on the ground, but derided in the press.
This is a great ad. It has the un-focus grouped feel about it that conveys authenticity even if its all focus grouped and rubbish. I’ll be interested to see if its discussed on Gruen Nation.
I don’t like the Adam Bandt ad, not because he is in the inner city, but because it is a blur of overclaiming (can anyone recall what he says he’ll do) and its entirely focused on him.
Adam Bandt’s claim that he can revitalise the arts in inner Melbourne if elected Greens MP is no more credible than Bob Katter’s claim that he’ll rescue your cattle in a flood, but the latter is done with a kind of wink and nod that his target audience would get.
I don’t think you have to come from the deep north to know that Paul. His words and actions proclaim his love of carrot crunching to the far flung corners of the country and give added poignancy to the phrase “gone troppo”. Lol.
Bjelke-Petersen was Premier for how many years? I rest my case, m’lud.
And Bob does work hard for his constituents. He also explained why the government couldn’t put Cubby Station’s water back into the river system when it was up for grabs.
Worth revisiting Marks prescient post!~
Here are some Katter opinions
spewed outheard recently:Pharkin hell.
Well Helen, it looks like its gunna be fun anyhow.
Katter is of Afghan heritage himself i understand.
Yes, SC, what the phark does the Australian “race” mean anyway??
Also, good: Helping your grandkids to build a tree house. Not so good: referring to the tree house as a Snipers Nest.
Katter is indeed of Afghani background. Paul Keating once told him to “get back on his camel” in Federal Parliament.
Its Katter time, and its going to be a wild ride.
I just read that article Helen, and as i mentioned up thread, at first i was surprised to find he is beloved in the indigenous community.
However, if you stop to think about it, if an indigenous leader from up north made that same pronouncement, you’d kinda be able to contextualize it, and feel the frustration they were trying to convey.
It takes a lot for a city dweller to get into the head of rural Australia, and some of it is not pretty, but some of it IS eminently understandable.
The interesting thing is, as progressives, we tend to rail against sectarianism and ignorance when we see it played out in our own, but ignore it when it exists in new populations.
We seem to have a benevolent faith that if we treat people with grace and acceptance, new populations which hold abhorant views will shed them in the face of ‘a better way’. (And i believe this IS the starting point to treating people….).
Funny thing is, we often dont extend that grace and acceptance backwards to our own, and are unable to hear any wisdom they may have, as its mixed in with the ‘vile’ stuff.
SO, the irony is, we seek to emphasis the ‘good’ in the new conservatives (i.e. certain migrant demographics) while ignoring the nasty (racism, sexism and violence – and as a feminist worker in the DV sector i have a little experience); while we emphasize the nasty (racism, sexism and violence) in the old conservatives and ignore the positives.
IMHO this kinda unconsciously informs the ‘push against/push back’ happening between progs and conservatives in a range of western democracies atm, and the inability of both sides to grasp the perspectives of the other only entrenches the divide.
“Katter is indeed of Afghani background.”
No, Lebanese Catholic, hence Bob Snr’s switch from the ALP to the QLP to the Country Party. A cousin of Kahlil Gibran, according to Barry Jones.
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