Politics

Oh Boy, Bob Katter Is Freaking Out About Crocodiles Again

Some things never change.

by Tom Clift  23 October 2018
Bob Katter talks about crocodiles again

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In an oddly comforting sign that some things never really change, Independent MP Bob Katter has gone on national television to once again talk about his constituents being eaten by crocodiles.

The member for Kennedy in northern Queensland famously raised the issue during a 2017 interview about marriage equality, telling reporters that “I ain’t spending any time on it because in the mean time, every three months, a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in North Queensland”.

It was weird.

On Monday, Katter was speaking to Sky News about the results of the recent Wentworth by-election when he was asked how he’d vote in a motion of no confidence against the government, and made quite a serious point about regional suicide:

“I would like to vote for confidence for the Government, but the fact is I’ve got a person, a farmworker or a contractor or a farmer, doing away with themselves every week,” said Katter. “So what am I gonna worry about, Government stability? Or am I gonna worry about these people.”

Katter’s actually making a lot of sense there. Maybe he’s moved on from croc-

“I’ve got a person being eaten by a crocodile every six months.”

Oh right, there it is.

For what it’s worth, the ABC last year found that Katter’s claims about the number of croc-related deaths in Queensland were wildly off the mark. Then again, this is the same guy who thinks gay people stole the word “gay” and threw his support behind calls for a “final solution” to Australia’s “immigration problem”. So yeah, he’s not great.