Do we like Bob Katter?
Our score: 2 out of 10. Decades of his own words and votes against LGBTQ+ people, plus backing a Muslim migration ban speech, with real service to his electorate on the other side.
Katter is the old-school bush politician. He entered Queensland politics in 1974, became a state minister, moved to federal parliament in 1993, quit the Nationals in 2001 and has sat on the crossbench since. In late 2025 he got an official portrait in Parliament House for fifty years of service, and even the PM called him a big, multifaceted character.
The recent stoush is the one that cost him. In August 2025, before attending anti-immigration rallies, he threatened to punch a Nine reporter who asked about his Lebanese heritage. The PM told him to take a look at himself. Katter said his only regret was that he wasn't “more aggressive”, and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young referred him to the standards commission. In January 2026 he told another reporter “There are exceptions to the rule”, citing his own forebears. No outcome from the commission has been reported.
On LGBTQ+ people the record is long. In 2019 he said homosexuality was a passing fashion and that he didn't want to “waste any time on it”. After the 2017 postal survey he answered a question on same-sex marriage with a rant about crocodiles. Parliament's own division records show him consistently voting against marriage equality, against stronger LGBTI legal protections and against transgender rights and protections, and for celebrants' right to refuse same-sex couples.
On migrants and Muslims, he said he supported Senator Fraser Anning's 2018 maiden speech “1000 per cent” and called it a magnificent speech. That speech, which called for a ban on Muslim migration and used the phrase “final solution”, was condemned across the political spectrum. His votes include consistent support for stopping boat arrivals from ever getting a visa and against criminalising hate speech or hate symbols.
On the planet, Katter opposes net zero and said coal and cane and cattle were being put “on the altar of their green ideology”. The voting record backs that up: he voted consistently for more coal investment, against banning new thermal coal mines and against an emissions reduction fund. He also voted against the Paris agreement and, generally, against net zero by 2050. That is harm on the climate side, though he does back some renewables work such as ARENA.
The good stuff is real, though. He voted consistently for a federal anti-corruption commission, for more power for unions, against cutting penalty rates and against privatising public assets. He also generally supported lifting the age pension, a full-fibre NBN and more housing affordability. Unlike many pollies, his economic record leans to ordinary workers and regional families, which is why Kennedy keeps sending him back.