Bob Katter

Federal politics (1993–present) Nationals MP (1993–2001) Following his father's retirement from federal parliament, Katter was an unsuccessful candidate at the National Party preselection for the seat of Kennedy for the 1990 federal election.

At the 1993 federal election, Katter won his father's former seat of Kennedy in the House of Representatives defeating Rob Hulls.

In 1994, Katter advocated against the Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act 1994, a federal law that bypassed Tasmania's anti-gay laws, claiming the government was "helping the spread of AIDS" and legitimizing "homosexual behavior". He also believed the laws jeopardized states' rights in Australia.

Katter was re-elected with a large swing in 1996, and was re-elected with a similar margin in 1998. However, after his transfer to federal politics, Katter found himself increasingly out of sympathy with the Liberal–National Coalition due to his disagreements with its neoliberal stances on economic and social issues, leading to his eventual resignation from the National Party in 2001.

Independent MP (2001–2011) Following his resignation from the Nationals, Katter easily retained his seat as an independent at the general elections in 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010, each time winning with a percentage vote in the high sixties after preferences were distributed.

In the aftermath of the 2010 hung federal election, Katter offered a range of views on the way forward for government. Two other former National Party MPs, both independents from rural electorates, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott decided to support a Labor government. Katter presented his 20 points document and requested for the major parties to respond before deciding which party he would support. As a result, he broke with Windsor and Oakeshott and supported the Liberal–National coalition for government. On 7 September 2010, Katter announced his support for a Coalition minority government.

Katter's Australian Party (2011–present) On 5 June 2011, Katter launched a new political party, Katter's Australian Party, which he said would "unashamedly represent agriculture". He made headlines after singing to his party's candidates during a meeting on 17 October 2011, saying it was his "election jingle".

At the 2013 election, however, Katter faced his first serious contest since his initial run for Kennedy in 1993. He had gone into the election holding the seat with a majority of 18 percent, making it the second-safest seat in the country. However, reportedly due to anger at his decision to support Kevin Rudd for prime minister following Julia Gillard's live cattle export ban (Rudd, within weeks, reopened the live export market), Katter still suffered a primary-vote swing of over 17 points. In the end, Katter was re-elected on the preferences of Labor voters, suffering a two-party swing of 16 points to the Liberal National Party.

At the 2016 election, Katter retained his seat of Kennedy, with an increased swing of 8.93 points toward him.

On 15 August 2017, Katter announced that the Turnbull government could not take his support for granted in the wake of the 2017 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis, which ensued over concerns that several MPs held dual citizenship and thus may be constitutionally ineligible to be in Parliament. Katter added that if one of the affected MPs, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, lost his seat, the Coalition could not count on his support for confidence and supply.

In November 2018, Katter secured funds for three inland dam-irrigation schemes in North Queensland.

At the 2019 election, Katter was returned to his seat of Kennedy with a swing of 2.9 points towards him, in spite of a redistribution of his electorate. In the 2022 election, he was re-elected again, and became the Father of the Australian House of Representatives following the retirement of Kevin Andrews.

In July 2024 it was announced that a portrait of Katter has been commissioned to be hung in the federal parliament. It was unveiled in November 2025.

At the 2025 election, he was re-elected at a margin of 31.5 points and a swing of 2.65 points towards him.

In May 2026, the Australian Monarchist League (AML) began legal action against Katter over his refusal to make and subscribe the Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance as required by section 42 of the Constitution. In July 2025 Katter made the statement that he has never sworn allegiance to a monarch in his 50 years in politics. In an open letter issued to Katter on 28 May 2026, the AML warned that the matter could be taken to the high court based on legal advice. The letter quoted King's Counsel Neville Rochow and barrister Hannah March, “We are of the opinion that Mr Katter is not a Member of the House of Representatives in the 48th Parliament, Mr Katter did not make the Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance as required by s 42 of the Constitution. We are aware that Hansard records the Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance as having been made by Mr Katter, but it is clear on the evidence that Hansard is wrong in so recording. Mr Katter’s failure to comply with s 42 and the operation of s 38 of the Constitution entail that the seat of Kennedy is vacant.” In a letter issued to the league on 8 September 2025 by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick, he stated that the Clerk could not decipher one way or another any language used when Katter made the oath and that the oath form was signed with no amendments.

Political views

Katter is an agrarian socialist and socially conservative. Like his father, his views on economic matters echo 1950s "Old Labor" policy as it was before the 1955 Labor Party split. He opposes privatisation and economic deregulation, and strongly supports traditional Country Party statutory marketing. In 1994, he cited his political heroes as ALP figures Jack Lang and Ted Theodore and U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, but said Lang was ultimately a failure and that he was "aiming to be a John McEwen". The sobriquet 'Mad Katter' (in reference to the character from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) was coined by his opponents to describe his nationalistic developmentalism.

As of 2020, Katter described himself as belonging to the "hard left", In a 2022 interview with The Chaser, Katter claimed that he had never pledged allegiance to the Australian monarchy when entering Parliament.

Abortion In 1980, Katter seconded a motion by Don Lane calling on the Queensland state government to "protect the lives of unborn Queensland children being killed by abortion".

In 2006, Katter voted against a federal bill which would increase the availability of abortion drugs.

Environmental issues Katter has opposed enacting climate change legislation to control emissions. He advocates for measures that reduce carbon footprints. Katter has championed the mandating of ethanol fuel content. He has additionally pioneered protests against imported bananas, and is an opponent of the concentration of the Australian supermarket industry amongst Coles and Woolworths.

Katter is a vocal advocate of stronger wildlife management, frequently highlighting the dangers posed by feral dogs, venomous snakes, and crocodiles to residents and tourists in Northern Queensland. Katter has expressed alarm over the rising population of saltwater crocodiles in Northern Queensland, which have made swimming and other recreational activities in or around natural bodies of water increasingly unsafe. Katter has strongly criticized the conservation policies of the Australian government, stating that "our lives are in danger because of protected wildlife" and has called for the protected status of saltwater crocodiles, and with it the ban on hunting the species, to be revoked. According to Katter, "a law that puts the value of a crocodile over a human being, that is the definition of evil".

Gun laws An opponent of the tougher gun control laws introduced in the wake of the 1996 massacre in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Katter was accused in 2001 of signing a petition promoted by the Citizens Electoral Council (CEC), an organisation that claims the Port Arthur massacre was a conspiracy. He has stated that he always has and still believes there was no conspiracy.

2016 campaign advertisement In June 2016 during the lead-up to the 2016 federal election, Katter released a campaign ad that was criticised for its threatening overtones and its casual attitude towards gun violence. Set in the Australian bush, the ad features two men, their faces disguised by pantyhose and dressed in shirts labeled 'ALP' and 'LNP', pitching a sign reading "Australia for sale". Katter himself appears and takes it down, but the men return and put it back up. Katter, wearing a cowboy hat, defaces their sign with permanent marker so that it read, "Australia not for sale." Their back and forth ends with a close up shot of Katter brandishing a revolver, blowing smoke from the gun barrel and smiling, before the camera zooms out, revealing the two men from earlier, dead.

Although Katter said that he believed "most people would enjoy the humor" and that it was "terribly funny", Queensland senator Barry O'Sullivan called the ad "abhorrent", while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that it was "in the worst of taste". Journalist David Koch criticised the advert for its timing, having been released just days after the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.

Bondi Beach shooting

In the wake of the 2025 Bondi Beach Shooting, Katter stated that the government response should focus on immigration and intelligence policy rather than gun control. Katter argued that further restrictions on gun ownership would fail to reduce gun violence and would ultimately be counter-productive, comparing them to Victorian era "sex bans". He has opposed the Albanese government's reforms for stricter gun laws in response to the shooting, including its national gun buyback program.

Immigration In 2017, Katter called for a "Trump-like travel ban" in Australia after a New South Welshman was arrested on terrorism charges. That same year, Katter repeated a pledge used by the far-right organisation "Proud Boys", including that he was "a proud western chauvinist". When asked about the incident when it was publicised in 2019, Katter distanced himself from the group, saying "I don't know who this group is or anything about it".

Katter has supported and attended the 2025 March for Australia protests, calling for lowered immigration rates and immigration only from countries with democratic, egalitarian traditions and Christianity. In August 2025, he called a press conference in support of the rallies. When questioned by a reporter about his own Lebanese heritage, Katter threatened him and waved a fist in front of his face, telling him: "don't say that, because that irritates me, and I punch blokes in the mouth for saying that", and that his family has "been in this country since the dawn of time." However, months later in January 2026, Katter acknowledged his Lebanese heritage, stating that "my forbearers came from that area, because they wanted to get out of there". In regards to his previous statements on immigrants from the Middle East, Katter also recognized that "there are exceptions to the rule, no doubt".

Indigenous Australians In 1987, as Queensland minister for Aboriginal and Islander affairs, Katter credited the state government with reducing Aboriginal deaths in custody by introducing "new detention procedures to divert people arrested for minor offences away from traditional custody after a three-hour cooling off period". In 1989, he opposed installing condom vending machines in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to reduce the spread of AIDS, describing the plan instead as an attempt at eugenics, or "racist genocide".

Katter is also an opponent of voter identification laws, denouncing the Coalition's proposed introduction of them in 2021 as a racist system that would disenfranchise Aboriginal communities. In 2022, he announced that he would not support an Indigenous Voice to Parliament proposal, but did believe that the indigenous people of Australia deserved a referendum on how they should be represented in parliament.

LGBT rights In November 1989, Katter claimed there were almost no homosexuals in North Queensland. He promised to walk backwards from Bourke across his electorate if they represented more than 0.001 percent of the population. Katter also said "mind you, if there are more, then I might take to walking backwards everywhere!" Katter voted against the , which decriminalised homosexuality in Tasmania. He does not support same-sex marriage. His response to the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey result was the subject of international attention, as in response he declared that the issue of crocodiles killing people in North Queensland every three months was more pressing than same-sex marriage. Therefore he declared that "I ain't spending any time on it!" on the latter issue. In December 2017, Katter was one of only four members of the House of Representatives to oppose the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 legalising same-sex marriage in Australia.

North Queensland statehood Proposed flag for North Queensland designed by Katter in 2020. Katter supports North Queensland statehood.

Republic Katter supports Australia being a republic, arguing that national independence is inconsistent with allegiance to a foreign monarch.

Personal life Katter occasionally identifies as being an Aboriginal Australian and has described himself as a blackfella in federal parliament, in interviews, during television appearances and at public events. Katter claims that in his youth he was accepted as a member of the Kalkadoon tribe in the Cloncurry area, otherwise known as the "Curry mob", and said he has long since felt a deep connection with Aboriginal people.

Katter married Brisbane socialite Susan O'Rourke in 1970. They have five children together: one boy, Robbie, and four daughters. They also have fifteen grandchildren.

His son Robbie has been a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 2012, representing Mount Isa from 2012 to 2017, and Traeger since 2017. He represents much of the territory that his father represented in state parliament.

Katter supports the North Queensland Cowboys for the National Rugby League (NRL).

Katter is Roman Catholic,