Cane toads on the menu as Bob Katter talks guns and stunts on Tony Armstrong’s new show
Bob Katter has renewed calls for kids to become armed cane toad bounty hunters while appearing on Tony Armstrong’s new TV series, where he is served up a plate of the invasive pest.
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Bob Katter sitting down to a feast of cane toad legs with national treasure Tony Armstrong deep inside Tassie’s unique Mona museum wasn’t on our 2025 bingo cards.
The maverick North Queensland MP was invited to dine with Armstrong for a new TV series ‘Eat the Invaders’, looking at invasive environmental pests and exploring creative (and culinary) ways of dealing with them.
Each episode culminates in a wild feast prepared by Mona’s executive chef Vince Trim and curated by artist and First Lady of Mona, Kirsha Kaechele, who recently made headlines with her Supreme Court fight over allowing men inside the museum’s famed Ladies’ Lounge.
Mr Katter, who has long campaigned for Aussie kids to become cane toad bounty hunters to help eradicate the invasive pests, was given a bow tie made from cane toad skin as he prepared to tuck into the unique meal.
“Welcome to the grid. Are you excited to have some cane toad?” Ms Kaechele asked the bemused pollie.
“You’re joking of course,” Mr Katter replied looking horrified, “magpies eat cane toads.”
“Magpies eat cane toads and the French eat frog legs and I think the Australians should eat cane toad legs,” Ms Kaechele replied.
As Mr Katter contemplated gnawing on a cane toad leg, he again put the idea to the people that kids should be allowed “low-powered air rifles” and given 50 cents for each toad they shot.
“Absolutely, I have called repeatedly that boys be allowed to have low-powered air rifles and they get paid 50 cents for every toad they bring in,” he said.
“ … girls too if they want to,” he clarified, when the Ladies’ Lounge founder raised an eyebrow.
He said the idea had so far been received “extremely badly”.
Chef Vince Trim appeared to clarify that, given scientists had ruled out being able to remove the poison in the toad for human consumption, the meal instead would consist of “sugarcane pheasant and a little of the invasive Indian myna bird”.
As they began to eat, Mr Armstrong said he admired Mr Katter’s use of “performance art” to draw attention to big ideas and issues, pointing to his recent stunt where he and independent MP Andrew Wilkie dressed as pigs to make a statement on the supermarket monopoly.
“Well in that case, every single political party in federal parliament said they were drafting legislation to do something about this problem. Within three and a half hours (after our stunt) Woolworths had pulled down 400 items and reduced the price,” Mr Katter said.
“Wow,” Ms Kaechele replied, “so you enacted change through art?”
Armstrong asked if Mr Katter would consider a stunt to draw attention to the eradication of cane toads in Australia.
“Thinking about that, and there might be some possibilities here and I’m digesting this yes, this is good yes,” Mr Katter pondered. “And everyone’s gotta visit Mona before they die, because no matter where you look you’ll see something you’ve never see anywhere before in your life.”
“But there’s one area you can’t see and that’s the Ladies Lounge,” Ms Kaechele said.
Mona has been inviting visitors to ‘Eat the Problem’ since the release of Ms Kaechele’s deluxe food and art book and exhibition of the same name in 2019.
From wild-harvested venison dishes to sea-urchin cocktails, the menus at Mona avoid heavily farmed meat and make use of whatever is feral, low-impact or abundant in Tasmania, such as wallaby, deer and rabbit.
“The scale of the food operation at Mona is mammoth,” Mr Trim said.
“Eat the Problem forced us to ask why we’re serving farmed meats that can have potential negative effects on the environment while valuable resources are being culled as pests and left to the flies right here in Tassie.
“It’s crazy. We don’t yet have all the answers, but luckily we’re in a position to use these resources, and to keep asking the questions. Mona is all about the exploration of ideas, and dining here is part of that.”
Eat the Invaders, hosted by Tony Armstrong with Kirsha Kaechele and Vince Trim as guest presenters, is available to stream now on ABC iview.
Originally published as Cane toads on the menu as Bob Katter talks guns and stunts on Tony Armstrong’s new show
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