Bob Katter says he “changed the prime minister of Australia” in ousting of Julia Gillard
The maverick elder statesman of the Australian federal parliament has detailed his role in the ousting of Julia Gillard as Prime Minister.
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Maverick MP Bob Katter has reflected on the power of independents in a minority government, taking credit for the ousting of former prime minister Julia Gillard during the 2013 Labor leadership spill.
Although the Labor caucus voted to return Kevin Rudd as the leader 57-45, Mr Katter claimed it was a last-minute press conference to announce he would back the Labor government “if and only if caucus selects Mr Rudd” that turned the tide.
Speaking to the Rural Press Club event in Canberra on Friday, Mr Katter said his decision was based on Ms Gillard’s decision to ban live cattle exports to Indonesia.
“What power do you have? Well, I changed the prime minister of Australia and I knew that I could,” he told the audience, alongside fellow rural independent Indi MP Helen Haines.
“I looked like a switcher, switching sides all the time … but at 10.30am I called the press conference and said I switched my allegiance. At 10.30 that night, Julia was gone.”
While he said he liked Ms Gillard “personally” and had “great respect for her,” his hand was forced.
He also said he had a “friendly” relationship with Mr Rudd, who is now Australia’s ambassador to the US, and described him as a “very strong Christian boy”.
“The cattle market was closed in Indonesia, it was never going to open while she was there. Julia, you chose the decision. You chose, not me.”
Mr Katter said the cross bench had wielded “immense power,” something he could not conceive when he defected from the Nationals to run as an independent MP in 2001.
In 2011 he launched the Katter’s Australian Party.
“I could never conceive that when I got out. I just thought I was walking into my early death,” he said.
While neither independent would say which side they would offer confidence in supply to if needed after this year’s election, Dr Haines said she would “never sign a deal that signs away my vote on every piece of legislation”.
“I would never do that because when you think about this disruptive power thing (that independents have), the greatest capacity to negotiate and improve legislation and get better outcomes for the people I represent – and I believe the whole nation – is to be able to negotiate right throughout the next parliament, and not to sign away that,” she said.
“That would be completely stupid, I reckon.”
She also issued a threat to the next Special Minister of State, currently Don Farrell, that she would be working to undo the electoral reforms.
New legislation, passed controversially on Thursday, cap individual donations to $50,000 and election spending per electorate at $800,000.
However, registered political parties can splurge up to $90m.
“The good news is … that this new act of Parliament … doesn’t come into effect until after the next election,” she said.
“If I’m privileged enough to be re-elected and my colleagues on the crossbench are re-elected and there’s … many, many more regional independents elected, what a marvellous first meeting with the Special Minister of State to talk about how we might amend that particular bill.”
Originally published as Bob Katter says he “changed the prime minister of Australia” in ousting of Julia Gillard
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