Bob Katter looks for north Queensland deal with Coalition

Bob Katter says he will try to cut the best deal he can for north Queensland when Scott Morrison forms government, but there’s one thing he won’t touch with “a 40-foot barge pole”.

MAVERICK MP Bob Katter says he will try to cut the best deal he can for the north, but is not expecting to play a kingmaker role in a hung parliament.

The north Queensland MP yesterday said he expected Scott Morrison’s Coalition to clinch the necessary 76 seats to form a majority government.

Speaking to The Courier-Mail, Mr Katter would not back in a particular party, but said “Morrison was off to a pretty good start”.

“We’ll just cut a deal, best deal we can for north Queensland — my homeland — and that will depend upon who’s there,” he said.

He praised Mr Morrison’s decision last year to fund several water projects, including the first stage of the long-awaited Hells Gate Dam.

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Bob Katter has held the seat of Kennedy since 1993. Picture: Brian Cassey

Mr Katter also suggested religious freedom was an important issue, saying “obviously Morrison (would) be a mile ahead of the other side”.

The Katter’s Australian Party leader played kingmaker in the days following the 2010 election, when Australia was left with a hung parliament — backing in the Coalition at the time.

He yesterday predicted the Coalition would win this election with a majority of just one seat.

“The pressure here is immense,” he said.

“They are locked to the ground with no ability to move … even if you’ve got one or even two seats up your sleeve.

“If I had to call it, I’d say they will get 76, but they’ve got to provide a speaker.

“And that means they’ve got to get somebody they can rely on.”

Mr Katter confirmed he would not take up the role of speaker if the Coalition scraped in with just a one-seat majority.

“Not in a million years would I touch it with a 40-foot barge pole,” he said.

“I’m in the business of delivering change for my country and for my own land.”

He said Labor’s disastrous performance in the Sunshine State, particularly in marginal seats in the north, was due to their position on coal mining.

“They’re not marginal seats any more — they’re safe seats for their opponents,” he said.

Mr Katter was returned to the Mt Isa-based seat of Kennedy on Saturday night, with a swing of about 2.5 per cent to KAP.

He has held the electorate since 1993 and previously said he had no plans to retire any time soon.

Across the country, his party has so far secured about 0.5 per cent of first preference votes, consistent with the results of the 2016 election.

FEDERAL

2019