One Nation reject Stephen Andrew joins Katter’s Australian Party

Katter’s Australian Party has taken on discarded One Nation MP Stephen Andrew to swell its ranks to four.

Member for Mirani Stephen Andrew has found a new home.

The battle for North Queensland isn’t a done deal at next month’s election, Katter’s Australian Party has declared, as it takes on discarded One Nation MP Stephen Andrew to swell its ranks to four.

It means the minor party has now doubled its representation on the Queensland crossbench compared to the Greens, which have two MPs.

KAP leader Robbie Katter will on Monday confirm the official recruitment of Member for Mirani Stephen Andrew to the party after the latter was abruptly disendorsed by One Nation at the start of August.

Mr Katter said the decision had coalesced in the last few weeks and ultimately it would be a “tragedy for North Queensland” for the seat to “go away from a hardworking local MP to a major party”.

He said the party was in a really strong position and growing its numbers while focusing on North Queensland gave them the ability to “restore a lot of the inequities” in the region, including the sate of the Bruce Highway.

And while the polls might show the October election is a “done deal” in the southern end of the state Mr Katter said the KAP could well pick up another seat in Far North Queensland — like Cook or Mulgrave — and end up holding the balance of power.

“There’s still a battle in the North,” Mr Katter said.

Mr Andrew said there was “no doubt” voters were shifting away from Labor after nearly a decade in power, but there was also a mood for more minor party representation.

Katter’s Australian Party leader Robbie Katter will confirm the move on Monday.

The electorate of Mirani covers a 430km stretch from Mount Morgan in Rockhampton’s outer reaches, to the rainforests of Finch Hatton west of Mackay.

Mr Katter said he was highly confident Mr Andrew would retain the seat he has held since 2017, saying the MP had embedded himself in the community fabric.

But holding on to Mirani won’t be an easy feat, with Mr Andrew securing the lowest primary vote of any MP in 2020 at just 31.6 per cent.

Mr Andrew has been involved in a string of controversies, including being slapped with a six-month ban from bringing guests into parliament in 2020 after a visitor’s “immature” prank backfired. The visitor, Troy Thompson, is now the Mayor of Townsville.

It was the second time he had been reprimanded for the behaviour of his guests, after visitors were caught rummaging the desks of other MPs.

Mr Katter said being a parliamentarian without any support was a “really tough gig”.

“I think any perceived problems he’s had would related from the fact he’s been a bloke that’s sort of supported himself with no prior experience in parliament, and that’s a lot of pressure,” he said.

Mr Andrew said joining the KAP meant being able to keep doing his job but more “enhanced” due to the availability of support through the minor party structure.

“It’s good to have a bit of a different look (at issues) too, because you obviously got a fair bit of experience in the boys as well,” he said.

“Hopefully, if we get the balance of power, that would be an ideal situation for Queensland.”

Originally published as One Nation reject Stephen Andrew joins Katter’s Australian Party