Andrew Bolt: Bob Katter playing identity politics

Bob Katter sure knows how to play identity politics with an ABC audience and panel, not one of whom dared call him out when he identified himself as Aboriginal.

A judge once said I’d broken the law by suggesting some people with fair skin made a choice to identify as Aboriginal.

Clearly he hadn’t met Bob Katter, let alone Professor Bruce Pascoe.

Katter (below) is the maverick federal politician who on the ABC’s Q&A last week decided to call himself Aboriginal.

Katter might talk like his gearbox fell out, but he sure knows how to play identity politics with an ABC audience and panel, not one of whom dared call him out.

Turning to Morrison government minister Keith Pitt, Katter stormed: “You won’t give my mob the right to own a piece of land … why would you refuse a person, because he’s black living in a black community, the right to own a piece of land?”

Later, he again posed as a victim of racism: “Everyone on Earth has a beer, if we have a beer, we blackfellas, we get a criminal charge.”

Katter even messed with host David Speers, who seemed too scared to tell Katter he was posing as Aboriginal for bullying rights: “We were almost annihilated as a race of people, we Australians …

“David, I come from Cloncurry and I’m dark … and we made a hell of a bad mistake 250 years ago, letting you whitefellas in.”

Bob Katter identified as Aboriginal on the ABC. Picture: Nigel Hallett

As anyone can see, Katter is not dark, but race politics lets you call white black.

In fact, Katter’s great-grandfather on his father’s side signed a statutory declaration in 1905 saying he was born in Bcharre, now in modern Lebanon, though Katter exploded at a journalist who four years ago called his grandfather Lebanese.

“No, he’s not,” he shouted.

“He’s an Australian and I resent strongly you describing him as Lebanese. That is a racist comment.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time Katter has chosen to be Aboriginal for a left-wing crowd. Five years ago, again on the ABC, he said: “I identify as a blackfella on occasion and I’ll identify this time as a blackfella – we are the most land-rich people on Earth, we blackfellas in Australia, and we are not allowed to use it.”

But a decade ago, he admitted: “I’m not too sure where my racial background has come from, but I am not going to argue if someone calls me a blackfella.”

When you can win arguments on the ABC by being Aboriginal, who can blame Katter for running with it? Question is, how many others do the same?