KAP Herbert candidate Darryn Casson on his campaign, as Senate candidate Robert Lyon announced

Katter’s Australian Party has struck a deal to create an “alignment” with a controversial senator who has launched his own political party. See their plan.

Gerard Rennick and Robbie Katter have aligned their parties in their Senate campaigns.

Katter’s Australian Party has struck a deal to create an “alignment” in Canberra with controversial senator Gerard Rennick.

Returning as a senate candidate, after a bid in the 2022 Federal Election, fourth-generation canefarmer Robert Lyon said he was hoping to fix “unsustainable government spending” and call for more support for “mums and dads, small businesses and the agriculture industries”.

KAP leader Robbie Katter said the 2025 Senate campaign was aligned in partnership with Gerard Rennick and his People’s First Party, who would not be “apologists for the major parties in Canberra”.

Katter’s Australian Party leader Robbie Katter and Senator Gerard Rennick and in Cairns on Tuesday for a cost of living tour. Picture: Peter Carruthers

“This is a really exciting announcement for us today, because for the first time it's a genuine, credible, conservative parties coming together to offer an alternative to Queenslanders and we’re doing that in a meaning way with our senate candidate,” Mr Katter said.

“Partnering with Gerard Rennick we’ve got a strong alignment and also got that buy-in of a Senator already in parliament to give us that impetus to give people again, a genuine alternative here in North Queensland.”

A climate change denier that “stands up for common sense policies” Mr Rennick quit the LNP in 2024 and began the People First Party.

Mr Rennick was kicked off the LNP’s federal election ticket in July 2023.

Mr Lyon said taxpayers of Queensland “can’t afford to keep funding the present governments way of spending.

“At present, the President (sic.) of our country being Mr Albanese, if he was the CEO of my company, running it, I would have had to sack him a long time ago because he is not running our country for these people as a business,” Mr Lyon said.

“Right now we’ve got mums and dads working their butts off to try and keep a roof over their heads.”

KAP Leader Robbie Katter

Mr Lyon said assets of rural and regional farmers are now in decline because of the “rules and regulations” put on prime production small businesses and said the regions “don’t share all the values of the people living in the inner cities.”

“We have immigration come into our country and they form their own social circles, they don’t come to prosper in our rural Australia.”

Herbert candidate for the KAP Darryn Casson said he had seen first-hand the changes in Australia over the past few years in his work as a criminal defence lawyer and said he was giving it a go to try and make change.

KAP candidate for Herbert and Senate candidate Robert Lyon.

“Am I going to win this Herbert seat? Well, I don’t run if I don’t expect (I can win) but I know it’s a big hill to climb but we are certainly going to give a good crack,” he said.

He said he was running to provide an alternative to the two major parties.

With youth crime an ongoing issue in North Queensland, Mr Casson said he was all about creating deterrents for youth offenders.

“For the most serious criminals, the most serious crimes, if the government of the day decides to increase those penalties for those most serious of offences in accordance with the community expectations, I have no problem with that,” he said.

“Does that mean that I’m not going to fight tooth and nail for my clients and advocate for the best and fairest outcomes in courts, absolutely not I will always do it.”

With state politics controlling the legislation and Queensland’s crime laws, Mr Casson said the role of the Federal Government was to provide “a bigger chunk of the pie for the region”.

He said the KAP’s relocation sentencing policy was something he thinks can work to deter youth criminals, but needs to be backed by funding.

Originally published as KAP Herbert candidate Darryn Casson on his campaign, as Senate candidate Robert Lyon announced