Independent MP for Kennedy, Bob Katter, has released his wish-list, which he has presented to Gillard and Abbott:

• 10% of all mining royalties to go into a north Queensland infrastructure fund, equating to $1 billion a year.
• A Coordinator General’s office set up in north Qld to drive new projects
• Dams and weirs built around Cloncurry and Hughenden to irrigate new crops
• Extra indigenous health funding
• A commitment to proper broadband in the bush
• A re-commitment to the copper string project, to build massive powerlines to take power from south of Townsville to the northwest Qld mineral province
• Protection for banana farmers from cheap imports.

Boy oh boy, isn’t old Bob a pro-growther! Just full-blown expansionism! Not the slightest hint of a sustainability ethic, which puts him and me at stark odds.

He is NOT the sort of person that we want holding the balance of power. The best thing he can do is side with the major party that ends up losing, so that any agreement made to address his wishes by either major, which is dependent on them winning power, is nullified and voided.

By the way, I agree with him about extra indigenous health funding, protection for banana farmers and proper broadband in the bush.

Your thoughts?

Tell 'im 'es dreamin'

I posted this teaser from yesterday's Crikey on another thread, but it seems appropriate here:

<< Bob Katter, energy corridors and conflicts of interest

by Bernard Keane and Wendy Bacon

A key element of Bob Katter’s regional development wish-list presented to the major parties will directly benefit companies owned or controlled by Katter’s brother-in-law, and was spruiked by the Member for Kennedy for months in 2009 before Katter acknowledged the conflict of interest. >>

http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/09/02/bob-katter-energy-corridors-and-conflicts-of-interest/

Unfortunately, to read the whole thing you have to register at Crikey, but you can do so for free.

<< He is NOT the sort of person that we want holding the balance of power. >>

I agree. This clown's a relic from the Joh era, with apparently the ethics to match.

CJ..don't you hate it with the other side of politics is a little bit as bad as yours? :)

I've already exposed the rotting corpse of green vested political interest.. don't poke it or the blowies will all rise and swarm you.

GO BOB !

No you haven't, Boazy. All you've done is mutter darkly about some mega-conspiracy involving Al Gore and so-called "communists", without a skerrick of actual evidence.

If you have any evidence of Greens MPs with the kind of conflicts of interest that the odious Katter evidently has, please put up or shut up. I'm sure you'll do neither.

The three indipendents that are yet to decide are in my view caught between a rock and a hard place.

If they side with labor, thier home electrit will linch them at the next election.

My bet is they will side with tony and hope for the best, otherwise they had best start looking for a life ater polotics in three years, or less, if we have an early election. Wish list or not!

If we every one who posts or reads OLO reads this thread up to this point.
If we do so with open minds open hearts judge it that way.
We will find links to every day of the recent election and its campaign.
In Boazy post is total lack of understanding and a blind bias.
You look and see what you can find here but know Katter asked for the impossible in some cases, but supports achievable change too.
No party none ever existed that can do our bidding, each of us loves to put the boot in if our wish list as often as silly as Katter, is rejected.
Katter wants NBN and National power grid.
Abbott may well offer him these, that would be a win for my side and Australia.
Stand by, and understand, the coming wrath directed at the three Nats will be unfair, it will tell half this country's voters you got it wrong only my view was right.

<< The three indipendents that are yet to decide are in my view caught between a rock and a hard place >>

Spot on there rehctub. I’ve made the point very strongly on a couple of other threads that the independents should remain entirely INDEPENDENT and just refuse to back either major party.

Whichever one they back, they’ll get a big and lasting backlash from some of their currently loyal supporters.

But then, if they didn’t back either, I guess they’d still have a bunch of people condemning them for not backing the party that they wanted their independent MP to back.

They are caught between a rock, a hard place and an iron bar ready to be swung at the back of their heads!

However, I reckon that a true independent should definitely not back either major party.

So I wonder what Bob the feral Katter is going to do?

Ludwig understand no doubt exists.
If they do your bidding no change is possible.
Everything promised as a result of their leverage is gone.
Parliament could not work and we would be voting before the end of next month.
Some of us are getting information that just is not true, the 3 men do not know yet who they are with.
But an understanding person knows without reserve each day in the new Parliament will be up for change, and every day brings a chance we must vote again.
We habitually talk of political chicanery but I invite you all to review the near lies and open fear campaign on display in this mornings front page of our national news paper and it stable of foreign owned trash papers.
Look once more at the media intent on one side getting those votes not the national interest.

I actually think Bob Katter is an embarrassment. If only Noel Pearson would of run up their in North Queensland. However even with his unintelligible rants Bob's policies are well in advance of the Greens who want to push every indecent law onto the Australian public possible while hiding behind their self righteous mythical environmental faith. Bob actually seems eccentric enough to partner with the Greens failing to see that everything he stands for they actually oppose. Just shows you how easily power can corrupt. I hope I am wrong.

Well, Bob Katter supported the LNP, while the other independents supported the ALP, resulting in a Labor win!

But by all indications Bob made an impartial decision based on his set of the most important criteria.

He set aside the very heavy lobbying from his old friend Kevin Rudd to back Labor.

He could no doubt have sensed that Labor would probably win, but he stuck to his principles and went with the party that he believed he and his electorate should back.

I’ve suddenly found a bit of admiration for him….. after all these years of not thinking too highly of the old coot!!

No doubt Katter went to the Libs because he knew that the other 2 were going to Labor. That way he could stick to his basic coalition principles WITHOUT the risk of inflicting disaster on Australia; the disaster of Abbott as Prime Minister.

The aggressive, whinging, complaining Abbott's true nature will be totally evident to all over the coming months as he does all in his power to obstruct government policy. Then, when the Libs realise he's become a massive liability, they'll knife him. They'll probably bring Turnbull back as leader. I couldn't imaging Julie Bishop ever being their leader. That would be even more embarrassing than Abbott as leader.

Hmmmm. Bob had such a high profile after the election, and now nothing.

Haven’t heard boo out of him for ages!

It wouldn't be Bob's fault that he is not in the limelight.

Aaah, Bob's a genius at getting publicity if he wants it. And he's in a position where the media would be only too happy to oblige.

So Cornflower, maybe it IS his fault that he's laying low.

However, laying low for a while is probably not a bad thing.