Robert Bellarmine Carl Katter (born 22 May 1945) is an Australian politician. He has been the member of Parliament (MP) for the Queensland division of Kennedy since 1993 and is the father of the House, being the longest-serving member of the Australian Parliament. Prior to federal politics, Katter was prominent in Queensland state politics, serving as a minister in the Bjelke-Petersen, Ahern, and Cooper governments.
The son of politician Bob Katter Sr., Katter was born in Cloncurry, Queensland, and attended the University of Queensland and worked in small businesses, later joining the National Party. He was first elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly for the electorate of Flinders at the 1974 state election. Katter was appointed cabinet minister by Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen in 1983, and continued to serve as a minister under premiers Mike Ahern and Russell Cooper until the National Party's defeat at the 1989 state election.
Katter retired from state parliament in 1992 and was elected to the House of Representatives at the subsequent federal election, standing for his father's former seat of Kennedy. He resigned from the National Party in the lead-up to the 2001 federal election over policy disagreements, and has continued to be re-elected as an independent and as the founder of his Katter's Australian Party. His son Robbie Katter is a state MP in Queensland, the third generation of the Katter family to become a member of Parliament.
Robert Bellarmine Carl Katter was born on 22 May 1945 in Cloncurry, Queensland. He is the eldest of three children born to Robert Cummin Katter (1918–1990) and Mabel Joan Katter (née Horn; 1919–1971). After his mother's death, Katter's father had three children with his second wife, including Carl Katter. Katter Sr. was a member of the Queensland Labor Party until 1957, when he left during the party's split that year. He later joined the Country Party, now the National Party.
Katter's father was raised in Cloncurry, where he ran a clothing shop and managed a local cinema. He was elected to Cloncurry Shire Council in 1946, and later to federal parliament in 1966. Katter is of Lebanese descent through his paternal grandfather, Carl Robert Katter (originally spelled "Khittar"), who was born in Bsharri and immigrated to Australia with his parents in 1898. He was naturalised in 1907, after initially being refused naturalisation under the White Australia policy.
Katter received his early education in Cloncurry, where he was one of only six at his school who completed Year 12 education. He attended Mount Carmel College in Charters Towers, and went on to the University of Queensland, where he studied law, but later dropped out without graduating. While at university, Katter was president of the University of Queensland Law Society and St Leo's College. As a university student, Katter pelted the Beatles with rotten eggs during their 1964 tour of Australia, declaring in a later meeting with the band that he undertook this as "an intellectual reaction against Beatlemania". He also served in the Citizens Military Forces, with the rank of second lieutenant.
After his military service, Katter returned to Cloncurry, where he worked at his family's businesses, and as a labourer at the Mount Isa Mines.
Katter was first elected to the north Queensland district of Flinders of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland at the 1974 state election, as a member of the Country Party. He served as Minister for Northern Development and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs from 1983 to 1987, Minister for Northern Development, Community Services and Ethnic Affairs from 1987 to 1989, Minister for Community Services and Ethnic Affairs in 1989, Minister for Mines and Energy in 1989, and Minister for Northern and Regional Development for a brief time in 1989 until the National government was defeated at the 1989 election.
Katter was a strong supporter of Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen. On 28 August 1989, he resigned abruptly from the cabinet of Bjelke-Petersen's successor, Mike Ahern, along with fellow cabinet ministers Russell Cooper and Paul Clauson. Their resignations were reportedly an attempt to depose Ahern as party leader. Bjelke-Petersen subsequently endorsed Katter to succeed Ahern as leader and premier.
Katter returned to cabinet on 25 September 1989, following Cooper's successful ousting of Ahern as party leader and premier. As the Minister for Mines, he was the subject of a no-confidence motion from the Queensland Chamber of Mines in November 1989, following his proposed changes to mining legislation which were perceived to favour the interests of graziers over mining companies. His term as a minister ended following the National Party's defeat at the 1989 election.
Following the abolition of the electoral district of Flinders in 1992, Katter retired from state politics and did not contest the 1992 election.
Federal politics (1993–present)
Following his father's retirement from federal parliament, Katter was an unsuccessful candidate at the National Party preselection for the seat of Kennedy for the 1990 federal election.
At the 1993 federal election, Katter won his father's former seat of Kennedy in the House of Representatives defeating Rob Hulls.
In 1994, Katter advocated against the Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act 1994, a federal law that bypassed Tasmania's anti-gay laws, claiming the government was "helping the spread of AIDS" and legitimizing "homosexual behavior". He also believed the laws jeopardized states' rights in Australia.
Katter was re-elected with a large swing in 1996, and was re-elected with a similar margin in 1998. However, after his transfer to federal politics, Katter found himself increasingly out of sympathy with the Liberal–National Coalition due to his disagreements with its neoliberal stances on economic and social issues, leading to his eventual resignation from the National Party in 2001.
Following his resignation from the Nationals, Katter easily retained his seat as an independent at the general elections in 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010, each time winning with a percentage vote in the high sixties after preferences were distributed.
In the aftermath of the 2010 hung federal election, Katter offered a range of views on the way forward for government. Two other former National Party MPs, both independents from rural electorates, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott decided to support a Labor government. Katter presented his 20 points document and requested for the major parties to respond before deciding which party he would support. As a result, he broke with Windsor and Oakeshott and supported the Liberal–National coalition for government. On 7 September 2010, Katter announced his support for a Coalition minority government.