Katter’s straight-talking twists
NOW the glitter has settled on the gay marriage debate, it’s worth revisiting the (old definition) queer claims made in two of the most hog-wild speeches in Australian Parliament’s history.
Hats off to Bob Katter – at least he had a mandate to vote how he did, with 53 per cent of Kennedy respondents against letting blokes tie the knot with blokes, and sheilas with sheilas.
In two separate diatribes described by Leichhardt MP and same-sex marriage legislation architect Warren Entsch as “pathetic”, “offensive” and “devoid of any facts”, the Kat in the Hat took his audience on an emotional rollercoaster ending abruptly in a dumpster fire.
Let’s unpack some of the claims, in chronological order. Straights don’t marry Katter hasn’t been invited to a wedding for yonks, and if the hesand-shes aren’t doing it then why would those otherwise inclined?
He outlined the theory while describing a phone call with a journalist who asked him about how he would vote in the SSM debate.
“So, mate, we can’t get the heteros to marry – you’ve got absolutely no hope of getting that other mob to marry. But thanks for your call. I thought it was funny,” he said.
The Queensland Government Statistician’s Office says there were 22,878 marriages registered in Queensland last year.
There were also 10,890 divorces – a statistic Katter did not capitalise on.
Either way, you can guarantee the marriage figure will skyrocket in 2018. Buy my book Katter made two references to his book “which I might add is only $29 at all best-selling bookshops” because it apparently has a story about him being friends with a homosexual man. Forced childhood cross-dressing This one appeared to be a reference to Craigburn Primary School in Adelaide, although that wasn’t made clear.
The gist was that two young moth- ers told him their sons were told by the Education Department they had to wear a dress to school.
“Do you think seriously that the LGBT group are going to stop here?” Katter pontificated.
“It may be funny to yell out in a pub, ‘I’m going bush before it becomes compulsory,’ but it’s not quite so funny.”
For the record (and if it was that school) that “Do it in a Dress” day was a fundraiser that has, through the media frenzy it whipped up, generated more than $300,000 in donations to help girls get education in Sierra Leone and Uganda. They’ve got AIDS Katter doesn’t like the gays, and reckons they are “responsible for giving AIDS” to 72 Australian children through donating blood.
He failed to provide a citation for that figure, and it is proving difficult to find the newspaper article he was apparently referring to.
Also, he seemed to suggest there was a “DNA thing” that made (new definition) queer folk predisposed towards murder. Explosive stuff! Population decline Now the gays have taken over, the Australian race is going to dwindle.
“If you take out my cousin-brothers, the First Australians, and if you take out the migrant population in Australia – recent migrants – then we have the lowest birthrate on earth,” he explained. Yes voters are the new commies Back in his uni days – about the same time he threw eggs at The Beatles during their Australian tour – Katter had to stand up to commies.
“I have seen you before, because you were out there running around with your Mao Zedong books, back in the sixties,” he said. They pinched g-a-y Katter is still a gripping orator. Despite what you might think of the content, you will listen to every last syllable when he takes up the dais.
He knows his words, and there is one in particular that tickles his fancy.
“They take the most beautiful word in the English language and take it for themselves,” he said.
“I think you’ve got a damned hide to be perfectly honest with you.
“I think you’ve got a damned hide and an inflated opinion of yourself, as well.
“And the rest of the world would agree with what I have just said.”
Except for that pesky majority of voting Australians.