Anning wears out welcome

KATTER’S Australian Party has tied itself in knots over Fraser Anning.

When the Queensland senator cut himself loose from Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party to sit as an independent, it wasn’t long before he joined the Katter fold. And it was a relationship of convenience. When Senator Anning visited the

Bulletin, he freely admitted he had been hunting for a new party to join. He said he picked the Katters because of their rising popularity, having watched them pick up three Queensland seats at last year’s state election. He said he’d considered other conservative options but wouldn’t join a party that was losing popularity.

So his decision seemed to be based on securing his position as opposed to ideological similarities.

North Queensland needs strong political representation and we can’t look like a joke to the rest of the country. This great region is so often cast to the side, ignored or short- changed on its fair share.

The KAP is growing in popularity and the reason for that is people’s frustration with the south not understanding northern issues, frustration with the major parties but, importantly, also the strength of the KAP Queensland leader, Robbie Katter.

Senator Anning’s comments in his maiden speech were widely condemned but the KAP stood by him. When Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk did the unthinkable and cut KAP staff because Mr Katter refused to apologise for the comments, the debate changed from one on racism to rage at the Premier’s bullying tactics.

Unfortunately though, Senator Anning has doubled down on his views, pushing for a plebiscite to ban Muslim migration and restrict non- European migration. The Katters know their voter well. And while there may be some validity to concerns over immigration, it’s not a party that wants to be caught in a race debate that does precious little to address the day- to- day concerns of North Queenslanders.

It’s not surprising the party looks set to cut its ties with this rogue senator.