Katter’s Kennedy Federal budget wrap - 2024
May 14, 2024
KATTER’S Australian Party MP Bob Katter has expressed his disappointment with the 2024 Federal Budget with very few Kennedy-specific funding allocations announced.
Mr Katter while there were some positives for regional Australia, which would capture Kennedy, the details on funding were few and far between.
He said overall, the budget lacked long-term vision, and critical details towards real actionable initiatives. Instead, there was increased funding for government departments to “improve regulatory compliance, or streamline workforces, or develop new reporting systems.”
He welcomed the parts of the government’s Future Made in Australia fund which provided funding for critical minerals and their processing, as well as “low carbon fuel” such as ethanol, but again, lacked succinct detail.
“The 2024 Budget will do little more than limp the government to the next election, providing no serious reform and offer little more than a few lollies,” Mr Katter said.
Cost of living
- Stage 3 tax cuts – averaging about $36 per week. Plus reduce the 19 per cent tax rate to 16 per cent, reduce 32.5 per cent tax rate to 30 per cent and increase the 37 per cent tax rate threshold from $120,000 to $135,000.
- $300 energy bill relief.
- Waiving $3bn in student debt, or which is less than $1300 for the average student.
“Disappointing that Government has missed the opportunity for real reform to assist families with differing incomes through income splitting options that would allow an income to be split before the tax is assessed between the working parent and the stay-at-home parent.
“Such a measure would reduce the tax burden on families with dependants and allow them to have similar tax burdens, relative to their joint incomes, to those couples that have dual incomes and no kids.
“And for electricity, there should be no reason its costs more than $700 per year, by introducing a Reserved Resource Policy.
Grocery prices
- Government will fund market competition organisation CHOICE for three years to produce quarterly price comparison reports for consumers. First report at end of June.
- For farmers and suppliers, government is looking at making the Grocery Code of Conduct mandatory and introducing penalties of up to 10 per cent of turnover for breaches.
“How giving consumers will benefit from having a ‘choice’ of where they shop based on a quarterly survey is beyond me, and making the Grocery Code of Conduct mandatory, after all the major grocers were already signatories, will do little for suppliers.”
Housing
- Total $32bn housing spend under this government with the latest including $9bn split between each state and territory for social housing, and $1bn for housing infrastructure.
- $19.7m over six years to support housing research, fast-track feasibility studies on the release of Commonwealth land for social housing.
- Commonwealth rent assistance increase by 10 per cent.
“We have the land, we just need a government with a vision that looks beyond further crowding the major cities.
“Again no deadlines on when these social homes will be built, yet nothing to assist the supply of housing in the private sector.”
Defence
- $17.5m over ten years to establish a new Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence to support increased oversight, transparency, and accountability of the portfolio.
- $186m over four years to reduce the time taken to process veterans’ claims.
- $1bn over three years for long-range firearms, fuel resilience and robotic systems.
- $35m to upgrade ADF bases in Northern Australia – primarily Townsville.
“This is a substantial sum of money and we must make sure we are getting value,” Mr Katter said.
“A clear message must be sent to the world that we are serious about protecting ourselves and our way of living.
“It’s hard to provide such a message when we have successive governments that allows for the foreign acquisition of strategic assets, including our ports, electricity providers, communication networks, banks, airlines, airports and vast tracts of our land.”
“If we are to spend $330 billion on security we should also revise the foreign acquisition strategy and start reclaiming our most important assets,” said Mr Katter.
Roads and transport
- $1bn for the Roads to Recovery Program
- $200m for the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program
- $154m over six years to implement the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard including $84m over five years to establish a regulator and $10m on awareness campaign.
- $101m over five years for remote and regional airstrips.
“I encourage all councils in my electorate to apply for the Roads to Recovery Program, and I’m confident we can secure the funding for the completion of the Hann Hwy, benefiting producers throughout North Queensland.
“As for the vehicle efficiency standard, the government must realise this will impact more than just the people out bush. There are plenty of people in regional cities like Townsville and Cairns, throughout Australia, that enjoy four-wheel drives who will be unfairly punished with this standard.”
Infrastructure
- $2.2bn to enhance connectivity, and increase accessibility and reliability of South East Queensland transport networks.
- A total infrastructure contribution of $21.6bn for Queensland, of that $1.2bn will go to the Sunshine Coast Rail Line, and just $467m for the Bruce Hwy corridor.
- National Water Grid - $174m over six years for new water infrastructure projects.
$592.3 million over five years from 2023–24 for the Paradise Dam Improvement project, the Big Rocks Weir project and the Hughenden Irrigation Scheme has been deferred.
“What a joke! This package is beyond disappointing, it includes nothing ‘nation building,’ nothing that will generate economic growth, nothing that will create more than a few jobs.
“In Kennedy public transport is almost non-existent. We have some of the worse roads in Australia. The only access to the land west of the diving range and literally crumbling. Budget after budget we see more money siphoned from the regions and given to the cities for grandiose white-elephant projects.”
Health
- Previously announced tripling of bulk billing system remains - $3.5bn.
- $17m over the next year to boost support of healthcare in areas of shortage including GPs. ‘
- $2.2bn over five years for aged care, with most going towards administration initiatives including improving regulation and compliance, but including $531m to release 24,100 additional home care packages.
- An additional 29 Medicare Urgent Care clinics.
“This increased funding is applauded. It is hoped that this will ensure those that live outside major cities will have improved access to essential health services.”
Agriculture
- $519m over eight years for the Future Drought Fund initiatives including education and farming practices incentives to boost drought preparedness, online climate tools.
- $1m over two years for a skilled agricultural work liaison pilot to attract graduates to work in agriculture.
- $1.5m to improve accuracy and labelling of plant-based alternative protein products.
- Already 75 per cent sheep gone, 23 per cent of cattle is gone due to deregulations. The wokie green brigade are at it again to please their ideology.
- $107m to help farmers and the supply chain transition away from live sheep exports, yet this package also includes $2.6m to improve sheep welfare standards.
- $32m over four years for programs protecting water security in the Great Artesian Basin.
“Besides some funding for the GAB, and potential funding for actual drought relief, this is again woke ideology running its course, destroying agriculture.”
Energy and Environment
- $5m over the next year for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to engage tourism operators to conduct reef monitoring and protection.
- $7bn over four years to Snowy Hydro to support continued construction.
“As for the Marine Park Authority, well the government has already destroyed all our industries out there with Spanish Mackerel bans and gillnet bans so there’s not much left to protect.
“And is it any surprise Snowy is the only power generation they’re funding. While we’ve got 9000mw of baseload power going off, we’ve only got one, delayed, source coming online.
Social and welfare
- $161m over four years to develop and implement a National Firearms Register. “Once established police will know where firearms are, who owns them and what the risks are.”
“To be disarming people while crime is at all time high is unconscionable.”
- $288m over four years to support the delivery of the Digital ID system.
“May I just remind our government how unreliable digital systems are; with traditional banking, how often would a bank get robbed? Hardly ever, now with digital banking there’s problems every week with hackers.”
- · $1.1bn over four years to pay superannuation on Paid Parental Leave.
“I support this incentive.”
Telecommunications
- $150m for the Black Spot Program
“We must urge all councils to apply for the money. The more requests that go in the better.”
Education
- $88m over three years for 20,000 new fee-free training places through TAFE.
- $5.3m over two years for the Good to Great Schools Australia Pilot program which claims it will benefit outer regional and remote schools to lift their education outcomes.
Other
- $48m over the next year for ASIC to sustain operational activities and “enhance its core capabilities.”
- $35m to the Director of Public Prosecutions to strengthen capacity to undertake criminal prosecutions.
Support
- $14.2m over two years to improve community safety in Alice Springs and surrounds.
“Why can’t we then get money to solve North Queensland’s crime problem with outback camps – relocation sentencing.”
- $1bn over five years to address migration backlogs, which includes $115m over four years to establish two migration hubs dedicated to hearing migration and protection matters, currently before the courts.
"Let me be quite clear; we don't bail out foreign billionaires," Mr Katter stated. "Just down the road in Cloncurry, another copper mine, Ernest Henry, has recently announced record-breaking profits. Glencore was the former operator of this mine and got rid of it, claiming it wasn't profitable. That should give you a very clear picture of how incapable Glencore really is. "I have said it repeatedly, if Glencore cannot make the Mount Isa copper smelter work on their own, the government should step in; not to throw money at what appears to be 'spectacular mismanagement', but to take control of the asset. "This smelter is a vital piece of Australian industry, and government needs to act - swiftly and decisively," Mr Katter said. Government must immediately: (1) Reserve a portion of domestic production for domestic processing and manufacturing to ensure a national benefit, and (2) Implement 'use it or lose it' so that multi-national organisations can't sit on our mining assets to influence international stock markets. "We cannot compete with the Chinese when their governments build and own factories, provide subsidised power and don't require return on investment. Australia is already fighting an uphill battle; meanwhile, we are letting Glencore run riot and send our value offshore," Mr Katter warned. Mr Katter expressed confidence that the government was beginning to see the writing on the wall. "There is faith that this government will move to gain a stake in the copper smelter, not bail out the multi-national Glencore. If they want ownership partnerships, then it should come with government oversight, domestic processing guarantees and a binding commitment to Australian jobs. "It is an insult to all Australian taxpayers that a single cent of their money would be spent on a foreign-owned corporation that has recorded massive profits in other divisions while allowing for our critical infrastructure to wither and die. "A line in the sand must be drawn. Our assets must be retained for our benefit. Glencore can get with it or get out." ENDS
"This country used to have thriving industries: tobacco, peanuts, maize, flour, citrus, grapes, and about 30 major food lines. Each one smashed," Mr Katter said. "Now they tell me 46 per cent of Australia's fruit and vegetables come from overseas. You think the average Australian would believe their own government did this to them?" Katter pointed to the sugar industry as a textbook example of what's gone wrong. "Once upon a time, 23 of our 26 sugar mills were owned by local farmers. Now, go check it, every one of them is foreign-owned. The Nationals and Liberals gave away the industry under a so-called reform deal that handed over $270 million a year to reduce protections and open us to the mercy of the global market. Labor just rolled over and went along with it. "We are the only country on earth that sends our gladiators, our food producers, into the ring without a helmet and shield. The rest of the world? Their farmers are supported to the tune of 41 per cent of their income. In Australia? Four per cent. You think we're 36 per cent better farmers than the rest of the world? Give me a break." Mr Katter also condemned the hypocrisy of the federal government pouring $100 million into corporate giants like Bunnings and Officeworks to install EV chargers and solar panels [1] while regional food processors are shut down. "While they shovel public money into Bunnings, Woolworths, and Coles, who already mark-up fresh food by over 200 per cent, we're shutting down regional factories and family farms that feed the country. It's completely absurd." With the closure of Tolga's peanut processing facility, the Atherton Tablelands loses another key pillar of its agricultural base, putting growers, workers, and communities at risk. "We are rapidly losing the ability to feed ourselves," Mr Katter warned. "When the ports close, or China decides to flick the switch on exports, or international prices go up, we'll be sitting here naked, with no shield, no helmet, and no food." ENDS [1] www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/28/australian-government-loans-100m-to-install-ev-chargers-and-solar-panels-at-bunnings-and-officeworks-stores
"I am informed that Glencore shut the Ernest Henry mine because they claimed it wasn't profitable," Mr Katter said. "Well, the current owners have done it at a record-breaking profit. That should give you a very clear picture of how incapable Glencore really is. "This is a flashing neon light as what I view as the sheer incompetence of Glencore's operations within this country," Mr Katter warned. The Ernest Henry operation, near Cloncurry, was sold to Evolution Mining in 2022. Under this new ownership, it has delivered significant returns and reinvestment in the local economy. The success of the new operators adds fuel to long-standing concerns about Glencore's stewardship of Australia's copper assets, especially the Mount Isa Mines copper smelter and mining operations. "If they cannot run Ernest Henry at a profit, and we can see that another company can do so with their eyes closed, then they have no business holding onto the copper mine or smelter," Mr Katter said. "It's high time they handed over the reins to people who know what they’re doing and are willing to invest in the long-term future of the Northwest Mineral Province." Katter has long argued for the national interest control of critical minerals infrastructure, saying multinationals, like Glencore, prioritise overseas shareholders over Australian workers and regional development. "What we are now seeing is proof that Australian-led enterprises can do what these foreign giants have refused to do: make it work, and make it work well." ENDS
“We applaud them,” Mr Katter said. “Since my grandfather’s time, which was a long time ago, we have been waiting for a railway line from the Northwest to the Gulf. They were building it once, but when they struck gold, they stopped at Julia Creek. “This company is doing what governments have failed to do for over a century – they’re getting on with the job, and I wholeheartedly applaud anyone involved,” Mr Katter stated. Mr Katter noted the use of light rail from Nardoo Station for part of the journey, dramatically reducing transport costs. Mr Katter also noted current reports indicate $5 per tonne is being spent to move raw materials – something light rail and water transport can reduce significantly. “Materials can be moved into the Leichhardt River Canals using the Panamax-class vessels. Once on water, freight costs are slashed dramatically. This isn’t a transport solution; it is a nation-building project. It opens up vast areas of untapped wealth, gives us the infrastructure we should have had generations ago, and puts Australian enterprise back in the driver’s seat,” Mr Katter observed. Mr Katter said he hoped all levels of government would support the initiative, but stressed that even without it, the private sector leadership shown here was a more than welcome change. “Too many times, we see bureaucrats and politicians sitting on their hands while regional Australia gets left behind. Well, these people aren’t waiting. They are building, and we should be backing them every step of the way.” ENDS
"We are pleading with government to extend Medicare benefits to regional and remote residents to include telehealth appointments across the board, including for specialist nurse practitioners," Mr Katter explained. "We need to put in place more avenues of access for non-metropolitan Australians to receive medical services." RACGP's Rural Health in Australia Snapshot 2025 study also found that patients in very remote Australia use Medicare almost 50 percent less than those who live in our cities and experience longer waiting times to see a GP than those in major cities. "There are people in my electorate who need to drive 20 hours to see the nearest specialist, and while they get state government travel assistance, it doesn't cover the cost of accommodation, taxis if needed, the extra costs of buying food while away from home, and taking days off work. "The money saved on travel costs, especially as regional and remote flight costs are exorbitant, can be put towards covering Medicare rebates for non-metropolitan Australians who are suffering poor health outcomes from simply not living on the coast," Mr Katter said. "And I hear people say, 'move to the city then', but who will mine the minerals to make your computers and mobile phones? Who will grow the food you eat and the fibres that make your clothes? "As a country we need to do better at providing healthcare to every Australian. We need to support the people who feed and clothe us." ENDS
“Trump’s protecting his industries from the uncontestable, government-backed mega-production coming out of China. Their factories aren’t built by the private sector - they’re built by the government, with government money, and they don’t need to service debt,” Mr Katter said. “The Chinese government doesn’t throw money away on ego monuments and feel-good ‘net-zero’ whims. It builds factories that produce things, freeways and tunnels that create wealth and economic generation. That money, in turn, produces value. It’s deflationary, not inflationary. “The Australin Government, on the other hand, have obliterated our production sector in favour of ideology and self-indulgence.” Mr Katter said there were no domestic industries left that could compete on a global stage - except beef, grain, and mining (not processing) – and warned that places like Mount Isa, home to a major copper smelter, were in the firing line if trade conditions deteriorated further. “You can’t expect a 25,000 mega-tonne refinery in Australia to compete with a 250,000 mega-tonne refinery in China. And yet our response has been to party on, strangling our industries and primary producers with over-regulation and skip down a net-zero path without caring about whether the money comes from. This had led us to become a net importer of nearly all our food, manufactured goods and fuel.” “We are one of the most resource rich countries in the world, yet we are fast becoming an economic backet case. It’s economic insanity.” He continued: “A billion people go to bed hungry every night—and we in Northern Australia could feed half a billion of them, if the government got out of the way and stopped treating our industries like a nuisance.” Mr Katter also took aim at the Federal Government’s trade policy, warning that Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ recent economic optimism was “delusional at best.” Katter reserved some of his strongest criticism for Foreign Minister Penny Wong, saying Australia’s relationship with the U.S. was already frayed—and that her approach to China was “worse than naïve.” “She’s got us surrounded. Chinese warships circle us like crows around a carcass, and we call that diplomacy.” Mr Katter said his party, along with other regional crossbenchers, would soon be pitching an ‘Omnibus Bill’ to reshape Australia’s economy and re-establish essential industries. “This delusion must stop. Australia must follow America’s lead and start protecting our own industries, primary producers and manufacturers.” ENDS
Federal Member for Kennedy, Bob Katter, today visited Mount Isa, a city built on mining and industrial manufacturing, as its people face the grim reality of a slow-motion industrial collapse 20 years in the making off the back of Glencore's threat of imminent closure should they fail to get a "government bailout". Mr Katter spoke directly with residents, many of whom have spent generations working in the mines, smelters, and refineries that once defined Australia's critical mineral capacity. "For decades, governments in this country have taken our mineral processing for granted, and at the same time Glencore has made short-term self-serving decisions on investment and energy that created risks for the entire country," Mr Katter said. "The Mount Isa-Townsville industrial complex is not just important; it is the most important manufacturing production line in this nation. It is the only place in Australia where copper ore from across Queensland and beyond can be turned into usable copper – the copper that builds your homes, powers your electrical infrastructure, underpins weapons manufacturing, and drives the computers and technology that hold our country together. "Yet governments have sat idly by while Glencore has been allowed to gain complete control over Australia's most valuable industrial asset, and they've made some disastrous decisions that are biting them and risking Australia's minerals production. And now, with copper prices strong, demand rising, and the world screaming for critical minerals, our processing capacity is being shuttered. "For 20 years, governments and Ministers have come to Mount Isa for their photo opportunities, promised cheaper power, more competitive markets, and finally, CopperString. But every announcement has been just that – words and no action, and they've left every major decision up to a ruthless multinational trading company that is now threatening to walk," Mr Katter said.
"A devil is often in the detail – and we haven't seen that yet with this proposed review into the East Coast Gas Reservation scheme. While this announcement appears to be very positive, it may change, and my position may change on it," Mr Katter said. Mr Katter warned the energy crisis facing Mount Isa was "absolutely critical", and said the town is not connected to the national electricity grid and relies entirely on gas for electricity, chemical production and industry operations. "The copper smelter, the copper operations, the dozen copper mines, the silver-lead-zinc plant, make Mount Isa the third biggest industrial centre in this country, just behind Newcastle and Gladstone," he said. "The complete collapse of Mount Isa's industrial base was imminent last week. The dominoes were already falling. Mount Isa pulls 3,000 jobs directly out of Townsville and fuels billions in industrial exports. If it goes under, it's not just a local issue – it's a national one." Mr Katter said he sent a blunt letter to both the Prime Minister and the Queensland Premier, warning that, without action on a gas reservation policy, they would be remembered as presiding over the industrial destruction of the region. "We are paying up to $16.60 for a unit of gas in Mount Isa, while the Americans and Russians are paying $5 US. It's impossible to survive or compete under those conditions. Give us RRP and we go forward. Deny us, and there will be a collapse." Mr Katter said he had received no response from the Queensland Premier, despite personal representations by state MP Robbie Katter, but acknowledged that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken direct action by including new gas from the Northern Territory, including the Beetaloo Basin, in the policy.
As recently as late last week, Mr Katter held discussions with the Deputy Prime Minister, making representations for the new amphibious army fleet to be ported at Cairns and for final funding to be provided for the ship lift so that maintenance can be undertaken on Australia's naval vessels. "Unless we are going to be battling the penguins of Antarctica, maybe we should cast our eyes north to where the threat is more likely," Mr Katter said. "To go to war now is not only inconceivable but a catastrophic failure of defence planning that echoes the same fatal mistakes made in World War II. "In the Second World War, our three armies were sitting in the Libyan Desert while the Japanese prepared to invade. Whether it was dereliction of duty or outright stupidity, it was the most damning judgement on a government in this country's history," Mr Katter said. "They knew we were about to be invaded, and they sent two forward scout groups to meet the threat — 3,000 young men and the 49th Battalion. Half of them had never fired a rifle in their life. Our Air Force was so under-equipped it was a joke; the Wirraway had machine guns on the wings and no chance of taking on Japanese Zeros." Mr Katter compared the current state of Australia's Defence Force to those dark days, saying the government's claims of readiness are farcical in the face of the growing international military capability.
Katter accused the Court of "turning their backs on those who bore the brunt of a government blunder" by underestimating the impact of the ban on long-term export numbers and industry viability. Mr Katter said the Court's minimisation of the industry's losses is an insult to the thousands of families who suffered financial and emotional devastation and warned the ongoing delays in compensation will only compound the damage. "At nearly 300 million people, Indonesia is one of the biggest countries on earth. There's a massive market for our beef. They need beef but they can't afford it if it's processed in Australia. We can grow it to one year old very inexpensively," Katter explained. "If they grow the beast out and then process it there, it becomes very competitively priced." Katter warned that Australia's cattle and sheep herds are plummeting, with live exports being one of the few remaining options for sustaining the northern economy. "We need to quadruple our beef herd in Australia. And just the opposite is happening, it's the most extraordinary phenomenon. The cattle numbers have gone from 32 million in the late '70s down to 24 million and that's where they've stayed," he said. Katter took aim at the ALP's economic legacy, particularly its handling of Australia's once-thriving wool industry. "The Labor Party has earned their place in the history books. The biggest export earner for Australia for 200 years was wool. In 1990, it was Australia's largest export item at $6 billion per year. But Keating's obsession with free market economics completely demolished the wool industry. And what was left was destroyed by Labour's ban on live exports. "So congratulations Mr ALP, you destroyed the biggest wealth earner for this nation." Mr Katter said the Court must now ensure justice is delivered when it determines how much compensation is due to those who suffered under the 2011 ban. ENDS
