Mixed bag for North Queensland in Federal Budget: Katter

October 27, 2022

KENNEDY MP Bob Katter has welcomed significant announcements listed in the Federal Budget for North Queensland including $225m for exploration grants in the resource-rich “North West Minerals Province” near Mount Isa, significant investments in protecting Australia against foot and mouth disease, grants for invasive weeds and feral pigs, and funding to improve telecommunications in the electorate’s many black spots.


Despite this, Mr Katter warned that cost pressures will be placed upon Australia’s largest employer group, small business owners, who will now be forced to foot the bill of the expanded paid parental leave.


Resources

The Federal Government has announced $225m for exploration grants in the North West Minerals Province and $99.8m over three years from 2022–23 for the Strategic Critical Minerals Development Program to support Australian critical minerals producers overcome technical and market access barriers.

“North Queensland is the hub of new-age minerals, the minerals we require to produce batteries for electric motor cars – nickel, cadmium, copper.

“We asked the Prime Minister on Tuesday if he was aware of the North West’s potential, and we were very pleased with his answer recognising the availability of minerals and their sovereign requirement.

“And the PM’s has been as good as his word with serious money in the budget. It seems a government at long last has seen what we clearly see in the North West.”

Mr Katter also welcomed $22m to develop Townsville’s Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct, which will host advanced manufacturing and technology industries that will underpin future jobs in North Queensland.

“We’ve had conversations with the French company supplying the nickel and cobalt and they are taking this project of new-age minerals very seriously.”


Agriculture

Mr Katter welcomed the Government’s announcement to right off $14.7m in debt for 5300 farmers through the Farm Household Allowance scheme.

“This wonderful scheme was secured by Mareeba’s rural allowance action council and if your farm did not make its repayments, the government topped you up. On the evidence we have, one in five Australian farmers survived only because of this wonderful scheme.

Mr Katter also praised significant investment into biosecurity which included $14m to improve defence against lumpy skin disease, $14m to improve defence against foot and mouth disease, as well as a $10m package for Indonesia to prevent the latter disease entering Australia.

There was also $30m announced for the removal invasive species, which in North Queensland include feral pigs and prickly acacia and there was a further $13m announced for innovative measures to remove invasive weeds.

“With the notorious prickly acacia and the pig devastation we have got to ensure that it gets priority in that $30m. It would appear that the pyrolysis type conversion of pricky acacia in Townsville surrounds can be seriously addressed with money from this $13m pool.”


Water

Mr Katter said there was still hope for the Hughenden Irrigation Scheme after the government announced deferring funding of $899.5 million of water projects including HIPCo to be reconsidered once business cases were completed. The Government will retain $1.0 billion over eight years from 2026–27 in the National Water Grid Fund to support future projects.

“They want a business case, well the business case is already there. But this is a project, that unless we’re going to accept the depopulation in 95 per cent of Australia, they have to look at Hughenden.

“The survival of this nation seriously depends on the occupation of the landmass of Australia. I think there has been a disconnect between the departments and ministers here.”

Mr Katter said he wasn’t surprised to see $5.4bn for Hells Gate had been scrapped.

“I can understand the decision because the proposal before the Federal Government, no sane person could have proceeded with that proposal and it didn't produce anything for North Queensland, it destroyed the five great benefits that flowed from the proper Hells Gate proposal.”

 

Jobs and skills

Mr Katter welcomed the Government’s move to increase the migration cap from 165,000 to 190,000 to address the workforce shortage, but said he was concerned about the focus of that migration cap being on Afghanistan.

“It is very worrying because they have a continuous history of violence, they have no history of democracy, rule of law or award wages.

“You must give priority to nations with similar values.”

Mr Katter also welcomed the announcement allowing pensioners returning to work to earn $11,800, up from $7,800 without having their payments affected.

“That’s excellent news and whilst it’s a trial we have got to make sure it becomes permanent; they are a highly skilled workforce. To put an irreplaceable workforce on the scrapheap is beyond my understanding.”

Telecommunications:  

With multiple mobile blackspots throughout the Kennedy electorate, Mr Katter said it was always welcomed news to see continuous funding for improved telecommunications.

The Government is investing $111m to improve mobile coverage part of Mobile Black Spot Program to implement commitments for new mobile infrastructure to improve mobile coverage and reception quality across Australia as well as $30m for the On Farm Connectivity Program to support farmers and agricultural businesses to purchase and install on farm connectivity equipment.

“Mareeba, Cairns, Fishery Falls and Mission Beach are red hot with black spots. We need the local communities and council to pick up the initiative and aggressively make sure we get this funding to improve coverage.”


Fuel

Mr Katter welcomed the announcement for $5.1m over three years from 2022–23 to support the development of sovereign capacity in renewable fuel manufacturing, particularly for the Australian Defence Force.

Mr Katter has long been an advocate for sovereign fuel manufacturing and with fellow crossbenchers is preparing to introduce legislation to increase the manufacturing and use of Australian-made fuel.

“We’ve got our foot in the door here, we want all fuel to be used in Australia, to be manufactured in Australia. This is a small start, but it is a start. No doubt in my mind this came from our crossbench initiative.

“We feel on the crossbenchers confident we’ve got the foot in the door, with our four-pronged legislation.”


Rural and regional Health

The Federal Government announced $50,000 one-off grants for regional medical practices to help them improve patient access, for capital works, training, or purchase new equipment.

The Government also announced $2.5 billion over four years to improve the quality of care in residential aged care facilities by requiring all facilities to have a registered nurse onsite 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

“We thank all the people who have made representations to us, Dieticians Australia, the NQ Nurses Union, the Primary Health Network, and I would single out Dr Lisa Fraser, Dr Rod Catton, Dr Grant Manypeney for their continuous efforts in advocating for regional health. We’ve welcomed the previous increase in wages and the HECS announcement, but we still have no doctors in many of our towns.”

Mr Katter said the reduction of the PBS co-payment from $42.50 to $30 “was not as good as it appears” because it made the threshold for free medication harder to earn, but it was a step in the right direction towards affordable health.

Roads

The Federal Government’s announcement of $210m for the upgrade of Kuranda Range Rd was labelled as “absolutely appalling” by Mr Katter.

“The only thing you can start doing there is tearing down the jungle and rainforest. That money has got to be spent on developing the tunnel, the Bridle Track, through the range. I tenaciously oppose this.”

However he welcomed $2.1bn for projects in Queensland, including $866.4m for the Bruce Highway and $400m for the Inland Freight Route (Mungindi to Charters Towers) upgrades.


Cyclone reinsurance pool  

The previously legislated cyclone reinsurance pool has received $15m for oversighting by the ACCC to ensure premiums are fair.

“This is vital. We’re paying 400 per cent more for insuring our house. We got the breakthrough for reinsurance from the last government and now Alliance has led the charge on our behalf, they said it does not achieve parity, so if they’re right, there’s $15m now to see if they’re right.

“And, I haven’t noticed a decrease in premiums like there should have been.”


Childcare

Mr Katter welcomed the Government’s $4.7bn to make early childhood education and care more affordable for Australian families. From July 2023, Child Care Subsidy rates will increase up to 90 per cent for eligible families earning less than $530,000. Families will continue to receive existing higher subsidy rates of up to 95 per cent for any additional children in care aged 5 and under.

“We are simply persecuting people who have families, people cannot afford to have children and we are a vanishing race.

“I’ve had staff who’ve spent up to 70 per cent of their salary on childcare. We need to support Australian families, or in 20 years’ time, death will exceed births.

Mr Katter was critical however, of the expansion to the paid parental leave program, arguing that it would bring with it, cost pressures to the mum and dad business owners throughout the region who will have to foot the bill.


ENDS

AUSTRALIA IS NOT FOR SALE

By Dominique Moon • July 15, 2026
Is government seriously that tone deaf that it would permit the sale of 22,000 hectares of prime agricultural land to foreign investors????? UNFORTUNATELY .. the answer is YES . Our government has allowed the sale of a huge “Rushy Lagoon” property in Tasmania. THIS PROPERTY is roughly one-and-a-half times the size of Washington, D.C. (17,700 ha), and would fit roughly 30,800 international soccer pitches. THIS PROPERTY at capacity runs 85,000 DSE dairy and beef cattle. THIS PROPERTY employs hundreds of locals and supports the entire economy of the towns throughout the region. THIS PROPERTY is key to the sustainability and self-sufficiency of Australia’s domestic beef and milk markets. The INTERNATIONAL PURCHASERS want to turn it all into a “pine farm” - sacking staff and destroying the local economy, but also depriving Australia of the agricultural and wealth generation that comes with such a large agricultural enterprise. Ignoring the pleas from locals, government has rubber stamped the sale. AUSTRALIA WE MUST WAKE UP!!!! WE MUST FIGHT AGAINST FOREIGN LANDLORDS!!!! IT MIGHT NOT BE HAPPENING IN YOUR BACKYARD NOW…. BUT IT WILL BE SOON!!! AUSTRALIA IS NOT… AND SHOULD NEVER BE… FOR SALE!!!!

Nowhere to hide: Govt must make public imported peanut results

By Elise Nucifora • July 8, 2026
8 July 2026: North Queensland Member for Kennedy Bob Katter has demanded the Federal Agriculture Minister make public the “deeply concerning” findings of Government investigations into imported peanuts for Australian farmers “who every right to know whether their industry has been exposed to a biosecurity threat”. After meeting with the Federal Minister in Canberra last week, Mr Katter has formally requested in writing the Department of Agriculture’s full transparency on the results of investigations, alongside an immediate halt to peanut imports where Australia's biosecurity cannot be guaranteed. "Australia has strict biosecurity rules for a reason. They exist to stop dangerous pests and diseases getting into this country before they destroy Australian agriculture," said Mr Katter. "However, having been advised by the Minister last week of intensive investigations into imported peanuts – including the germination testing of particular significance – my office has now received evidence confirming germination of the samples collected for laboratory testing… which raises very serious questions because if peanuts can germinate, they are raw.” Mr Katter said the results indicating germination in all peanut varieties tested had raised fears imported peanuts are not undergoing necessary processing to eliminate raw biosecurity threats. "The Australian peanut industry is rightly worried about diseases that simply do not exist here – such as the devastating peanut smut in overseas crops which, once established, slashes yields by up to 75 per cent. Once these diseases are in Australian soil, there’s no magic wand to get rid of them." Mr Katter said reports the imported raw peanuts were being offered for sale nationwide reflected the extent of the potential national biosecurity risk “that we've seen again and again and again... We warned governments not to allow imported prawns because white spot disease would get in. We were ignored, and white spot came in. We warned about citrus canker. We warned about black sigatoka. We warned about papaya fruit fly. We warned about Panama disease. “If you believe governments have the best interest of Australian farmers at heart, then you believe in the tooth fairy – while they continue to gamble with Australia's biosecurity and food security to look after their precious ‘free’ trade agreements.”  Mr Katter said where there was genuine uncertainty about whether imported peanuts complied with Australia's biosecurity requirements, “they should not be coming into this country until that uncertainty is resolved. You don't wait until the disease arrives, before you lock the gate." ENDS

Katter welcomes Phosphate Hill sale as victory for North West

By Kahla Kruger • July 1, 2026
KAP Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter has welcomed the completion of the sale of Phosphate Hill, celebrating it as a major win for North West Queensland workers, industry and the future of Australian fertiliser production. Mr Katter said the announcement represented the culmination of years of relentless campaigning to keep one of Australia's most strategically important industrial assets operating. "This is wonderful news for North West Queensland," Mr Katter said. "For years we've been bashing the doors down, that if Australia wanted to keep industry alive, governments had to step in and secure a future for assets like Phosphate Hill." Mr Katter said the federal government’s Reserve Resource Policy had been instrumental in helping create the conditions for the sale. "Getting a Reserve Resource Policy in place has been one of the major achievements of my political life. We fought tooth and nail because Australia should never be paying world-leading prices for our own gas. "Our competitors in countries like the United States and Russia have access to affordable energy, while Australian manufacturers have been paying more than $16 a unit for gas.” Mr Katter said affordable gas was fundamental to the survival of the North West's industrial base. "Everything at Phosphate Hill depends on gas. It powers the plant and drives the chemical processes that turn our natural resources into the fertiliser. "Only a year or so ago we were staring down the barrel of losing one of Australia's biggest industrial centres, with the closure of copper and phosphate production threatening thousands of livelihoods across the North West. "This is an enormous relief for the workers, contractors, families and communities who never gave up. "I particularly want to thank the people of North West Queensland who stood together and fought for this outcome. They refused to accept that these jobs should disappear, and today their determination has been rewarded." Mr Katter said the focus must now be on ensuring Phosphate Hill has the affordable energy certainty needed to remain strong operation for decades to come.  -ENDS-

PODCAST: Tip of the Iceberg? | Immigration, Parliament & Bob's $300 Billion Blueprint

By Kahla Kruger • June 25, 2026
Parliament is back and so is the fight for Australia's future. This week, Bob and Elise sit down in Canberra to tackle one of the country's most contentious issues: immigration. Was the Bondi tragedy a warning sign? Bob argues it exposed much deeper problems, and that Australia's political class has abandoned its duty to protect the nation. Plus, inside Bob's $300 billion plan to transform Australia from a country that spends money into one that makes it. Listen now!

Our First Pubcast! Having a crack in paradise : Mission Beach, Mateship & Making It Work

By Kahla Kruger • June 21, 2026
This week on Wisdom Mongrel Patriot, Bob hits the road and takes listeners deep into the heart of the Kennedy electorate to showcase the people, places and businesses that make Northern Australia tick. Our first stop is the tropical paradise of Mission Beach, where Bob sits down with one of the region's young entrepreneurs, Liam Johnson, owner of Scotties Bar and Grill. Liam shares the reality of starting a small business in today's Australia. Despite the challenges, he's chosen to back himself and invest in his community. Why would a young bloke take the risk? What keeps him going? And what does the future hold for regional small business? Along the way, Bob and Elise explore the wider Mission Beach region; one of Australia's true hidden gems. From pristine beaches and tropical rainforest to tourism, agriculture and local enterprise, they discuss why this corner of North Queensland continues to attract people looking for opportunity and a better way of life. And because no road trip with Bob would be complete without it, listeners are treated to another classic Bob serenade that proves once again that politics and music are never far apart in Kennedy. This week is a story about backing yourself, building something from scratch and having a crack when plenty of others wouldn't.  Pull up a stool, grab a cold one and join Bob as he takes Wisdom Mongrel Patriot on the road. 🎙️🍻🌴

PODCAST: The War on Farmers: AgForce President Shane McCarthy Joins Bob Katter

By Kahla Kruger • June 4, 2026
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texan

What happens when you put water into the dry country? Ask Texas.

By Kahla Kruger • June 1, 2026
For decades I've been saying that water is the key to Australia's future. We don't have to wonder what happens when you build the infrastructure to harness it—we've just heard it firsthand from the people who've lived it. A big thank you to Rod Wetsel, Jake Lederle and Quentin Wetsel for travelling all the way from Texas to Hughenden to share their experience. Their lessons from Sweetwater and beyond have shown exactly what happens when governments back irrigation and transmission infrastructure: industries grow, jobs are created, and towns that were once shrinking begin to thrive. We're saving years of trial and error by listening to people who have already walked this path. Congratulations to Mayor Kate Peddle, Flinders Shire Council, RAPAD, the Local Government Association of Queensland and everyone who helped bring this delegation together. These are the conversations that can shape the future of inland Australia.  The answer has never been to abandon the bush. The answer is to build it. That's how you nation-build.

World Blood Cancer Day puts local focus on life-saving donors list

By Kahla Kruger • May 28, 2026
28 May 2026: On World Blood Cancer Day today, Kennedy MP Bob Katter has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of strengthened funding for a major recruitment campaign to register hundreds of thousands more stem cell donors to be potentially called upon help save the lives of fellow Australians. In response to a question from Mr Katter in Parliament yesterday, the Health Minister confirmed Australia continued to hold one of the smallest stem cell donor registries of all developed countries – three years after vowing to expedite a significant increase in lagging donor registrations following representations by Mr Katter. The Minister also confirmed the Government’s call for tenders this week to establish a specialist stem cell donor registry and clinical service, to facilitate greater donor-recipient matches as the last hope for survivors. Mr Katter said the Life Saving List community campaigners had increased bone marrow donor registrants from 168,000 to 190,000 in the three years since the Health Minister noted Australia had not moved fast enough to help more blood cancer patients find donors. “In these three years, Australia has lost 18,000 lives – 20 people a day – including my nephew Liam,” he told Parliament before today joining community-based campaigners with the Parliamentary Group on Bone Marrow Donation to mark World Cancer Day in the Speaker’s Courtyard, where special guests from the Canberra Raiders demonstrated the quick and simple test to go on the register with just a cheek swab, or when donating blood. Along with Australian Red Cross Lifeblood and Stem Cell Donors Australia, Life Saving List campaigner Josephine O’Brien said she was grateful for the progress in the two years since the premature death of husband Liam, who remained steadfast in his commitment to growing the stem cell donor registry whilst fighting for his own life. Acknowledging the work of Lifeblood for the treatments Liam required daily thanks to the kindness of strangers donating, Mrs O’Brien said: “No family should have to carry the weight of finding a donor alone. When someone you love needs a stem cell match, you are already facing the hardest moment of your life.” She also paid tribute to the Canberra Raiders for their ongoing support with the “relentless efforts” of campaigners and Parliamentary Group on Bone Marrow Donation – including Mr Katter, Macarthur MP Dr Mike Freelander, Kooyong MP Dr Monique Ryan, Forde MP Mr Ted O’Brien, Lyons MP Hon. Rebecca White and their staff – who fought for the inclusion in 2023 of cheek-swab registrations as “a giant leap forward for Australia that would not have been achieved for many years without the force of Liam O’Brien behind it”. Mr Katter said the additional expansion of 17-year-olds to the list of eligible donors would increase the pool of potential registrants from which to recruit potential stem cell donors by several hundred thousand young Australians; and welcomed the Minister’s further advice that the successful tenderer to provide clinical services to match donors with patients, would be asked to consider whether the age limit be raised from 35-40 years.

PODCAST: Bob talks to Josephine O'Brien about the Life Saving List on World Blood Cancer Day

By Kahla Kruger • May 28, 2026
Josephine O'Brien joins Wisdom Mongrel Patriot on World Blood Cancer Day to share the deeply personal story behind the campaign that is transforming Australia's stem cell donor registry. After losing her husband Liam to blood cancer, Josephine has turned unimaginable grief into action, leading the fight to grow Australia's donor register and give other families the chance they never had. Bob Katter, his Chief of Staff Kahla Kruger, and Josephine discuss Australia's chronic shortage of stem cell donors, the progress made through the Life Saving List campaign, the importance of simple cheek-swab registrations, and why thousands more young Australians are needed on the register. This is a story of courage, persistence and hope, and a reminder that a single donor can mean the difference between life and death. Every Australian aged 17-35 can help. One cheek swab could save a life.

The Great Australian Dream Has Become a Debt

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Australia was once a country where an ordinary Australian could buy a home, raise a family and have the mortgage knocked over by 30. Today, young Australians are being sold a very different dream, a lifetime on the hamster wheel, saddled with million-dollar mortgages they may never escape.