Media Release

KAP Member for Kennedy, Bob Katter commenting on the election said, “We’ll be tigering straight into it. We’ll be standing on our record.”

Mr Katter said, “The LNP promised last election development of northern dams and development monies. Now after three years, we haven’t seen a single cent leave Canberra. Not a single job created, not even one single engineering plan.

They’ve done nothing. But in the next three years, ‘trust us’ we’re ‘Gunna Do it…’ Do they think we Nth Qlds are so stupid to believe ‘politicians pre-election pork barrelling promises’?

Northern development: Has there been any effort to reopen Qld Nickel? No. Has there been any effort to secure Cairns a single defence contract? No. Has there been a single shovel load of concrete across a gutter? No.”

Mr Katter said, “On Budget night we searched for over an hour for the Hann Highway . It’s not there, it’s not a budgeted item. The Government will promise the Hann to us in this election. ‘Count on it’. So the Hann will be just another politician’s pork barrelling pre-election promise.”

“We will be campaigning on our record,” said Mr Katter,

“If you go to an election saying ‘I’m Gunna Do’ then what you’ve actually said is, ‘I haven’t done it, I’ve had three years and I haven’t done it’. Well too late now sonny.”

Mr Katter said, “I had the honor of playing a ‘small’ but significant role in:

Reopening the live cattle market (worth $500m a year to the North Qld economy).”

Securing road funding for three overpasses between Cairns and Townsville (two in Cairns and one in Townsville)

The giant road cutting between Ingham and Cardwell

Bridges over Nettle Creek and the Einsleigh (accessing the Gulf)

Securing funding for the partial rebuilding of the Cloncurry -Mount Isa Highway

(Collectively, $1.5 billion)

The LNP voted for the ALP Qld Government’s ‘Flood’ Recovery Authority after Yasi and the Brisbane floods. No mention of North Qld’ s cyclone. Brisbane was getting all of the money. I had the name changed to include ‘cyclone’, and made public demands for disclosure on disbursements . In the end, Treasurer Swan did the right thing and reserved for Nth Qld $1000m of the $2000m in disaster funds.

Even my opponents would admit that the two people who have talked up water development in the North are ex-Liberal Senate leader, Bill Heffernan and myself. It’s clear that the Federal Government is going to give all the monies to the Chinese on the Ord, the Chinese at the Port of Darwin, foreign-owned sugar giant, Wilmar and to the foreign-owned beef giant, JBS Swift. Proof is on the front of The Australian Financial Review (9 November 2015) and Minister Joyce in HANSARD.

The greatest leap forward for Paradise Coast tourism since Paronella Park is the breakwater at Mission Beach. The first tenders have been called.

Some of us have fought this one for 29 years. God bless the fighters.

But for the thousands of Nth Qlders who fought these battles, elections are a time to say thank you, to you, the real leaders of the North.

As for KAP, we serve notice, we are determined in this election to make ‘looking into it’ (assessments, studies, green papers) a blood sport. Bring it on.”

##ENDS##