Robert Carl Ignatius Katter (born 3 March 1977) is an Australian politician. He serves as the member of the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

for Traeger, having previously represented

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, base ...

from 2012 to 2017. He is the leader of

Katter's Australian Party Katter's Australian Party (KAP) is an agrarian political party in Australia. It was founded by Bob Katter, an independent and former Nationals MP for the seat of Kennedy, with a registration application lodged to the Australian Electoral C ...

, having taken over from his father

Bob Katter Robert Bellarmine Carl Katter (born 22 May 1945) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1993. He was previously active in Queensland state politics from 1974 to 1992. Katter was a member of the ...

in February 2020.

Biography

Early life

Katter was born on 3 March 1977 in North Queensland. His father is

, the federal member for Kennedy and founder of Katter's Australian Party, and his grandfather Bob Katter Sr. was also a federal MP. He received a Bachelor of Applied Science in Property Economics from the

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

Early career

Katter started his career as a mine worker in

, before working as a property valuer for fifteen years and running a small business in Mount Isa.

Political career (2012–present)

He won Mount Isa at the 2012 state election, pushing

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

incumbent Betty Kiernan into third place. He capitalised on his family's name recognition in the area. Mount Isa was virtually coextensive with the western portion of his father's federal seat of Kennedy, and much of the eastern portion of the seat was once part of the elder Katter's old state seat of Flinders. After his election to the Legislative Assembly, he became Queensland leader of his father's party, but on 29 November 2012, it was announced that he had been succeeded as leader by

Ray Hopper Raymond Gordon Hopper (born 3 March 1960) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 2001 to 2015. Originally elected as the member for Darling Downs as an independent in 2001, he joined th ...

, and would become the party's "parliamentary secretary". Following Hopper's defeat at the 2015 election, Katter once again became state leader. The state electorate of Mount Isa was abolished in 2017, and Katter followed most of his constituents into the new seat of Traeger. The new seat was essentially the northern, more urbanised portion of Katter's former seat, and is based on Mount Isa. The seat was created as a comfortably safe KAP seat, and Katter won it handily. He serves on the boards of the Laura Johnson Home, a retirement home, and the Southern Gulf Catchments, an environmental organisation. In February 2020, he was appointed leader of the Katter's Australian Party.

Political views

In 2020, Katter called for the federal government to buy back Qantas Airline. In April 2022, Katter said he will move a bill to ban transgender athletes from women's sport in the state. In May 2022, he proposed a motion which was voted down 49 votes to 33. The opposition

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other ...

voted with him.

Personal life

Katter is married to Daisy (nee Hatfield), a former journalist. They met when Daisy was working for

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netw ...

in Townsville on an assignment to interview him. They have one child, Peaches Grace Katter, born 2020.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Katter, Robbie 1977 births Australian people of Irish descent Australian people of Lebanese descent Australian monarchists Katter's Australian Party politicians Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Living people 21st-century Australian politicians Queensland University of Technology alumni