Katter’s Australian Party federal leader, Bob Katter, has given “1000 per cent” support to the controversial maiden speech made by new KAP Senator, Fraser Anning, in parliament last night.
Senator Anning has drawn fire from all sides of politics for his speech which called for an end to Muslim immigration.
"We need a plebiscite to allow the Australian people to decide whether they want wholesale non-English speaking immigrants from the third world, and particularly whether they want any Muslims,” Senator Anning said in his speech.
In a press conference this afternoon Mr Katter praised Senator Anning’s remarks, claiming Australia was “being buried by a mass migration program to line the pockets of rich Australians”.
Mr Katter claimed Muslim immigrants were a threat to public safety and the “people who are paying the price are the Jewish people”.
“The Jewish people in this country are to be protected. And don't you, with your hypocrisy, say you're protecting them. You are bringing people into this country, dedicated to their destruction and their annihilation, and proof positive is the fact that they murdered six people in the last three or four years in this country.
“The first thing we want done is no migration from those places, from the persecutors and migration for the persecuted, the Sikhs and the Jews and the Christians.”
KAP’s anti-Muslim stance risks angering some of the most important international trade partners for regional industries.
The world’s largest Muslim population resides in Indonesia, and they like to buy our primary produce. A lot of it. It’s our fifth-largest ag export market.
Indonesia’s population of 260 million is the fourth largest in the world. Australian farmers send them more than $2.4 billion of wheat, livestock, meat, sugar, cotton and more each year.
Australia supplies about 80 per cent of Indonesia’s beef and more than 50pc of its wheat imports.
Indonesia’s rising middle class is also a prime target for high-value Australian exports, particularly horticulture, as their appetite for healthy, quality fruit and vegetables grows.
Meanwhile, many regional communities are advocating for a targeted increase in migration, including from Muslim countries, to bolster the rural workforce.
The plan is advocated by the Regional Australia Institute and the federal government supports the initiative and is working on a policy position.
Mr Katter criticised the media for ignoring other elements of Mr Annings speech, particularly his push to build dams to create regional jobs.
“He talked about the right to collectively bargain for our farmers and our workers,” Mr Katter said.
“Why don't you concentrate on creating 20,000 jobs for Cairns by building a dam on the upper Mitchell? Why don't you ask me that question? You didn't pick that up in the speech? You picked up two words, taken out of context.”
In a confusing exchange Mr Katter denied he had Lebanese heritage, when asked if his Lebanese-born grandfather was Lebanese.
“No, he's not. He's an Australian. I resent, strongly, you describing him as Lebanese. That is a racist comment and you should take it back and should be ashamed of yourself for saying it in public. No prouder Australian than my grandfather.”
Mr Katter has been contacted for comment.