Bob Katter on a visit to Shepparton when supporting SPC.
Bored rugby league players should be given rifles and unleashed on national parks to shoot feral animals in the off season, colourful veteran MP Bob Katter suggests.
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The north Queensland politician used a question in Federal Parliament to float the unorthodox idea, arguing it would help protect threatened species and slash the number of invasive pigs and toads.
Now the NRL grand final was over, “one thousand north Queensland rugby league players are bored”, Mr Katter said in his question to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday.
“The idle mind is a devil’s workshop.
“Please give the boys back their rifles and licensed, I emphasise licensed, access to national parks.
“Don’t worry about the pests in this place (parliament). Please, would you worry about the pests in north Queensland?”
In response, Mr Albanese said the government was taking the matter of pest control seriously because invasive species were having a “real impact” on wildlife.
He then handed off to Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins, who outlined a list of existing government policies aimed at tackling the spread of feral animals.
Mr Katter has long campaigned for governments to take more action on introduced and dangerous creatures, but his sights have often extended to native species as well.
Across his three decades in Federal Parliament, the 80-year-old has long championed increased firearm use, including a 2022 call to arm young teens to defend Australia.
“If you have five million rifles in Australia, and if (you have) people knowing how to use them ... then you have to have a hundred million man army to invade Australia, and hold it,” he told Sky News.
The far-north Queensland MP is a strong supporter of culling to manage crocodile numbers, and has previously proposed safari-style croc hunting tours, run by local Indigenous groups.
Mr Katter is best known outside his sprawling electorate for comments made during Australia’s gay marriage postal survey in 2017, when he declared people were “entitled to their sexual proclivities”, but he wouldn’t spend any time on the issue because “every three months a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in north Queensland”.
More recently, he was condemned by colleagues for threatening to punch a journalist who asked about his Lebanese heritage during a media conference in August.
Time to get snap happy
Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell is inviting photographers to capture the essence of our community for the annual 2026 Places of Nicholls Calendar.
Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell is inviting established, amateur and aspiring photographers of all ages from across the region to capture the essence of our community for the annual 2026 Places of Nicholls Calendar.
“It will feature photos taken by locals that showcase the people, products, places, characters, culture and charm that define our electorate,” Mr Birrell said.
“Think local towns, streets, community groups, farms, weather events, letterboxes, pets, animals dams, rivers, tourist spots, buildings, homes, sporting clubs — anything that reflects life in Nicholls.”
The top 12 photos, selected by Mr Birrell, will be featured in the calendar with full photo credit. The image chosen for the front cover will also receive a $200 gift voucher to a Goulburn Valley photography store of the winner’s choice.
Entries close on Wednesday, October 29. Thousands of calendars will be printed and distributed via local newspapers in early December.
Entries can be submitted via email to sam.birrell.mp@aph.gov.au or dropped off in person at Mr Birrell’s office at 426 Wyndham St, Shepparton.
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