In a surprise sighting, seen wandering about the Darwin CBD recently was North Queensland MHR Bob Katter senior whose odd , exaggerated utterance that he was more concerned about somebody being torn to pieces by a crocodile every three months than Australia agreeing to same sex marriage went viral , gobsmacked American TV audiences .
He frequently calls for culling of crocodiles in Queensland , which assures he gets plenty of coverage from the torpid media, a great chunk of it gobbled up by Murdoch . There are more shots of Katter in media files showing him glaring out to sea-crocodile infested territory- than engravings of King Canute famously holding back the relentless waves.
And if the media don't want another snap of him by the seaside , he will ride a motorised lawnmower , waving his hat like a cowboy, rounding up them little doggies or sing along with a busker trying to earn an honest shilling in Cairns . In other words, he knows how to play the media , since the days when he was a National minister in the Joh Bjelke-Petersen Circus .
What was Katter , 72, doing in Darwin , the Northern Territory's saurian capital? A short distance away was the big tourist attraction which depends on live crocodiles , Crocosaurus Cove , which enables you to swim in a protective cage with crocs.
He was reportedly seen in the Smith Street Mall with Jerry Wood , an independent member of the ALP dominated Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. Could he be trying to win Wood over to Katter's Australia Party ?
It is possible that he may have been in the Top End promoting his book Conversations With Katter . On politics , life and the things that matter, as he has made many utterances about the Territory . These include calling on the federal government to intervene in the lease of the Darwin Port to Chinese and saying the Ghan railway line between Adelaide to Darwin ," built for squillions" , is not used . "Fucking Adani " has also been a target of his tongue .
On the other hand , he may have been looking for his Marlboro Country hat which he has a habit of leaving on aircraft along with his briefcase . It was colourfully suggested his hat has accumulated a massive amount of frequent flyer points as a result of being left behind so many times and ending up in foreign destinations.
In parliament , Katter is renowned for not being able to put questions together in the specified time , given additional time to do so , according to manager of government business, Christopher Pyne . Pyne, in his sheltered life in Adelaide, told ABC political reporter Annabel Crabb he did not know that Dorothy Dix was an American columnist who often composed the very questions allegedly from readers that she answered.
As everybody knows, Question Time is knee deep in painful government Dorothy Dixers , the askers of such staged questions, if there were any justice, would be dragged out and fed to crocodiles thrashing about in the High Court fountain .
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Despite the fact that he and the federal government strongly supported the proposed mega coalmine during the recent Queensland election , the ALP government was elected with a majority and the three Townsville based Labor incumbents also got back in , despite the hammering by the Murdoch pro Adani Townsville Bulletin
Nevertheless, Senator Macdonald , a few days ago , was back on his Townsville pianola , the knees pumping away , belting out the same old Adani tune , connecting it to the by-election for the Victorian seat of Batman , Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten and the Greens , part of a related David Pope cartoon below .
When the president of the Senate was forced to resign because of his dual citizenship last November , Senator Macdonald caused chuckles when he rushed forward and volunteered to take up the position . This is the guy about whom The Guardian wrote had a combative, inquisitive style that almost never manages to elicit significant information . It will be remembered he was one of the many Coalition members who went the heavy on Human Rights Commissioner Professor Gillian Triggs over her report on children in custody and it was revealed he had not even read the document .
Penny Wong,Leader of the Senate Opposition, laughed on hearing that ole Macdonald wanted to be president. He responded by saying he would be "fair and impartial " and that his attitude and approach would change ... he did not get the job.
There is a growing feeling in desperate federal and Queensland Liberal and National circles that some old hands up north need to go - be skinned, their hides salted and turned into useful made in Thailand handbags and left in aircraft briefcases .
