I often wonder what sort of person actually supports Bob Katter. You don’t see them in the wine bar or coffee shop that’s for sure. The media generally portray him as a wacky eccentric, a bit of a harmless clown that no one does or should take too seriously. And fair enough, an intellectual giant he is not. I’ve always viewed him as I would a dodgy vindaloo – quite unpalatable and liable to give me a mild dose of the shits, but by and large of no real consequence to anything that actually matters in the world.

Katter has though quite clearly stepped up his antics to very ugly, poisonous levels in recent days with his Queensland election ad. It is so offensive that even Voltaire would baulk at sticking his neck out to defend it. No two ways about it, that ad represents bigotry, fear and hatred like none other I can think of. And yet he claims that somehow it is none of those things?  I guess in line with his limited intellectual capabilities, he has used the predictable and juvenile argument that he is not attacking gays, only gay marriage. So, he is merely highlighting an issue that is a legitimate part of public debate. Nothing against gays at all. To be fair to you Bob, your blinkered prejudiced views are probably so deep-set, and your stupidity is probably so complete, that it is likely that you aren’t able to understand this. So I’ll try to explain in simple terms in the hope that you may be able to catch on – THAT IS BULLSHIT.

  1. An issue is, say, the construction of a Brisbane city by-pass, or the sufficiency of funding for teachers’ aides in Qld schools. These are matters that actually affect people, they have impact on people’s lives. On the other hand, gay marriage affects NO ONE other than those involved.  Gay marriage won’t result in extra taxes, or in lowered education standards. It won’t result in anarchy or societal collapse. It won’t force you into practicing homosexuality (although I’ve often thought, to paraphrase Shakespeare, that ‘Bob Katter doth protest too much, methinks … ‘ but that’s another story). Gay marriage is only an issue for you Bob as it offends your beliefs, beliefs which aren’t shared by most people and beliefs which already have disproportionate sway on how society operates.
  2. Whether you were ‘merely’ discussing an issue or not, it is as plain as the hat on your head that the whole tenor of your ad is that gays are revolting, repulsive and obscene, and that therefore it is self-evident that they shouldn’t be legitimised by allowing them the same rights as good, god-fearing folk like you. Why else did you choose the grubby, low-rent Today Tonight style production with the voiceovers and grainy, sinister black and white images? You chose that style because that is the style that you use when you are out to vilify people like TV repairmen and shonky landlords. And, in your case, gays. This style doesn’t work for ads about actual issues, which is why you’d not use it if in fact you had any actual policy issues to advertise.

Here’s the basic script, to demonstrate the point:

How well do you really know Campbell Newman? Do you think he’ll stand up for your family values? Do you think he’ll really stand up to the Greens and other minority groups? [cut to provocative, pixelated, inflammatory images] Then think again. The LNP leader supports gay marriage. Just like Greens leader Bob Brown. [cut to video clip of Campbell Newman saying ‘I support gay marriage’ ‘I support gay marriage’]. That’s right, he supports gay marriage. Is a vote for LNP leader Campbell Newman a vote for gay marriage?

Replace ‘gay marriage’ with, say, ‘paedophiles’, and the message you are trying to get across is quite clear. That is, ‘we hate them, they should be despised and vilified, he supports them, therefore he will destroy your family values and you shouldn’t vote for him’. Imagine for a moment if we replaced all references to gay marriage with references to Jews, with wartime images of terrified families with stars sewn to their clothes? Or perhaps blacks, or Asians? Or the physically or intellectually disabled? No one could deny, perhaps not even Bob himself, that giving out the above message about those groups is simply not acceptable, end of story. But Bob thinks it is perfectly fine to give that message about gays. But the script is the same Bob, only the name of the discriminated minority group has changed. If you’re capable, think about it.

Singling out minority groups for no other reason than that they are different to the way you are is unquestionably, incontrovertibly discriminatory, nasty and offensive. Bob Katter, you are a narrow-minded, bigoted disgrace.

In a breathtaking postscript to all this, the voiceover artist for this piece of trash turned out to be a part time ABC Local Radio presenter, Suzanne McGill, who was subsequently suspended because she failed to seek permission for outside employment in accordance with the basic rules covering all public servants.  A quite reasonable course of action for the ABC, particularly given the vile extremist messages contained in the ad. But the response from Katter’s party was to demand her reinstatement on the grounds that she was being vilified!! That’s not just irony, that’s an irony bar being smashed about your head. Were they able to keep a straight face when saying that?? ‘This sort of vilification should not be tolerated. We live in Queensland, not Russia’. That’s funny Bob, I thought you were living in Taliban controlled Afghanistan, after all you certainly share their 13th Century beliefs.

Do us all a favour Bob, go back to being the goofy bumbling hat-wearing hick that we all know and tolerate. Dabbling in the dark side just makes you look pathetic and creepy. Let’s make a deal – you go back to being Vindaloo Bob, and I’ll happily put up with a bout of the shits from time to time.