KATTER candidate Tom Harris wasn’t wearing the headgear synonymous with his party when he was in the city last week, but he had the same ideas as his leader on his brain.
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Mr Harris, who is running for a seat in the senate, said foreign land ownership, food security and regional development were some of the bigger issues he hoped to tackle.
He wants to see the Inland Rail project steam ahead.
“I know they’ve put up $600 million in the budget for it, but that’s just to buy a bit of land and put forward more feasibility studies,” Mr Harris said.
“But they haven’t actually said, ‘right, we’re going to start this and we’re going to do it’.
“Sure it might be a $10 billion job but the returns they’ll get back from that money will be massive.”
The Katter party is concerned with foreign ownership of agricultural land and seeks the abolition of 457 visas.
Mr Harris said having more minor party members in the senate would be good outcome for regional Australians.
“At the moment Barnaby Joyce and Malcolm Turnbull are talking about what a disaster it would be if minor parties and independents were in the senate,” he said.
“I think what people should try and remember is that the senate was set up as the house of review.
“And it’s not just meant to be a turnstile for the major parties’ policies to just be passed through.”
As for the controversy over Bob Katter’s ad about foreign ownership, Mr Harris reckons it was a “storm in a teacup”.
“I think it’s pretty harmless really,” he said.
“People will rant and rave about that and say how terrible it is and then go home and watch a telly program or something with people shooting each other or get on a video game and do the same thing.”
